The Depression that comes with a Recession

Not so long ago, it seemed like the economy was just fine. The local Starbucks was a buzz, and the nearby Coco's was packed with lines out the door for Sunday brunch. The night atmosphere was fresh while the conversations of chattering couples sauntered through the spring air. Each time you set off to a movie or a walked down the Santa Monica promenade crowds of people crawled in front while you made your way to your destinations. Yeah, the news kept on pestering us and hinting at the fact that things were gonna get worse. But the young public seemed to ignore what lurked around the corner. Not until our pockets were hurt by the explosion of the gas prices did things start to change.
Once California's gas hit 4.65 a gallon everything turned around. With loads of people waiting for the nearest bus, and people ride sharing, the traffic eased up. People cut the weekend movie nights, and of course restaurants were hit hard by the lack of crowds. At first I thought the lack of crowds was due to blockbuster movies like batman, but as the weekends passed the usual crowded restaurants and local hot spots were empty on Friday and Saturday nights. Starbucks was unusually quiet and there was no lines to get into the pool hall. Now maybe there are other reasons for this lack of public enthusiasm, sure school has started up, and the announcements of the Vice presidential nominees were chosen; that's bound to create a slow period. I know when I spent all my years as a waitress while completing my B.A. if anything important was on t.v. or happening in the area business would be slow. Our tired feet would look forward to a Lakers game, or the Oscars, because one of us would get to leave early. But now it seems that Californians are in a funk, in a depression over this long and hurtful recession. Instead of going out on the weekends and spending time with our loved ones over pizza pool and a movie, we have to strap our cash to the back of our mattresses in fear our banks wont have our cash.We have to be extra stingy with our money. No more celebratory clothes shopping at H&M, no more Jamba juice breaks after our workouts, not even manis or pedis on a fresh day. So the question needs to be asked! Will Californians be happy again, will we have our free spirited wallets back, and when will we be able to brake open our piggies and spend a night out on the town without worry that we wont see a paycheck next month?