Yeah, I just had to go to the dollar store around the corner the other day to get some stuff and maybe get a few extra staples for the pantry (oils, sugar, etc.) And imagine my surprise when the half shelf-set of Ramen was totally empty.
The cheapest, quick-make, versatile food on the shelf was gone. In Freaking JULY. When nobody but weirdos like me might consider having a bowl of Ramen soup because it’s 100F outside (and have on occasion).
Makes me think that people are stocking up while they have the funds and filling their cabinet, expecting lean times ahead. And it wasn’t just the dollar store. I was chatting with another shopper and she said she’d been to Walmart and there was no ramen there, either. And the grocery store in town is almost always out even when no one else is, so I can only guess they were the first stop.
When basic stores are running out of one of the cheapest packaged quick-make widespread foods… that’s a sign to me that things are not doing well. And most pantry staples are likely not far away as prices go up. But somehow the talking points about the economy seem so positive.
Why? Those of us on the ground have eyes. And we shop. And we see the store shelves with big gaps in them where product should be (though in bigger stores, I’m inclined to blame them also for not having enough stockpersons in the back–I’m willing to work those jobs. I like inventory and stocking work, dammit. Hire me!… okay, rant over).
And then I happened to find this segment on my YouTube feed, and all those little niggling thoughts in the back of my head were voiced. And in my case, this is far too bloody accurate. Hope you’re all doing better than this says. Be well:
The Chatty Introvert 
As it turns out, even the “experts” can’t agree whether it is getting better, worse, or just weird, let alone whether we are in a recession, headed to a little one, or a major one, or not at all. This podcast delves into that and the reporting about it. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-in-this-economy
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Reblogged this on cabbagesandkings524 and commented:
The Chatty One found an answer to a question.
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Depends on who you talk or listen to. Apply to those stores, Most stock jobs are night work, but I see signs everywhere asking people to apply. What’s tanking are the big digital companies. No work there, but plenty in the real world.
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They ask people to apply, but I’ve also noticed that because I’m female, I guess they assume I can’t lift 25 pounds often enough. Or because I’m almost 40, they don’t wanna risk me getting hurt. I spent half the day applying to jobs yesterday, but every night stocking job (which I’d love because don’t have to deal with yelling customers and whatnot), just never got a chance. There are only a handful of places that do that around here, unfortunately. I just need something close that’ll give me enough hours so I don’t break into a sweat every time I pay a bill and have to adjust my budget the rest of the month. I don’t need to be wealthy, but it’ll be easier to learn other things with that 100 pounds of stress off my shoulders. Got money coming in? Then I can focus on learning proofreading skills and stuff. I’ve been super distracted for two months because so many folks are hiring, but don’t seem to want to hire me. I’m willing to learn, but I guess since most everything on my resume is teaching related, they don’t want to consider it.
And thanks to a non-compete clause (since I previously worked for their competitor), I can’t work for another tutoring job for at least 6 months after I leave this one. Shot myself in the foot and I didn’t know it til a couple months ago there. So, options are limited, otherwise I’d just go back to my old job and save a crapload on gas in a heartbeat to start.
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