Social Kingdoms Shaken

Now is not the time to forget your social graces, but if in these trying times you lose your cool, you may be pardoned. The world is in sort of an uproar you know. If it's not your personal life that's in a crisis, maybe the next person's is. Not only are we as a nation re-writing our history, but some of the people I know closely (namely me) are adapting different tolerance levels just to survive.

A few days ago some of my friends discussed their personal financial portfolio in a group of people. At first I was shocked because this couple likes everyone to think they have money. They are also very private people. I listened intently hoping to pick up some measure of their personal worth. It didn't work and I found myself more moved by how the economic crisis has us all forgetting our social manners of discretion.

One of my managers is somewhat moody. We tend to think of her as being so solemn she skips some heartbeats. Well when I engaged a co-worker in dialogue about the stock market, my managers face turned red (not blushing - just showing some form of life). This manager lost almost 10% of her investment in just a couple of days. She was facing the week with fear. To me it sounded like she needed some support - really. If we weren't near strangers I think she would have leaned over and cried.

Society as a whole is changing their economic focus inward. While many of us can't do much about the stockmarket, we have unconciously merged into the group of Rocky Investors. And there are no strangers. No one is an outsider. We are forgetting to "not talk to strangers". Hoping to find some relief in the "misery loves company" scene, we hope anyone at anytime will talk in economic terms. If not as a participant, but as a by-stander, we have seen or become a bunch of nosey folks. We eavesdrop, we lean over just a little bit farther to hear the word "bailout". We even ask people about their private financial business. Shame on us! When it's all said and done, we will have created a new economic social order not soon to be forgotten.