The Lucky Ones

I took a trip with my kids last week up to the seaside town that I grew up in and around.  This area is typically known for its super-rich enclaves, stunning beach-side communities and an old-monied feeling. It is also usually jam packed with the summer crowd this time of year. That's not the case this summer.  It was a ghost town even on the weekend. 

The carousel, the oldest in America, had only one kid riding on it. Mine.  The historic resort that was torn down two years ago and scheduled to open as a brand-spanking new luxury resort this summer is still under construction and delayed.  Every single shop there gives off the attitude that the words "sale" and "discount" are akin to the terms "puppy-killer" and "last season".  Not this year.  Shop owners hung in doorways like some south of the border tourist trap beckoning you inside with words, "The entire store is 20% off!" and "Everything inside is 50-70% off!"  My eyes must have looked like saucers with my mouth hanging open because they often repeated themselves.  There were no crowds on the sidewalks, there was plenty of parking and the nearby casinos have been laying off employees in droves for the first time since their doors opened over a decade ago.  It is something I never thought I would see in that area.

Everywhere I turned there were businesses that were closed and abandoned.  A popular donut shop chain has closed almost every store in the area.  Restaurants had no wait and the summer tourists were few and far between.  Hotel vacancies were easy to find.  An air of quiet desperation tinged the air.  Seeing all this made me realize how incredibly fortunate we in the DC Metro area really are.  The recession is hitting us too but not nearly like it is in the small town post-industrial places like New England. There the job market was already stagnant even in the economic good times.  They rely on the summer season quite heavily.  We in the nation's capitol are the lucky ones. 

Despite the home foreclosures we see in our communities here, the DC Metro area still has it pretty good. Our housing market and unemployment rates are not as bad as other parts of the country either.  It was a year ago that my husband was laid off and within a month he found a new job.  We may not be taking any extravagant vacations and keeping our cars a bit longer but I don't consider that a hardship.  I know our situation isn't everyone's but consider this- our gas, food and utilities are not skyrocketing like other areas of the country.  Areas that have higher unemployment rates and less job stimulus.  We truly are the lucky ones. 

Original DC Metro Moms post.  Victoria blogs daily at The Mummy Chronicles and Mummy's Product Reviews.