Here’s an item from today’s Washington Post that might interest you.

Sorry to hear you have to lay off people — that’s a hellish amount of stress on all sides. On the other hand, I’m glad it’s you and not some heartless bastard who will make the situation even worse and possibly cause the other party to go postal.

I look around me when I’m out running errands and I see lots of people whose faces are frozen masks of pain, anger and resentment. A reporter on a news program recently said how the people he interviews on the street are incensed at what’s been going on — and that the anger is beginning to turn to fear. Not good.

Entering “multiple robberies” on Google News returns pages and pages of results.

So, yes, you’re quite right about the possibility of a severe recession and that would be bad enough — add in all the effects of economic distress and … Well, you get the picture. Not to add to your troubles, but … forewarned is forearmed, right?

On the other hand, I’m mindful of the danger of self-fulfilling prophecies and of the fact that what happens tomorrow depends on what we do today.

As for me, I try to do everything I can to buck people up — including myself, ‘cuz it’s hard to be around people who are stressed out without absorbing some of their distress. Humor and kindness can work wonders, of course, as can helping people vent so that they can move past their anger toward problem-solving.

Do you know about all the networking sites like ecademy and LinkedIn? They’re among the oldest and the best of their kind — like Facebook, for adults, they can go a long way toward helping the unemployed find new opportunities and also alleviate social isolation, with all the problems that brings.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. Please take good care of yourself, OK?

It’s a wonderful life.

Criminal fat-cats game the system and leave taxpayers holding the bag.

As for me, I believe we were born to serve the rich.

Being a Midwestern boy at heart, I prefer to serve them with barbecue sauce.

Mm-mm, good!