Io/wa Ci/ty and the Midwest in general has been late to the recession party. Though we lost a local educational publisher three weeks ago, much of our economy is built on recession-resistant industries such as health care and education. I work in one of them. But as early as last November, things gained an ominous tone, and it kept getting sicker and sicker as the months dragged on. Until today. Today THE MAN announced layoffs of ten colleagues, one on my staff and several I worked with and/or knew well; and THE MAN said several other open positions would go unfilled.

There is much to second guess about what has gone down, but for now I will just observe how conflicting it is to realize (a) that persons I have worked closely with will be gone soon against their wills and (b) that had THE MAN cut his slice of arbitrary slightly differently, I would likely as not be the one on the street.

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