I have to admit that despite all the doom and gloom of the current worldwide economy I have found a few pluses that I have enjoyed. First, over the last couple months I have noticed I can go to any restaurant (as well as many other businesses), even with a large group, and have almost no wait. I get seated almost immediately and the servers seem to care more about giving good service. In fact, good service seems to be more common everywhere. Somehow, in the height of the "good" economy people just didn't seem as friendly or gracious as they do now. I believe that there is just enough humility going around to make people care about each other a little more. People seem to realize that they have taken a lot for granted and are starting to appreciate what they have and what they might not have in the near future.
The costs of many services are also down significantly. I walked by a restaurant earlier today that is known for $30 appetizers and $75 main courses that had specials for lunch with salad and entree at $12. Although this isn't necessarily cheap, it was enough that I decided I would go there for only the second time in 9 years.
In addition there are great opportunities in the current market that were more difficult to come by just a few months ago.
- I love selecting from a much larger pool of talented individuals and thanks to free services like Craig's List I don't have to pay anything and still get more qualified resumes in my inbox in a week than I would get in two months when posting on several paid and unpaid resources not that long ago.
- This is also a great time to grab marketshare from competitors, although the real benefits of this won't be felt for a year or two.
Now, I realize that there are plenty of minuses to focus on in down times too, but it seems like there is enough of that to go around... so, I will just keep on enjoying the pluses while hopefully being a little more humble to care for others and the difficult things they may be going through. After all, caring seems to be going around these days.
