Hard times: Silver lining is in the people

This is not a good time for the economy to tank, as if anyone can find a good time for this to happen.

The bad news surrounds us. Just look at the front page of any newspaper. If you can't find any bad financial news there, then check out the business section. It's enough to make a guy want to drop out and herd sheep or something.

My area is particularly getting nailed. Over the past week, Maersk/SeaLand announced it was pulling out of Charleston's port system. And Force Protection -- which makes military vehicles -- cut its work force again. It now employs slightly more than 1,000 people, about half of what the company employed in January.

You know things are bad when military suppliers such as Force Protection are cutting back. It just goes against all the rules of the game. Historically, when you're in a war the defense (and defense-related technology) industries are supposed to boom, and last I looked we're in two wars.

Meanwhile, foreclosures are up, and many residential builders say they've pretty much stopped work. And recently I checked out the job ads in the Monday "Business Review" section of the local newspaper. That section use half-sized pages, and the want ads usually fill at least two of those pages. But this time -- about a week ago -- those ads filled half a page, and many of those jobs were of the sketchy kind.

It's a little hard to find a silver lining in all this mess, especially with the Christmas holidays coming up. But from talking to people, I'm finding some unexpected glimpses.

"I'm just glad I have a job," one trucker told me. He's working for one of the area's busiest haulers, and his firm is cutting back to three- and four-day work weeks.

And many of the folks I talk to say they're not going to do their annual budget busting for Christmas. There's no way. Places like Best Buy may have to suffer, and things may get a little slower at the malls. Though WalMart captures the discount-shopping crowd and may find things a little busier because there are more budget-conscious shoppers, any business increases may be negated by those who are cutting back beyond even that level.

Maybe folks are reexamining the holidays. And, like what happened right after 9/11, people are taking a closer look at what's important and what's not.

I asked one guy to define what would make a good Christmas for him.

"As long as I have a full belly," he says. "And time with my family."

Maybe we're getting back to the basics. Maybe. Like, for example, what Christmas is really about. And that's a good thing.