The "E" Word

Yep, the Economy. Sorry, but with all the shit that's been going on, how can I not pass comment. And after yesterday's disaster on the stick markets, it's probably about time I did.

I'm 34 later this month and by then I'll have been in the workforce for a little over eleven years, having spent time at university and training to teach. It was about five months into Tony's New Britain and New Labour had inherited from the Old Tories the best economic conditions that I suspect any new government has ever had the good fortune to inherit. And, to their credit, they didn't stuff it up. For those of you not familiar with British political history, the pattern always seems to have been, Labour ruin the economy, the Tories fix, Labour ruin it again. This time around, Labour didn't ruin it. At least, not until now. It's taken them eleven years, which has to be some sort of record.

Anyway.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm currently experiencing Hard Times for the first time as a worker. And the job I do these days allows me a insight into the state of the economy that other jobs may not afford people. I'm not claiming to be a great economic sage or anything like that. All I'm saying is that I get an interesting view of what's going on and how it's affecting us all.

I work in the accounts department of a law firm. All the financial transactions come through me. A good proportion of our work is domestic convayancing. And in all honesty - it's almost all dried up. This time last year, or even two years ago, the job of sending and receiving money for the DC department was pretty much full time. It's not now. We're lucky if we get three or four transactions a week, let alone the four or five a day I was once used to.

I also get to see the financial health of the firm itself, and while things have been tough, we seem to be through the worst of it. At least, we all hope we are.

But the reality we are experiencing seems worlds away from all the panic and disasters in The City. I do worry about my pension - but not too much. I've got thirty years or more left yet, so there's loads of time for it to recover. And actually, it's a decent time to be buying into the plan - I'm getting more pension fund units for my money.

I'm not worried about my job, and I keep telling everyone else here that they shouldn't be either. We're a strong enough firm to survive. Still, they do worry when they hear about other firms in our area cutting back and letting people go.

And at the end of the day, it's those people we need to worry about. When Lehman Bros. collapsed, it wasn't the deal-making bankers we should have been worried about, it was all the support staff - the secretaries and tea ladies and cleaners.

Still, let's not get too depressed. I know I should be concentrating on the edits for the second draft, but now that I've finally decided on a title for my WIP, I've written a couple of taglines and a blurb. They are WIPs too, but I'm pleased with them so far.

Tagline 1

"Kissed by a Rose"

Beware the Thorns.

Tagline 2

"Kissed by a Rose"

His Power, His Pleasure, His Pain

Tagline 3

"Kissed by a Rose"

An Addiction he Can't Deny

Blurb

Who'd have thought tears in the library could change your life? For Adam Smith it led to love. But when you girlfriend is the latest English Rose to grace the silver screen, life's not going to be easy. Hounded by the press, autograph hunters at every turn, she's his power, his pleasure and his pain. An addiction he can't deny. The more he gets, the stranger he feels. But a student and a superstar just don't mix. Do they? They're from two different worlds. Aren't they? And remember what the song says: Every Rose has its Thorn.

Will love conquer all? Is a kiss from a rose really so sweet? Or should Adam Beware the Thorns?