Signs that the economy is bad, February 3, 2012

We made it to another Friday here at The Itinerant Librarian. Here are this week's signs that the economy is bad. Yes, the job numbers may be better according to recent reports this week, but it does not mean the economy is all honky dory. The signs are still out there: 

• You know things really have to be bad when Wal-Mart gets rid of their greeters. Yes, it is finally happening. The big box store decided that having nice people greet you when you come in, an idea from Sam Walton to make stores more friendly (and serve as extra eyes to prevent shoplifting), was just not efficient enough. True, they claim they will be reassigned, but you know a few people are going to be losing their jobs. I wonder if Sam Walton is rolling in his grave or rejoicing in whatever afterlife he may be in over how his heirs turned his idea into the evil empire it is now. One can't help but feel it is the end of an era.Via Bizmology. 
• This is not so much a sign the economy is bad as a sign of someone making do in the bad economy maybe. Or they just saw there was a market that was not being served. Anyhow, Brazilian swimsuit makers are now making bikinis for women who are not rail thin Victoria's Secret models. Yes, contrary to popular belief, not all Brazilian females look like catalog or Playboy models.  Sure, women with a bit more to love may not want to wear the (in)famous "dental floss" swimsuits, but I am sure they still want something sexy and nice. Article includes a link to one manufacturer's catalog. I thought they looked nice. Via Global Post. 
• I have covered before the topic that food banks are bracing themselves for more demand due to the bad economy.  Well, here is more evidence of that and another sign the economy is bad: colleges with food banks for their students. Now, this is not just a community nearby that happens to help out local college students. It is a college setting up their own food pantry for students. According to the story from The Toledo Blade, " what is believed to be the region’s first food pantry for college students is to open in mid-February." People tend to think that students have cushy existences. Far from it. Many make significant sacrifices to go to school, and the life of a college student can be one of poverty. And to add insult to injury, being college students means they usually do not qualify for things like food stamps. So, we want educated people, but in addition to cutting funding for the schools, we are not even willing as a society to let them use safety nets designed for the poor, even though the students are poor, over some elitist notion that college students could not possibly be poor. And then we wonder why this country is headed down a drain. And by the way, let's not even go into how many of those college students, even in "good majors," end up in the unemployment line. The few lucky ones get to move back in with their parents.