The Economy On The Side Of The Road.

The fact that I have been living in a small town with a tourism driven economy has kept me sheltered from the realities of the economic crisis that has been going on. I mean, sure, I have read about the high unemployment rates and the bankruptcies all over. I watched Leprino, Roswell’s major employer, lay off many. The cheese plant ships to restaurants all over but with the downturn so came people not eating as much delivery pizza’s or cheeseburgers so there was less demand for thee cheeses made there. I knew that it was hurting the food service industry but I didn’t see any of the results until I got out of town.

The roadsides have been literally littered with food joints, convenience stores and many other businesses for many years. Texas has long been known as the land of strip malls and chain restaurants. From small towns to the big cities business has boomed for almost everyone around the state. We have put over a thousand miles of road behind us since Sunday last, visiting family scattered all over Texas, and the visible effect of the poor economy has me grieving for everyone.

At first it was the small towns of west Texas that just seemed sad. Small business were standing empty and too many people were out on a Monday that I thought looked like working folks that were lost with nothing to do and nowhere to go. The car dealerships in the small towns had either gone out of business or were really low on inventory…except the abundance of luxury cars from 2008/09. Branch offices of banks were empty and there were small grocery stores boarded up.

But then we got to the Dallas/ Fort Worth area and it continued. Not on such a large scale but enough to be obvious. Friday I was driving down a busy street in Arlington and the crowd of guys standing in front of Home Depot looking for a day job was huge. Home improvements seem to be down and the demand for day laborers seems to have gone with that. Small, independent service stations that once thrived were closed. Specialty stores were shuttered and some of the previously popular eating establishments were closed. Things looked different.

We stopped at a Dairy Queen in one small town that had 2 openings. The amount of applicants sitting around filling the applications surprised me. But not as much as the age of the job seekers. Many men and women in their thirties and forties were willing to take on a part time, minimum wage job just to make sure the kids had mac n cheese and hot dogs in their bellies. Hard times for sure.

Now Cat and I have decided to live in the RV by choice, but there are some RVers who come from a different place. There are folks out here who have lost everything but are hanging on to what was once a luxury vacation vehicle so they are not out on the streets.  Families living hand to mouth crowded into a 16 foot travel trailer that once only took them to the lake near Granma’s place for those 2 weeks in July.The retirees who are living at an RV park whose son and daughter in law are staying there because they both got laid off and lost their apartment. The folks who lost big when the investment/retirement fund brokers went down the pre bailout drain trying to get by after trading everything in on that used 5th wheel.

Wal Mart has almost always welcomed recreational vehicles to park overnight in their lots, knowing the vacationers will spend money to replenish supplies. Even though there has long been a sub culture who “boondock” at Wal mart the numbers are growing by necessity. Free rent is needed and if you take turns from one big store to another and stay at Wal Mart every 3 nights no one seems to care. The truckstops and rest areas are much more populated with well lived in campers.

Everywhere I look there is someone who is down on their luck. Sometimes they seem few. The next mile or so they are many.

I never knew just how lucky this poor guy has been til I got back out on the road.

Almost makes me want to go back to Roswell and hide my head in the desert dirt.

On second thought…nawww.

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