I couldn't get the video to play on the web site, but here's the story.
From what I can tell, people are definitely looking more closely at whether they need to print something, but the customers who are holding off have been offset by politicians doing mailings and yard signs and whatnot. I wouldn't say we've been swamped, but it's been steady.
Then again, it's not like people buy letterhead and business cards on a whim. The bulk of our customers are buying things it would be difficult for them to earn their living without.
Example: the owner of a chain of shoe stores prints a lot with us. He wanted fold-over business cards because he (like many, many people) cannot be persuaded to not make his business card into a brochure. He wants an awful lot of information, including maps, store hours, etc., for his various outlets. I came up with two designs, one a rectangle with a score, the other a die cut of a shoe for the flap.
He liked the shoe, but he decided not to spend the extra money to have a die tooled and have his cards die cut. Understandable, but it's not as if he decided he couldn't afford business cards. This guy can't afford to be out of business cards, and neither can millions of other people.
Which isn't to say I imagine my employer is immune from a credit crunch. Businesses borrowing to finance equipment so they can grow is legitimate use of debt if anything is, and if things don't get ironed out I can see where that could pose a big problem for everyone.
I hope I'm wrong about the bailout that's going to be passed by the House tomorrow. The Senate passed it last night and I was livid. It's an idea that originated with the Bush administration and that means it's toxic until proven otherwise. These are the people who knew for a fact that Iraq was developing 'nukular' weapons, and the only thing to be done about it was to invade the country. I know we can't just turn tail and give up, but we shouldn't be there. It was a mistake.
And adding extra FDIC insurance to the invasion of Iraq would do fuckall to make it not a mistake. I have no faith at all that the bailout will bail anyone out at all, except maybe a handful of assheads who deserve to be burned at the stake for creating this problem.
The fact that W. didn't say anything about it until it was at a crisis point shows how unfit to lead he is in every respect. He knew this was coming. He's probably known for six or seven years. He just hoped he'd be clear of the White House when the shit hit the fan because the housing bubble made it appear as if he reigned over prosperity. Which was the same temptation that led his predecessor to start this shitball rolling.
I heard a dissenting Senator (forget who) describe the situation as shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater and then insisting on knocking down the walls instead of going through the exits. Close, Senator Whoever. It's more like this: Theater manager empties an ashtray too soon and starts a smoldering fire in his office. He sells the theater, and the new owner smells smoke, hears and then disables the smoke detectors, entirely ignores it until the building is fully involved. Then he shouts 'fire' and insists that it will be another Great White concert if his guy is not allowed to extinguish the flames with an unlikely and unproven fire extinguisher.
And in three months, the theater changes hands again, and a new manager will replace that fire extinguisher with his own dubious version.
So the Senate passed it, the House is going to pass it tomorrow from what I can tell. I still say it's a terrible idea, will probably make things even worse. I hope and pray that I'm wrong about that. It would be awesome if the problem was actually solved.
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