Over at The Ice Flow blog, a vivid depiction of a couple of Manhattanites who once lived high-on-the-hog but are now feeling the effects of recent events: I’m a dogwalker and a catsitter, which places me in a crawl space between the ‘Upstairs’ clients and the ‘Downstairs’ building staffs of doormen, porters and superintendents and [...]

Our Best of Craig’s List post from last week was so popular, we decided to go to the well once more. The following include obvious satirical rants, well-crafted hoaxes, and some genuine public displays of anger and despair. Again, from the archives of the Best of Craig’s List: I’ll wear your silly costume (Louisville) Times [...]

In this episode of the EconomyBeat we are reminded that times are tough, but they could be (and have been) a whole lot worse. And we are reminded that mines are a terrible place to work, especially if you are nine years old.

Culled from Flickr. Click on each image to see it full-size.

Our Best of Craig’s List – Economy Version post from Wednesday was so popular, we’re working on a new one. But as this particular post from the new crop illustrates a very specific anger about the banking crisis and bailout, wethinks it merits its own entry. Plus it’s funny. Long, but funny.

To the Debt Collector Harassing Me at Work (Pittsburgh)

Your voice is quite charming in a sleazy, condescending, I-Get-Paid-To-Harrass-People kind of way. You must be so good with the ladies – I can picture you on a date, with that deep “I am full of self-importance” voice, asking her “So am I to file you under deadbeat mistress because you won’t sleep with me after knowing me for an hour?”

I am assuming you are either 1. Just out of college and eager to prove yourself by threatening a faceless person on the telephone, 2. A wannabe lawyer who is not smart enough to ever pass the BAR exam and therefore miserable in life, or 3. Someone who was picked on a lot in high school and believes this job is his calling to get revenge on all those bullies who made life a living hell.

One of the extracts in our last entry about uncommon economic indicators, concerning Costco coupons, comes from this longer post on a Marist College history professor’s blog. Here is the entire post, which describes a fight over coupons at a New York City-area Costco: I am a regular Saturday morning grocery shopper at the Costco [...]

A couple of months ago we did a post on the Brian Lehrer Show’s Uncommon Economic Indicators web page, where people submit signs of the recession observed around the New York City area. As we wrote, “these won’t show up in any government statistics or charts, but they turn the abstract gloom of macroeconomic numbers into a concrete picture of what’s happening in the community.” Time to check in again on recent submissions:

Odd job applicants – Brooklyn

I am helping a friend who is sick and getting treatment in Boston by packing and moving his belongings out of his apartment in BedStuy. I posted an ad on Craigslist, offering to pay 100 dollars to 3-4 people for several hours of work just to pack the place up. I received 92 postings in the last 24 hours – not just from the expected recent grads, musicians and writers, but also from engineers, architects, PHDs, construction managers, ex-Military, etc… I was shocked.

Chase bank desperate for customers – Manhattan

I was at the Chase ATM in the Chrysler building and the “customer service” reps were staking out the lobby for potential customers. There was a woman next to me using the ATM with a non Chase card and the rep approached her in mid transaction to pitch her into opening a new account. He was standing over her shoulder pointing at the screen telling her she could save the $3 service fee AND give her $100. Clearly an invasion of personal space. She declined, saying she had to be somewhere but he persisted almost dragging her into the office. I know that retail banking is getting competitive but these tactics are more aggressive than charity workers on the streets….

Ever check out the Best of Craigslist? These are posts that the site’s users have nominated as particularly interesting and/or humorous. They also can be telling indicators of the horrendous economy. Dear Future Hipster Neighbor (Portland) Dear Future late 20/early 30 Hipster Neighbor from the Mid-west/South/Idaho: I know you are the coolest kid in Iowa/Ohio/Idaho/Texas/Florida/etc [...]

The frugal debtor of the last post links to this post totalling up the cost of a daily visit to Starbucks: …I know people that come in to my office with one of these 20 oz. Starbucks coffee concoctions every stinking morning. I wonder if my co-workers took the time to consider the money they [...]

Last week we wrote about Blogging Away Debt, the chronicle of a woman who started out $38,000 in the red and has since whittled it down a fair amount. But let’s up the ante with Drowning in $166,356.75 in Debt, which starts out this way: I did something dumb, dumb, dumb. I went to an [...]