Divorce is Up, Personal Trainers Down

[marmar]

from HuffPost:




Vicky Ward
Divorce is Up, Personal Trainers Down
Posted July 21, 2008 | 09:24 AM (EST)




Last week, in the wake of the near-implosion of mortgage insurer Fannie Mae, and with rumors swirling about the fate of Lehman Brothers, where the stock has plummeted 70 percent, I got an email from a friend. Instead of his usual pithy jokes - he sent me his investment fund's second quarter report.

He wrote:

"Even as skeptics, we were amazed that the Federal Reserve kept interest rates so low for so long, that Congress and the Administration spent money so flagrantly, that lenders reduced their credit standards to such lax levels, and that consumers continued spending as their economic prospects dimmed."

The world is now feeling the downside of such profligacy, and there is likely more bad news to come."

The pressing question, as I look around, is at what cost to us is this bad news - not just in economic terms?

Bruce Yaffe, MD, who has a practice at Lenox Hill hospital, notes that he is seeing a surge in stress-related illnesses - from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, to acid reflux, to headaches, to musculoskeletal symptoms and sleep disturbance.

Dr. John Ryder, a New York stress management specialist says he is seeing more people resorting to pills and alcohol.

....(snip)....

Divorce rates are up; personal trainers are losing their clients. No one has the time or inclination to work out.

The toll of all this is unguessable. Physical breakdown occurs after two years of major stress, according to the sociologist Alvin Toffler. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicky-ward/divorce-is-up-personal-tr_b_113999.html

[sui generis]

1. Well I know of at least two incidents

where the trainer was the cause of the divorce. :blush:

Lehman is hurting though for sure. I almost took an EVP job with them last year in Dallas but steered away when they didn't match my existing comp/package.

It's tough out there if you don't have a special and in-demand skill set; add that to people living in constant fear of downsizing, living paycheck to paycheck in a soft job market, with kids, upside down mortgages or growing negative net worths, and the "middle class" is truly under stress.

Put enough pressure on any container and it will implode.