The economy that could not be knocked down. You barely needed to be present to win. It was success by osmosis for many who strolled the sidelines watching as IPOs exploded, as portfolios grew fat. The glow splashed over, even if the riches didn't. But as much as the glad gas infused daily life on the way up, gloom has infected everyday life on the way down.
Money can buy happiness, and plenty are still plenty rich from the ride up.
They're probably not so gloomy. In fact, a relative few did. The dessert potluck at my daughter's preschool is an upbeat affair. Cake-fueled kids scampering over jungle gyms, swinging from ropes, digging up sand. Joe was a Web producer, a job that sounded so cool that fall workday.