"According to the experts," I say solemnly, "the economic recession ended some time ago -- way back in mid-1991. We're supposed to be knee-deep in an age of prosperity now."
Christiana Ford chuckles, although I hadn't intended to be funny.
"I'm serious," I say. "The recession is over and done with."
"Well," Ms. Ford says, still smiling. "You couldn't prove that by me."
Ms. Ford, 33, is an attractive, well-spoken woman dressed in a gray business suit. We were sitting yesterday in the food arcade at Owings Mills Mall. It was early evening. Hanukkah music filled the air. Christmas lights sparkled gaily. A steady flow of shoppers streamed around us, many of them already toting bulging shopping bags.
Miss Ford was not at the mall to shop, however. She was looking for a job.
"Any takers?" I ask.
"Not yet," Ms. Ford answers cheerfully. "People are very nice, though. They're very happy to take my application and they promise to get back to me, so I'm not really worried."
Ms. Ford tells me she has been out of work for nearly four months. A Chicago native, she moved to Baltimore earlier this year with the expectation of getting married. But that relationship ended and she has been struggling to support herself ever since. She says that if she cannot find a job soon, she may be forced to cut expenses by selling her car -- though selling her car would make it much harder to find and keep a job.
"I'm surprised to find you in such good humor," I say.
She shrugs. "It's all part of the process. Times are hard now, but I have faith they won't always be like this."
Ms. Ford's attitude was typical of what I found when I took my annual holiday tour yesterday. Malls ring this city like glittering fairy tale kingdoms, each with a melodic name: Golden Ring, Owings Mills, Westview, Hunt Valley. Each year, I venture forth to see how the other half lives.
And nearly all those I met in these fantasy lands said that they -- or someone close to them -- were weathering some kind of economic crisis. But people said they felt good nonetheless: grateful for small blessings, optimistic about the future.
In fact, this holiday season seems to have begun on a high note -- in stark contrast to the mood the past several years when everyone seemed to teeter on the brink of ruin. Retailers today report sales are brisk. Unemployment is down. Inflation is low. The state reports a surge in revenue collected through sales taxes -- which comes as welcome news to all of us, I'm sure.
But this year's good cheer seems shaky to me -- as if we are only just recovering from a long illness and still feel feverish.
In fact, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported last month that there are definite winners and losers in this recovery. Mostly losers. The gap between rich and poor was wider last year than ever before in the nation's history, according to the Washington-based research group. And the national poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, meaning nearly 40 million Americans live in misery.
Meanwhile, there is an unprecedented insecurity for working and middle class families, sparked in part by the seemingly endless rounds of layoffs as corporate executives sought to improve their ledgers by cutting the work force. People seem much more afraid today than in the past: afraid of getting laid off, afraid of crime, afraid of losing ground on life's treadmill.
"I don't know anyone who has made it -- in the traditional sense of the word," Ms. Ford is saying. "Everybody seems to be struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay their bills on time, struggling to find ways to increase their income. I may have it worse than my friends, but nobody is, like, cruising through life right now."
"So, do you or do you not believe me when I say the recession ended three years ago?"
Ms. Ford chuckles again. "Maybe it did. Maybe the recession ended three years ago and the depression began."
"So why do you keep on laughing?"
Ms. Ford grins at me. "What else are you going to do?"