Musings on a "Stupider" Workforce

I've gotten used to my funemployed status pretty quickly. My days go something like this:

Wake up. Make coffee. Shower (or not). Check Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, etc. Run errands. Take nap. Check Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, etc. Exercise. Have dinner. Check Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, etc.

You get the point.

Somewhere between checking Facebook for the first and second time, I try to get out and about so that there is some live social interaction (as compared to the online kind) that occurs in my day. No one wants to become the unemployed hermit who hasn't exchanged slippers for sneakers in more than a week. And what I've noticed after 3 whole, big days of not going to work is that there are a TON of people just like me out and about.

Exhibit A: I went to Trader Joe's at 11:30 today. I had to wait in a line to get into the parking lot for just as long as if it were a Saturday afternoon.

Exhibit B: My neighborhood is buzzing with 20 & 30 somethings sipping their coffee at one of the local cafes all day long.

Sure, some may be grad students or have occupations that require odd hours (think hospitals or restaurants), but I can't imagine those people constitute the entirety of the full parking lot at TJ's this a.m.

Okay, I'll get to the point already. It seems probable that many of these individuals with plentiful weekday free time are the recent wave of layoff victims. So, what isn't being accomplished if all these people aren't doing whatever it is they used to do? And given that many of these people may ultimately decide to change careers, what is being lost in the shuffle?

Take the advertising executive who is fed up with the churn and burn culture and decides to catch her breath while making smoothies for a living. Or the mechanical engineer who worked for Ford for 30 years and can't find a job in his industry, so he decides to start a dog-walking business. These professionals have knowledge and experience that will be lost forever to their respective fields. What is the impact of this phenomenon on the American workforce? Will we slip even further behind in the race to make efficient automobiles, cure cancer or develop the most innovative social media ad campaign??? Is this the beginning of the decline of the American industry? Will a less experienced workforce steer us into mediocrity?

These are big questions and probably too much for one unemployed soul to take on in a single afternoon. If anyone has any thoughts on the matter, please chime in. In the meantime, I better take a nap and check Facebook.