Bread and Butter

It's chilly and damp early the in morning as I drag our garbage can to the curb on garbage pick-up day. Across the street Bob, who has just brought out his garbage, is standing outside his van, in his jeans, work boots and leather jacket, organizing some stuff inside, getting ready to go to work. He's an electrical contractor, wiring houses and small businesses here on the coast and in other parts San Mateo County. Bob's wife Sally teaches part time in the local school district. They've got a kid in high school and one in college.

I cross the street to say hello.

"How's business these days?" I ask Bob.

He smiles and shakes his head, then looks up at me. "You know, Aryae, I'm very fortunate. We have a customer base that we've built up over many years that's very loyal and still keeps doing business with us. What we provide is pretty basic; when you turn the switch, you want the lights to go on, right? But for us so far, we're still keeping bread and butter on the table." He smiles and gives me a thumbs up sign.

"Where are you seeing your best opportunities right now?"

"You know," he says, "I'll tell you something interesting. Where we're seeing new activity is with high end jobs on expensive homes. I don't know why that is. Not much is going on in the middle and lower end of the market. But it seems that people with lots of money are shaking some of it loose."

He closes the rear doors on the van and walks around to the driver's side. "The job I'm going to today is a $250,000 kitchen remodel."

"Well, good luck on that one!" I say.

He looks at me a minute before opening the door. "You know, I honestly don't know how the other guys around here are doing, the ones that haven't been around as long as I have. But so far I'm doing fine." He gets into the van, rolls down the window and starts the engine. "No dessert, mind you, but plenty of bread and butter!" He smiles, waves and drives off.

Please share your story of hope and opportunity in the economy of 2009.