"We should've held onto that camping gear"

This was Bob's comment to me last night when he told me about layoffs at the company where he works. Thirty or so people were laid off, and a little over a hundred remain. Bob is still there, but the tone of the company staff meeting was very guarded. A friend of mine in Ohio used to joke that you should "always be prepared to live in your car." I laughed then. Now, not so much. I did make Bob get rid of his primitive, circa 1950's camping gear to make room for horse blankets in our garage. This was a good decision -- we'll go to Cabela's if we have to!

We both feel relief that he is still employed for now, but he knows a number of the folks who weren't so lucky -- people with families, with chronic illnesses who need insurance, who did good work for the company. What a tragedy. Bob's company (chemical/electronics industry) has plenty of orders but their clients can't secure loans. Banks want to keep their money under the mattress. Bob would give you an earful about the banking debacle and who is bearing the brunt of this crisis. I'm not as inclined to pontificate -- er, expound, but here is an image that I think describes our economic situation. Can you guess the metaphor???