Boxville

On the first Monday of summer vacation out came the blocks for their first use in a long, long time. An hour later, Boxville had sprung to life, with a train circulating around the village.

Out in our global village, as I returned home from shopping today, I had to park a block over (due to street cleaning restrictions) where a passing woman asked me for a dollar. "I just lost...my job," she explained. I didn't have a dollar bill but I gave her my change, which came to 62 cents.

She examined the coins closely and thanked me.

"I lost my job five months ago," I told her.

"How long does unemployment last?" she asked.

"A long time, that's one of the good things Obama has done," I answered. "And you should qualify if you were laid off."

"Oh, Obama," she pronounced his name slowly, as if she hadn't heard about him in a while.

"There are a lot of people out of work," I continued. "The official figures say 10 percent but that's only the people who report in. I wouldn't be surprised if it is really closer to 20 percent."

"When will it get better?"

By now I was turning the corner, and she was heading straight. "A long time," I called over my shoulder. "Good luck to you."