Reply #9: you can see this feeling in the faces of strangers

[Batgirl]

I've noticed when out grocery shopping, how people seem to be more closed off from each other, not letting their eyes meet, not smiling. Standing in the long lines on the weekends, it's pretty silent except for the ambient background noise and the sounds of items being scanned into the register. People don't speak very much. They even seem to have less energy for yelling at their kids.

I've been saying for months that we are suffering from a mass depression. From being worried about so many things, our jobs, keeping warm this winter, gassing up our cars, keeping those battered vehicles running for yet another year because it's too scary to take out a new car loan. Wondering about those bright children whom we escorted to so many first-days-of-school, how we are ever going to be able to help them pursue a college education with money getting so tight. Even people who haven't discovered how to stay informed about the real news, manage to glean enough to know we're in darker times than we've ever seen. The MSM isn't completely effective at concealing this fact no matter now many times they revisit the Scott Peterson or Natalee Holloway cases.

I think overall people are very sad, and I think if they could articulate why it would sound a lot like what you said.