Want to get a feel for just how bad our economic morass really is? Just glance at the front page of today’s newspaper.

Better yet, you could have been at Springfield Country Club yesterday.

Delaware County Council held a job fair there. That’s not that unusual. Different organizations hold these affairs all the time. It’s a time to network, maybe look for other opportunities.

Yesterday it provided something else. A lifeline.

More than 1,200 people showed up. They were all looking for one thing: a job.

People started arriving at 8:15 a.m. The doors were not supposed to open until 9. You’d think they were selling Phillies tickets.

Maybe Jeff Vermeulen, president at the Delaware County Chamber of Comerce, one of the organizations that teamed with County Council to put the event together, summed it up best.

“It’s like Wal-Mart on Black Friday,” the business boss said.

Only these people were buying; they were selling. Themselves. To any prospective employer who would listen.

It’s something a lot of people take for granted. A job. A place to go when you get up. Purpose to your daily life and a paycheck to show for it.

No one is taking it for granted anymore.

Especially the 1,200 people who showed up at Springfield Country Club yesterday.