I worked at AIG during that crash, in their mortgage insurance subsidiary. To say we were hammered is a massive understatement. Two thirds of the company was la

I worked at AIG during that crash, in their mortgage insurance subsidiary. To say we were hammered is a massive understatement. Two thirds of the company was laid off during one week: the gating factor was meeting rooms in which to process the layoffs. Many of these people haven't fully recovered: they were "lifers" and most of their skills were tied to that specific company and industry. Free soda immediately went away, with a very lame justification ("it clogs the drains when people pour them down the sink"). There were news cameras parked outside for a couple weeks, trying to get sound bites from people coming and going. There were even a few attacks on employees in the streets immediately afterwards. We were encouraged to go out in small groups: alone, there was danger of being accosted by people who lost their mortgage, while in large groups it created the impression we didn't care about what was happening to the world outside. It was pretty intense. I'm glad I saw it as close as I did, but I'm not sure I would like to do that again.