I do not want to be presumptuous and come off badly by trying to show my expertise in economic affairs, but you do not need to be a financial strategist to realize that the economic situation we are going through in this country is calamitous and the worst crisis since the 1930s.

And why do I say you do not need to be an economist to know it? Because we are the ones on the bottom, the marginalized, the poor, who are the first to feel firsthand the disaster our nation is facing.

How am I in particular being affected by the spectacular fall of investment companies Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch? (Understand that I am a poor devil the same or worse than any common mortal.)

As a gypsy cab driver, I have spent my whole life scraping by to achieve the little that I have, and I was lucky to work for a very prestigious taxi company in the city, which had a juicy contract with Lehman Brothers. I thought that my daily salary was secure, and I earned some $250.00 from the vouchers that I received. Every morning we lined up in front of Lehman Brothers waiting for our assignment. On September 15th, we did the same. Without knowing what was happening, I parked my taxi in the usual line – it was 9:00 a.m. – and I began to get impatient because I saw how executives I had never seen before in jeans were coming in and out with boxes. And just at that moment I was going to call the base.

The dispatcher asked those of use waiting at Lehman Brothers to get out of the line and come to the office for an emergency meeting.

When I found out about the situation, it was like being hit with a cold bucket of water, since I did not have the chance to cash in my vouchers, which totaled some $2,000. For now, the company tells us that there is no solvency to pay some $80,000 to their drivers, because between Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, the base is owed some $130,000.

Now you can see how this imbroglio affects us directly, especially those of us on the bottom. I ask myself how I can pay my monthly expenses, which I incurred thinking that these solid companies could never go bankrupt. And my children’s school and my car payment and insurance?

One thing I am conscious of is that the CEOs of these companies will not have the economic concerns that we have because, from what I understand, the president of Lehman Brothers earned $22 million last year. It seems that he could not prevent the avalanche that came down on him, or maybe he did not care what happened to me or you or whoever.

What is strange about all of this is that you trust these crazy people with your money and your life’s sacrifices. I can tell you that they are inept. I have taken them everywhere and I know what kind of people they are.

Yesterday, I went by Lehman Brothers out of custom more than for any good reason, and I saw Mr. Taylor, a gentleman who sells donuts and coffee in front of the office. The only difference was that the interminable line I used to see had been reduced to three or four poor souls.

While the world continues on its shaky course, the rest of us pay the tab in silence because we have no other choice.

José Polanco works for First Class, unit 427, and he writes from the Bronx.