Terrorism as an excuse for downsizing?

Okay. I'm going to be rather brief here.

I just read that Sara Lee laid off some 14,000+ workers. Sara Lee. You know. "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!"

Uh... why?

Certainly this wasn't impacted by the terrorist strikes. "Since September 11, people have lost their desire to eat delicious pastries and the like, so to break even, we have to lay off 14,000 of our workers." Come on. I believe that it was affected for a couple days - none of us were eating properly afteward. But it's not like it just stopped.

What about some of these other companies that blame September 11? I was reading one about a local company in Fairfax that "had a solid business play, and were about to start making a profit. But after September 11, it all went downhill." This is, of course, the excuse for them going bankrupt. They were a technology company. I'm sorry. But what a fucking excuse. Are you serious?

How many of these have you seen? Ridiculous claims blaming the terrorists on a failed business plan. Man. What next? "Well, I'm sorry I burnt the quesadillas, but after September 11, I just haven't been able to flip a tortilla right..." Whatever.

Let's be concerned for Boeing's commercial staff, places like Airtours, American Airlines, etc. They have legitimate claims. Places that were hit obviously suffered big damages. "Aerial Tours of the World Trade Center, Inc" isn't coping so well. But come on. Ma & Pa's Ice Cream Shop doesn't need to close its doors because of the terrorist attacks. They close their doors because they aren't making money.