What's Down?

So I was doing the waitressing thing last night and had a party of two come in around 7:30, without reservations. They were waiting for two more friends, seemed fairly commonplace, ordered some Coconut Curry Vegetable soup, etc. Once their friends got there, I went to the table with more menus, ice waters, and I think I said, "what's up". One of the newbies laughed towards the table at large and said, "what's down rather?!" He kept on laughing kind of maniacally after that and made some other "what's up" jokes. They then proceeded to order a bottle of Yalumba Y Series (a very nice wine from our "bottle list"). When I came to the table with it, they told me to forget about the whole pour-a-little, tasting-ritual-nicety and slog each of them a full glass. They ordered another bottle after that, but the atmosphere of the group seemed to lag a bit near the end. I noticed the other newbie guy staring off, away from the table, and they all tore into their food like people who are trying to forget other matters. That said, they made for great tippers.

Until I was laying in bed last night, I didn't realize the significance of the fact that they were talking about stocks and portfolios too. Looks like yesterdays 777.68-point drop in the stock market had gotten to 'em. Only 6.98% of the total though (not a record-breaker itself.)