At 昀椀rst, Dad seemed happy about his decision. But as the night went on, he became quieter and looked worried. He wasn’t as fun to be with. He almost forgot to sit down with Lizzy to plan their trip, until Lizzy woke him up on the sofa. He had been watching a business program, and they were talking about some company that was laying-off people and another one that had gone out of business. “Dad, what does laying-off mean?” “Laying-off is when a company has too many people and lets some of them go home to 昀椀nd jobs with other companies.” “Why would they have too many people?” “Sometimes a company builds things that customers don’t want to buy, or sometimes a company has people who aren’t doing their job, so they have to go.” “Dad, what does going out of business mean?” Dad was getting a little impatient, but was touched by his daughter’s innocence and interest. “Going out of business is when a company closes its doors. It tells everyone to go home and 昀椀nd another job. And before you ask, Lizzy, the reason a company does that is because it has no purpose anymore. It can’t function, or people don’t work together, or maybe a competitor 昀椀gures a better way to do what they do.” Lizzy was quiet. 6