This year's recession has been blamed for everything from a decline in Yankee game turnout to a rise in former computer programmers turned Joe the Winos flooding major urban streets bearing request for patronage signs that read: “Will Code HMTL for food.”

       Therefore, without further ado, NEWD has compiled a list of the most quirky and intriguing byproducts of the global economic downturn.

       Many of the following items, although a bit cynical, will give you incredible insight into the human condition and prove that, while individuals have been coping fairly well within this ailing world economy, it may only be a matter of time before an angry, unemployed woman with curlers beats down a Chinese food delivery guy for his moo goo gai pan.

        Still, if you begin to feel like we’re moving into the I Am Legend stage, let’s recalibrate and remember our DNA’s divine imprint.

1. Girl Scout Thin Mints Take a Hit

Sales of Girl Scout cookies are down 20 percent his year. If a customer was purchasing six to eight boxes,” said Marianne Love, the group’s director of business services, “now they’re purchasing three or four.”

2. Pay to Pee When You Fly

While the comforts of pillows, checked luggage, and seat assignments for overweight passengers seemed to be fair casualties in the game of low-cost carriers countering flagging profits, who would have ever guessed European airline Ryanair would actually consider charging passengers $1.50 for each use of the on-board toilets.

3. Do the Wild Thing

Amazingly, it turns out that less money equals more sex. Durex condoms reports that drugstore sales of their condoms were up 6% during the time Lehman went under. And, sales in the New York City sex toy emporium Babeland increased 25% in that same time period.

4. Stuck Up Retail Store Finally Bows

For months, Abercrombie & Fitch, the teenage apparel chain specializing in casual luxury, has been posting some of the worst sales declines in the retailing industry – a $28 million lost since last year. Yet, the purveyor of $50 tank tops and $60 shorts refused to lower its prices to preserve its “juicy, posh, Halle from The Hills brand.” On May 15, the chain finally bit the bullet and said it would seek better deals on its merchandise from suppliers and pass the savings along.

5. It’s Been 5 years, but hey...Seek God While He May Be Found, right?

Congregational growth at evangelical churches jumped 50 percent during each recession between 1968 and 2004, according to a new Texas State University study. The pattern has since repeated itself.

6. Forget the Club, Baby…Let’s Hit the Library!

In Canada and - indeed, around the world - public library visits are up and are expected to continue rising this year. In a time of belt-tightening, libraries provide cheap and, depending on the location, free entertainment, as well as a haven for the unemployed. "We're kind of a recession sanctuary," said Gerry Meek, director of the Calgary Public Library.

7. For a Glass of Water and a Crust of Bread?

Watch out for restaurants that help themselves to your wallet by serving you an extra side of super sneaky charges during this recession. Restaurant critic Tim Zagat claims these inane charges have irritated the customer. Noted on the menu, but not mentioned by the waiter at New York restaurant Bobo, is a $1-per-person charge for tap water at West Village restaurant as well as $3 for bread and another $2 for butter at Company in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC. 

8. Embarrassed Yankees Serve up Sweet Seats

With TV cameras showing embarrassingly empty seats behind home plate, The New York Yankees have halved the price of the most expensive tickets at their new, $1.5 billion park from $2,500 to $1,2500.

9. Legal Sex Clubs Sweeten The Pot

In Germany, one of the few countries where prostitution is legal, the industry has responded with an economic stimulus package of its own. Some brothels have cut prices or added free promotions, while others have introduced all-inclusive flat-rate fees. Free shuttle buses, discounts for seniors and taxi drivers, as well as "day passes" are among marketing strategies designed to keep business going. Berlin's Pussy Club has attracted media attention with its headline-grabbing "flat rate" – a €70 admission charge for unlimited food, drink and sex between 10am and 4pm.

10. Brown-Nosers and Butt-Kissers Lay It On Thick

From staying late and begging for more assignments to dressing “all spiffy and dry-cleaned,” employees everywhere suddenly seem to be unusually eager to please. Some bosses see this as paranoia over prospective layoffs. “Everytime I turn around, there is someone sticking their head in my office reminding me of what they’re doing for me,” said Trevor Traina, who heads the Silicon Valley start-up DriverSide.com

11. Live In Style for a While

According to The Arizona Republic, the housing downturn has sparked demand for live-in “home stagers.” Houses that sit empty attract vandals and varmints – no small part of the reason they often take longer to sell. One solution is to hire a housesitter who, in exchange for cheap rent, promises to keep the place in tiptoe shape until it sells.

12. Jobless Dads = Mr. Moms

With men experiencing 82 percent of the recession’s job losses due to industry cuts in finance, manufacturing and construction, jobless dads are left at home to fill the role of Mr. Mom. Psych! In actuality, millions of laid-off dads across the U.S. are loafing around at home sleeping, watching TV, surfing job boards and playing Madden Live. Men tend to correlate their masculine identity with having a job, so a jobless man is a depressed, angry man who eats chips and dip at home all day. Women aren’t taking it lying down, though. New feminist authors are encouraging women to use their earning power to "commit to breaking the female pattern of over-functioning." In essence, women are being encouraged to use the fact that their husbands were laid off as a way to get the men to act like women at home. Way to go!

13. Realized: The Weedhead’s dream of colorful unicorns and… a stable economy!

California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has finally requested a full debate on the legalization of marijuana. On May 19, his words broke a long-standing taboo among both Republicans and Democrats who have previously felt obliged to say marijuana must remain illegal, and marijuana users and pushers be subject to criminal prosecution. Thus, bongs and novelty pipes may now be sold at your local grocer. Mom…good luck explaining that to little Timmy!