Recovery from the recession, if indeed that’s the proper term for what’s going on today, has turned out to be almost as dangerous and difficult as the recession itself. The traditional down-and-up cycle which distributors by time honored tradition have been programmed to expect just hasn’t happened this time around. Instead of the neat, sharp snap-back of pent-up demand, the re-hirings, the gearing up we’ve been conditioned to look for, there has been little, if any perceptible shift away from the cautious, tight-fisted buying policies evolved in the depths of the recession.