Mary Pilon:

As the financial markets continue their wildest ride in decades, many once-frantic floor traders find themselves all dressed up in mesh-backed jackets with less work to do. Some say they're flat-out bored.

Alan Valdes, a trader with Hilliard Lyons, says he's put on 10 pounds in the past year because "I don't have to run around the floor anymore."

Carolyn Johnson:

We are most human when we feel dull. Lolling around in a state of restlessness is one of life's greatest luxuries.

Troy McClure:

Don't let the name throw you Jimmy. It's not really a floor, it's more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported.

From the archive:

The looming demise of the "time lady," as she's come to be known, marks the end of a more genteel era, when we all had time to share.