Trading Places

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Employees of Lehman Brothers and insurance giant AIG looking to cry in their beer following a week of turmoil at the troubled companies can at least find a half-priced drink at one Chicago restaurant.

“Everybody is freaking out. We wanted to do something to make their day a little better,” said Scott Weiner, co-owner of The Fifty/50 restaurant that is offering half-off bar and restaurant tabs for anyone who can prove they work or worked for AIG or Lehman Brothers.

Lehman’s parent company filed for bankruptcy this week and AIG was bailed out by the U.S. government. In addition to job losses, the former’s stock traded for pennies while the latter was below $5 a share.

The offer is good Sunday through Thursday until October at the restaurant west of downtown Chicago. Weiner said 20 or 30 people, many of whom he had gotten to know while managing another restaurant frequented by employees of the financial companies, had already accepted the half-price discount.