I was average people and watched a lot of layoffs happen over it.

It didn't feel that way, not like 2006 felt. I think the crash got quickly overshadowed by 9/11. I also believe that the bubble itself was actually managed better, instead of becoming instant tax cuts and handouts like bubbles under Republicans, so the fallout didn't feel so bad.

Being close to tech, it was a hard time with friends losing their jobs.

Yes. It affected the entire economy. I was young, but I remember people around me being worried about losing their jobs, some losing their jobs, and some unable to find jobs (everyone around me were factory workers). The data seems to reflect this: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE. The system depends on the rich investing their money, and when they get scared to invest in "productive" enterprises, they just stash their money in "unproductive" stuff like government bonds (which should actually signal to the government that the government should borrow and spend on productive stuff to take advantage of low borrowing costs, but the government is stupid and usually does austerity instead).