Today I noticed that people were more relaxed, almost resigned to something I could not see with my eyes. I could sure feel it, whatever it was. I figured since it was my only day off, Tuesday, I'd take a drive. I thought about going to a favorite coffee house in Vallejo called Listen and Be Heard. It is where poets gather and good coffee is served. At the last minute I headed toward the I80 instead.
The gas station where I filled up last week at $2.45 a gallon, today advertised gas at $2.68 a gallon. I turned on the radio and thought about the inflation our president spoke of as being at an all time low just yesterday while in New Mexico. I wondered when we could get some relief before I had to resort in raising my prices--just one more added expense to my clients already stretched budgets. Then as if on cue, the news announced that our prime rate is due to increase by a sizeable amount which means our credit card interest rates are about to go up. Great. Friggin great.
I ended up at a new casino just 20 miles away. It was totally packed. People from every walk of life were plunking their dollars away. Me too. I enjoyed myself and didn't spend too much, thank God. On the way home, every restaurant and bar was packed. I guess folks figured like I did, that what the hell. Better spend it before some stranger claims it as their interest.
We are in an unhealthy period financially. It is nationwide. The trick is to eat very little, do next to nothing unless it involves earning a living, and invest anything you have leftover into something that has a chance of earning money. I asked folks at the slot machines what they thought about the economy. They all had lost money in their retirement plans--blue collar workers and average middle class folks. What struck me as one of those things where you just go "huh...", was that every person I spoke to figured they had a better chance of bettering their current situation through gambling! Holy Smokes! I went there to win as well. Who gambles to lose? Still, we must ask ourselves, when did investing in a financial portfolio become too much of a gamble to risk that people are suddenly more willing to gamble in casinos?
I hope the nation's economy heals soon. I know that something good has to come from all our lamentations. Right? Right?
Right?
1 comment:
A caller to a local radio station was complaining about the rising cost of gas. She said it was costing her almost twice what it used to to drive to work. Her daily one way commute--63 miles. What did she drive to and from work 5 days a week? A fullsized 4-wheel drive SUV. 18 mpg tops. She and her husband had, within the past two years, purchased a home in the rural northwestern 'burbs, even though she worked in the rural southeastern 'burbs.
We might feel so comfortable, so satisfied that we know there are many places in our budgets that we could cut if we really needed to. Maybe we are used to hearing about retirement plans losing equity. Maybe we assume that if we don't have to have the money today we really don't need it. Maybe our lives are giong so good that we really don't have to pay much attention to the minute details.
Maybe we have grown fat and comfortable. And, won't someone take care of us if real trouble ever comes? L
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