A friend of mine sent around an email this morning, and it struck me as one of the most eloquent and pointed queries I have seen in a long time. I am sharing this with you with his permission. He raises some great points, and some really thought provoking questions. So please, give his letter some thought, and share your feelings. I will share mine too...
Someone please ‘splain to me.....
...what is going on!
The Dow dropped some 200-points today. Oil, I hear, went up again. I suspect the price of gas will be higher tomorrow when I go to the pump.
A restaurant down the street from here closed its door. It seems people stopped coming, at least not enough people to keep them in business. Another local foodery raised their prices, because the cost of food is going up, while another place, I’m told, is reducing the size of their portions so they don’t have to change the prices on the menu.
A few stores in the neighborhood are promoting this or that sale. One proprietor tells me that traffic is down about 25 percent, and sales are down nearly 50 percent. She’s not sure she can pay the rent on the place next month.
I know a woman who has to drive all day for her job. She gets reimbursed for her travel. But her company has not increased her mileage rate, so by her estimate, she is losing money each week. What her company did do was change the rules of her reimbursement so that she loses about 15 miles a day. The memo said something like "due to economic concerns, the reimbursement plan has been revised......yadayadayada." To her mind, she is now taking money out of her own pocket to serve her employer’s customers.
At least she has a job. I have three neighbors who have been either laid off, or asked to take early retirement. And another, who works on commission, says he’s making about 40 percent of what he made a year ago. He sells high-end electronics. Nobody is buying high-end electronics. He cancelled his family’s vacation.
So did we.
Milk costs about 50% more than it did a year ago. Our family grocery bill is about the same as it was a year ago. But only because we buy less. We are more careful. We clip coupons. We eat less. But we eat. We’re OK.
The cost of the oil to heat our house is higher, substantially higher. The company that takes away our trash raised its rate a few months back, because their costs were increasing. The local pizza place just added a 50-cent surcharge for deliveries. We don’t go out to restaurants for dinner more than once a month anymore, if that.
There are houses in our town, more than I can count, with "For Sale" signs with the additional message: "Price Reduced."
What’s going on? What happened?
I understand the basic principle of cause-and-effect. But the best I can tell, Im only seeing ‘effect’.
If there is something I have done to cause the price of my oil, gas, food go up, please tell me.
If there is something I have done to make it more difficult – if not potentially impossible – for my son to get a loan for his next year of college, please tell me.
If there is something I should have done to protect what little investments I have left, I am all ears.
Here’s what really stumps me:
Let’s say I am making the same money I made last year. (I’m not, but let’s just say).
Let’s say my basic household expenses are up, oh, 10-percent from a year ago. (I’m being conservative.)
What say we do what we can as a family to reduce our expenses to try to maintain our basic lifestyle but, as I’ve said earlier, we cut back on things like food, vacations, 401K contributions, and that new TV for the living room.
Will we survive? Probably. Hopefully.
But what is the impact of our tightening belts? Will another restaurant close because we aren’t eating out? Will another store go under because we aren’t shopping there? Will my milk, oil and gas get more expensive because we are buying less? Will another neighbor lose his or her job because an employer is also tighten its belt? Will mine?
Now I can see ‘cause’. I, yes me, I can cause financial hardship because I have reduced my financial contribution to my community – not because I want to, I just have to. You understand.
So, I guess it’s ultimately my fault that restaurants and businesses close, neighbors lose jobs, houses get foreclosed, and student loans vanish.
I now understand that is my fault that I fill my tank in my moderately fuel-efficient car to get to work. It is also, I assume, my fault that I don’t fill my tank more often. I both drive too much, and not enough.
If I, an American worker and consumer, is at the heart and core of our economy, I guess the problems (dare I say ‘crisis’) that we are facing ultimately come down to me. That’s what I was taught and told.
But please forgive me if all of this confuses me. I guess I am just not smart enough to understand. Perhaps I misunderstood what I was told when I was growing up: That if you work hard, are honest, are caring and trust in those around you, you will survive, heck, you might even excel.
Guess I need to have a good talkin’ to with my Dad. Which I’ll do after he figures out how to deal with Medicare, Social Security and the rising cost of his medication. But that’s a conversation for another day.
My conversation is with....hmmm.....I’m not sure who I need to talk to. Who raised my gas prices, my food, my oil, my milk? Who cut my neighbor’s commission, her reimbursement, his cost-of-living adjustment? Who crashed my friend’s mortgage? Who caused the layoffs? Who made the airline charge me for checked baggage? Who made the Dow drop 220 points today?
I’m not a ‘finger-pointer’. I am more a ‘boot-strapper’. You get down, you find a way to get back up. You’re up? You lend a hand to those who need a boost. It’s a communal thing. You see the situation, you identify the problem. You assess, confer, conspire (in a good way), and resolve.
This one’s got me stumped.
I’m just wondering if someone has an answer.
John