Column: It's the Economy, Stupid!

Sorry about that snarky title, friends, but by now, we're all pretty much sick of The Economy. Yes, that would be the "Sick Economy." Or maybe it's that The Economy MAKES us sick. Whatever. But there is one side of The Economy that I'm not seeing much about on all of the "Main Stream Media" outlets. So (serious journalist that I am) I decided it was my duty to take it on myself. That little-seen side of The Economy is the extreme pressure that The Bad Economy puts on a marriage. That's right: all over the place we hear about The Economy as it pertains to...Wall Street. The crashing numbers; the tumbling Dow; the greed of Wall Street movers and shakers. Or the dreaded Ponzi Schemes (think Bernard Madoff), the fraudulent investment scam that pays investors returns out of their own money or the money of subsequent investors. Nope, it wasn't pretty, people!

Although Wall Street gets most of the media attention when it comes to The Economy, there are other aspects of The Economy raising their, umm...ugly? heads. Take, for example, the following: An artful QUILTED depiction of the "Snowballing Economy." My friend Lorraine Navone, a world-class quilter, could probably explain this concept much better than I...So who says losing money can't be fun?! And tasteful, too...Yes, stay inside your own cozy home and create a quilted momento of the "Snowballing Economy" like this one below: (See the snowballs? Those round white thingies..)

We've been pounded over the head until we're senseless about our "Unsustainable Economy." Now what does that mean, exactly? Do we even know? Maybe it means the "State of the Union" as represented here...Yikes, this doesn't look good, folks:

And if the U.S. Economy is "Unsustainable" - what does that do for another faction of The Economy? That's right: the "Global Economy." Yes, Virginia, it's quite a puzzle...But moving back closer to home, what we are all looking for right now is good..."Fuel Economy!!" Remember those $4.50 per gallon fuel prices? Yes, fuel costs have dropped to less than half that amount, but look out! Those prices could go escalating right back up there...especially when those countries in the Middle East are holding the deed to the world's largest oil supply, and it's buried somewhere beneath all that sand. So we like this kind of ad these days:

But remember when "Economy" wasn't always such ummm...a 7-letter word? No, it wasn't a bad word at all. For example, there was never a question about whether we wanted to "Fly Economy" - I mean, who could afford First Class?

But the notion of flying - or traveling anywhere for that matter - has been foreshadowed by The Economy. So many Economies...So little time. We hear more and more about a new and GREENER "Energy Economy..."

Or how about the Economy and the GDP? Look at the effect it's had on retailers and other institutions...Did you ever think Mervyn's would go out of business? Or Circuit City? Or all those newspapers? I mean - what's next????????????????

And if all of the doom and gloom predictions about The Terrible Economy wasn't enough, we've all been remembering what our dads used to remind us of on practically a DAILY basis! You know...about how "Money doesn't exactly grow on trees....!"

So we're tightening our belts and making our own lattes and growing our own veggies and playing cards at night instead of going to the movies or out to expensive dinners. Yes, today we are moving into a new, more "Creative Economy"...

But sometimes, we just want to say: "THIS ECONOMY SUCKS!!!!!" So maybe we do a little STIMULATING of The Economy and purchase a cute little purse like this one...just to, you know, let our true feelings out of the "bag" a bit...

But, like I said way back up there at the top of this post...nobody's said much about one particular aspect of The Economy as it relates to today...particularly now that our bottom lines are headed here.....................................

So if you would like to read my thoughts on The Economy and how it relates to Marriage, jump on over here: (and hey! I promise: it won't cost you a penny!) Thanks for reading :) http://www.mushroom-city-memoirs-the-column.blogspot.com/.