T.G.I.F.: Thank God It’s Fixed

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THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T FORESEE THE CRISIS

HAVE ARRANGED TO OVERSEE ONE ANOTHER

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Consider how different life is after home ownership.  It’s not as different as life after parenthood, but it’s pretty different…beginning with that pesky business of handling all the Stuff that was, once upon a time, handled by Someone Else.

Think back, when it was just you in an apartment.  Those who cleaned and did laundry EVERY week were few…every other week was conscientious, every third week was fine and once a month wouldn’t get the neighbors talking.  Movies, museums, bars, bookstores, plays…”Attractions.”  Have car keys, will travel.  

Today, I know people who pick up groceries Friday afternoon on the way home from work, and who pretty much don’t get in the car again until they return to work on Monday morning.  And I am not talking about a nod to oil independence.

I am not talking about them living in mid-town Manhattan, and walk-walk-walking their way to fitness and culture.  I am talking about them living in suburbs…some of which, I’m not gonna lie, are almost eerily planned…and them pretty much not leaving their Ponderosa-slash-sphere of errands until it’s time to go back into the trenches and do it all again.  If the preoccupation featured more relaxation than maintenance, that would be one thing.   But spending one’s days off from the workplace working on the living space, well, it’s not for everyone.

Those would be childless people, mind.

Families hop onto a different treadmill on the weekend.  There’s the weekday routine and the weekend routine.  Anyone who’s been on one of those weekend routines will attest that, despite inordinate hours in Spectate Mode, there is a steady stream of outlays i.e. expenses i.e. Someone Else’s revenue.  But it’s not a lot of big-ticket items…the money just sort of gets pissed away.  Then there is the exhaustion factor and frequently the homework factor and ALWAYS the errand/chore factor such that, even among families with means, homeowners get out and kick it less than renters.  

A claim for which I have no statistical support, by the by.  SOMEONE’S got all that information, though. America is first and foremost a Moneyian Nation.  As a nation, American’s care more about money than about anything, that is my experience.  Introduce, or re-introduce Surveillance As Policy, and I am QUITE certain that we have been finely sliced and diced according to who spends how much when, where, on what, and how often. 

Getting out there and kicking it is good for the soul AND good for the economy.  Not that all those home repairs and improvements aren’t ALSO good for the economy, they are.  It’s a multi-faceted interconnected industry that constitutes the bread and butter for a huge segment of Earners and Families.  But a lot of that spending is not good for the soul, I am certain of it.

Not to say it isn’t good for some people.  Some people are natural homebodies.  Some people are natural hosts.  Some people really LIVE in a house, if y’know what I mean…the residential equivalent of being comfortable in your own skin.  More power to ‘em.  Those are the kind of people to whose houses people who don’t own houses like to be invited for the holidays.

But restaurant/retail/arts/sports/entertainment are multi-faceted and interconnected, too.  Taxis, limos, florists…many of them small businesses or owner/operators…are favorably impacted by people getting out and DOING stuff instead of staying home and BUYING stuff.  Hair and nail salons, dry cleaners, gyms are all favorably impacted by people getting out and DOING stuff instead of staying home and BUYING stuff.  Ditto theaters, restaurants and museums.

For real, you know what I think would do America a world of good?  Deliberate cultivation of a Pub Culture…not with an emphasis on booze but on pool and darts and ping pong and air hockey and music and camaraderie.  Sports and news and debates and presidential addresses and C-SPAN and cable…enjoyed at will in local company, rather than each lightly populated household paying for the same channels that they watch alone.  That’s Frugality AND Community…whatcha call a Win-Win.

“You wanna go where everybody knows your name” is exaggerated and unrealistic, like TV.  But I DO sense that, the incredible connectedness of the internet notwithstanding, Americans are much in need of some friendly faces and encouraging words, and I am NOT talking about Barack Obama’s image being beamed into every living room.

Now then, did you get the garbage disposal fixed?  And are you gonna finally clean up that mess in the garage, or are you gonna sit parked in front of your computer all weekend?

Love SO does not mean never having to say you’re sorry.

Having pointedly resolved to keep this post under a thousand words, I find that, oh so uncharacteristically, I have more than 200 words to spare.  I’m rich.

Hold a door for someone this weekend.  Do something nice for someone who doesn’t even realize you’re going out of your way to make an effort.

Go out for a meal with amusing reading material or a more amusing friend.

For a change, resist buying crap you don’t need…return home empty-handed.

For a bigger change, do something nice for yourself.

Naps are good.  Naps are also free.

Don’t think about the market until the opening bell.

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IF WE DIDN’T PANIC AFTER 9/11

WE DON’T NEED TO PANIC NOW

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