By middle age, one would think that you might understand the happenings in life better. But I find myself not understanding more people in more ways...
Case in point: Economy
Economy is the movement of money from one person to another. It is conceivable that with just a few wealthy people within a town, the town’s economy would thrive by circulating the money and thrive if there were some clever people able to bring more money into the town to circulate more at a faster rate. For this to happen, everyone needs to understand their function in that economy.
There are bakers, and butchers. There are nurse and doctors. There are gardeners and merchants. There are teachers and mechanics. There are postal workers and street cleaners. There are repair men, paper delivery people, artists, manufacturers, computer programmers, inventors, gas station attendant, hat check or coat check attendants, restroom attendants, door men, elevator attendants, store clerks, chefs, tailors, people that get paid to do any number of jobs and services… necessary for the humanity of a civilized world.
Everyone that works in the town employs other people in the town. In fact, for a good thriving economy, the more people each and every person can employ to do the smallest of tasks, through business, the better the economy. Imagine the possibilities!
Take my neighbor… Please… He’s a lawyer, a professional, well, at one time that was considered a profession, with status. But this guy, who is an example of his generation and the problem with society today, is that he does everything himself. He hates to pay anyone for anything he can do half as well.
Handy as he may consider his attempts at home maintenance and repair, his house is not the jewel on the street. In fact, he does most things less than adequate. But he does it himself and he’s happy with the shabby look, I suppose, because he didn’t pay anyone else to do it. He fails to add to the economy. He doesn’t pay gardeners, landscape architects, fence builders, painters, car mechanics, OH NO! He makes regular runs to the liquor store and shovels landscaping rocks for hours on end. I heard he wonder why his business is so slow… and why people have started filling out legal documents themselves…. He was serious.
And his wife…she works outside the home. Of course she does. Instead of being an example of morality to the community, instead of volunteering her time, she slaves in an office for someone else who obviously doesn’t pay her very much because this lawyer’s little wife, cleans her own house, washes her own car, helps her husband paint decks. They often eat at Mc Donald’s, Taco Bell or order Pizza Delivery. No nice restaurants for this working woman of the 21st century married to a lawyer, no shopping sprees… she lives a lower working class life style and calls herself liberated.
And their child… it’s all about day care, baby!
These aren’t the only folks that have personally shared their ability to do everything for themselves.
The Periodontist stained his deck. The dentist repaired some flooring. The Marketing Director of a Major corporation can be seen every week cutting his own yard. The Bank President was seen changing the oil in his car. The Million Dollar Sales Person who irons her own clothes. The Teacher-of-the-Year cuts her own children’s hair. The Computer Programmer builds bed frames for his kid’s bedrooms. The Doctor of Science painted his office at work!
Every time, I see what should be an upper middle class professional laboring away… I wonder why they went to college when they really wanted to be working class?
They do it all themselves. They wonder why sales are down… few people can afford their services.
Everyone has gone to the do-it-yourself method of everything. And the economy… well… you know…
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