I'm no economist or entrepreneur but I am literate and I do have ears. It's getting harder and harder to ignore talks of recession, but frankly I can't see what all the fuss is about. Of course I'm not happy about paying $3.50 a gallon for gas and the fact that I don't have health insurance really scares me, but this is the time to re-evaluate our lives and eliminate all that is unnecessary.

The cost of gas is rising astronomically. Didn't any of us pay attention in science class when we learned that oil was a nonrenewable resource? Did we think the stuff would just last forever, continuously spouting out of the ground for us to drink up? For those of us who have been driving small economic vehicles before it became all but mandatory, we're chuckling to ourselves at all the grouchy SUV owners who live in a tree-intensive suburb and justified the need for a behemoth vehicle simply because their children had signed up for little league. The only way Americans will make the switch to environmentally friendly vehicles is if we're forced to, and right now, we're literally being stuck up. It's a good thing gas prices are the way they are. No more Hummers with a five foot platinum blonde barely able to peep over the steering wheel. More people using public transportation, biking, even walking. Now there's more opportunity for Americans to get the exercise we so desperately need, and maybe we'll begin to erase the stereotype of being the fattest nation in the world.

Another point of interest is rising food prices, which means less packaged food, less eating out, more homemade meals and more gardens. Good. People eating less fat, less sugar, and growing their own fruits and vegetables? Sounds like the way the rest of the world does it, don't you think? Maybe it's because my family reserved eating in restaurants for very special occasions, but I just don't see the tragedy in skipping delivery. Now not only are people walking to work but they're eating healthy. It sounds great.


We as a country have had it good for far too long and it's only inevitable that a recession should happen, however overblown by the media it may be. Too many of us have been walking into a store, whipping out the plastic and sucking in the latest plasma television or gaming system without really being able to afford it and now the proverbial shit has hit the fan. A recession will force people to stop buying a new pair of shoes every week, reserve manicures for special occasions and eliminate the incessant pissing away of money that they are used to. We'll remember good old fashioned values of hard work, saving money, and only buying what you can afford. That's how my parents did it and it's how their parents managed and everyone got along just fine, and it's about time my generation learns the same thing.

Not everyone in this fat, lazy country has squandered their earnings. Some of us bought the cars with manual windows and locks because we felt we didn't need them. Some of us stayed home during the summer while our neighbors ventured to the Caribbean and some of us wore jeans from Kohl's instead of Abercrombie. A lot more people are about to join that club.