Each day as I check out the news, I hear the continued story line of how bad our economy is doing and the continued movement by all of us to the brink of another Great Depression, or at least getting close to the edge of some type of financial difficulty. If you spend most of your time listening to these reports of gloom, you will soon consider the idea of placing your earnings in a Mason fruit jar and burying it in the backyard as the way to go, but I wonder if times have really become that desperate.
You may ask yourself, what makes me more optimistic than those who follow the nation’s top economic leaders. They do have access to all the world’s financial records, and I do give them credit, but wonder if they have actually visited a real shopping mall lately. You know, where real people go and spend real money.
While walking through one of our fine shopping malls last weekend, I made some interesting observations about spending, along with developing a few other opinions that would best be left alone. However, I’m sure many of the things that came to the mind of this rural philosopher have also popped up in a few of your cranial cavities as well.
I noticed the usual things about the people I saw there, such as ages, nationalities, family numbers and general appearance. I saw well-dressed folks, strangely-dressed folks, folks who cared less what I thought, and some folks who should have known better. But the thing that caught my attention the most was how accustomed we all have become to spending and seem to still be doing so.
I still have the country training of spending only if you just have to. I could be a mother’s nightmare on how not to be found in an accident by the condition of my socks and unmentionables. Not that they may be unclean, but more so pretty shop worn. If the elastic is still good, then there is no reason to buy new ones. That’s my motto.
The question that kept going through my mind was “just how many pairs of sneakers, house wares, cell phones and T-shirts does a person really need.”
On every corner of that mall was a shoe store and a place to get a smart phone. That observation alone tells you whom the market is selling to on Saturday afternoon shopping sprees. In fact, that mall was full of those under 20 years of age and the majority of them were carrying a sack of some type. I guess we have become a society and nation that sees the malls and shopping as our favorite pastime activity.
Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy “goin’ looken” every now and then, as well as helping the economy whenever I need something, but surely there is more to life than spending the weekend at the mall. In fact, the only reason I was at that mall on a Saturday was because I needed a certain gift.
Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying, “Americanism means virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood: the virtues that made America. The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
That statement made by then 26th President Roosevelt, in 1904, could have some very true meaning for us today. We do enjoy our soft living, prosperity, and get-rich-quick theory of life. I just hope we realize that what we do enjoy on our Saturdays and weekends in this country came at a very costly price and finding a sale item at the mall was not it.
To check out our real economy I would suggest a trip to our malls, but also take time to enjoy the simple things of life, your families and the freedoms we have been given as Americans. And upgrading your elastic products every now and then doesn’t hurt either.
Pettus L. Read may be contacted at pread@tfbf.com