Thursday, August 19, 2010

It Strikes Me Funny Pt 1: We may just be tired of spending our money

It’s bad enough that we sometimes disappoint our parents.

“Get a haircut. Get your feet off the couch. Get a real job.”

I know. I feel your pain.

It’s bad enough we sometimes disappoint our employers or customers.

“Get a hairnet. Get your feet off the grill. Make me a real cheeseburger.”

I know. Real cheese is hard to find.

And now, according to the following headline, we’re disappointing someone else:

“Shoppers disappoint retailers this summer”

Oh, boo hoo. Boo hoo. Boooo hoooo.

I shed crocodile tears for all concerned.

You’ll see no real tears from me, even after reading that ‘three of North America’s biggest retailers reported lacklustre sales in the spring/summer quarter, supporting growing evidence the economic recovery may be losing steam as consumers tighten their purse strings.’ (Aug. 18, London Free Press)


["Stay out of stores as much as possible. Find a cheap hobby": photo GH]

I’m sure you would expect no less from me.

In my most recent column, entitled ‘While temperatures grow hotter we remain cool to change’ (Aug. 19, The Londoner), I wrote the following:

“It is readily apparent that, though governments will likely make shallow commitments (re climate change) - ‘shallow’ may be a gross overstatement - individuals can change the rate of (global) warming by keeping their cold hard cash tucked safely inside their wallets, purses and savings accounts.”

Rather than rescue retailers I think we should be making a significant retreat from spending and consumption of many retail goods.

I call it “a meaningful recession.”

I’m disappointed with retailers who don’t agree.

***

Stay tuned.

Tired of spending?

A savings account spells r-e-l-i-e-f.

.

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