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RANDOM THOUGHTS: Where is the economy headed?
This week a few stories tied to the economy leave us with the question: The economy – good, bad or none of the above?
If I remember right it was the end of July when the first FREE calendar arrived in my mail box. It was a gift from a nonprofit organization and though the emphasis was on FREE there was a return envelope and a statement with suggested amounts to donate that would be most helpful.
Shortly after that many more calendars arrived from other groups. All stated there was no obligation but please send something. I understand the problems organizations have in raising funds but the number of groups that have chosen calendars for this purpose is ridiculous. I have received enough calendars to leave one in every room in our house and still have many left over. Because they arrive so early in the old year, by the time we welcome the new year I’ve probably forgotten where I stored them.
In cities raising money for charitable organizations the effort becomes the excuse for holding a large social event. Those invited pay hefty sums for admission. These elaborate parties are the place for the women to show off the latest in evening fashions.
In a short story about one of these affairs in Boston the reporter added that after it was all over the caterer’s crew went from table to table scooping up all the candles including the melted wax that had dripped. These were all returned to their headquarters to be recycled into new candles for the next party.
The flip side of that act of waste not, want not appeared in another story from Boston. There is a new business in town, Your Paparazzi for Hire. This firm offers packages which make you feel like you are a celebrity. For $500 you can experience fake fame for 30 minutes. With this beginning package four photographers surround you, taking pictures and shouting questions while a crowd gathers trying to guess who you are.
If you are really well off financially the top package costs $2,500 and for two hours you have limo service and are protected by actors pretending to be bodyguards and publicists as well as many photographers. The reporter who wrote the story was lucky to work for a magazine that paid for the experience. She said after dressing and acting the part it was “incredibly fun.” The owner of the business insists business is very good.
The sagging economy has been good for libraries. Librarians are well aware that each time there is a downturn in the economy they have an increase in business. At the library everything is free to check out, books, CDs and records. The last blip in the economy was in 2001 but the American Library Association says this 2007-08 event has seen library usage nationwide up 10 percent over that one.
For book sellers this is bad news and even library personnel worry that their funding will be cut.
Only the passage of time will answer the question. The economy – good, bad or none of the above?
Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday. She may be reached at dcb1@frontiernet.net.
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