Me and mine are jealous of Europe. Food in the US is too sweet, people’s smiles too white and Dubya… keeps us dumb and entertained. The only thing I’m not jealous of is that 20EU I had to pay to gift my dad a DVD (1 for the price of 4???).

In all honesty Americans are in denial. This year we got hit with a wave of mortgage defaults that brought down the lending economy as we know it, and another wave is about to hit in 3 to 6 months. Everyone you ask says, “it can’t get any worse, things will pick up.” Will, is a vague concept. Sure they’ll pick up, but in the meanwhile, cut back on those expenses, downsize the car, take public transportation, stop buying those $4 starbucks cups of coffee every day. I said this at work the other day and encountered the typical American post 9/11 reaction–but if we stop spending won’t that destroy the economy? In tough economic times a reallocation of resources is necessary and doesn’t necessarily mean the assets were pulled out of the economy. Just because you put that $4 in a savings account instead of buying that cup’o joe is not the same as keeping the dollars under your mattress. It’s a balancing act… sigh…