Hard Times?

It’s no secret that economic times are tough these days. Or at least people think they are. There’s no doubt that people are feeling the pinch, but I keep wondering if “pinch” is relative. I seem to keep seeing signs that things aren’t as bad as everyone is making them out to be. In the fabric store the other day, I thought I would check out their iron selection since my trusty companion of fifteen years had just given up the ghost. What I saw blew my mind. There was an iron on the shelf in this chain fabric store where ordinary people shop in a little town no one famous shops in that was $179. For an iron. To take wrinkles out of clothes. How is that possible in a time when people are predicting the end of prosperity as we have known it? Not to minimize any actual need people are suffering, and I know they are out there, but what am I to think listening to a couple at the playground tell a friend that they have run out of money for groceries while they both consume grande designer coffees and text constantly on new smart phones? True, I don’t know their story, maybe there are elements I’m missing, but I really think “going without” means something far different to us than our 1930s counterparts. In Three Gold Pieces, retold by Aliki, a humble man struggles to feed his family. And there’s not a Blackberry in sight.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Gold-Pieces-Aliki/dp/0394917375

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=11719