What Next!? 'Christiansen's Comments' Hinds County Gazette

Late Sunday afternoon October 12.….It was another beautiful day here in mid Mississippi…
I write this: for the Hinds County Gazette’s Christiansen’s Comments,

to be published October 16 2008

Last week, banks were failing, markets were crashing….not just here in the USA but all over the world. There were Many heroic attempts to fix the markets and financial system, so far none have worked. I feel sure by the time the stock market opens again on Monday… they will have come up with yet another scheme to test.

But I see some silver linings in this. First, I heard it said many times while watching this thing unfold on the TV, when talking about folks loosing their retirement money…. “ corporations only obligation to is their share holders” , They do not operate these multi billion dollar companies for the greater good of all…It is bottom line only. And that is how they should be managed. But did they forget ? It is not just the bizillionaires who have lost money buying stock. There were a lot of “Main Streeters” who have their pension funds, their mutual funds, their 401Ks invested in the markets. Maybe when this over, just maybe, Wall Street will consider Main Street when making investment decisions and chose less risky endeavors, for retirement funds….

Why did we let them do in the first place? Because we trusted these people, They knew what they were doing…they were the professionals. Fact is, there were a lot of snake oil salesmen out there and we bought snake oil, in the hopes of getting rich..
The good I see coming from this, we may become a more cautious nation….if we are told we are being sold a red, ripe, juicy apple but, it smells like a rotten egg,…we may stop, take a minute to ask our selves do we believe our eyes or our nose.
Second good thing I am thinking might come out of this fiasco is, we may take this country back to quality. All the “Experts” seem to agree that in the end it will be the consumer , that will bring America’s economy back to prosperity . But Since our money will be tighter , we may be more selective in our choices…we may no longer buy that expensive coffee maker that self destructs in a month or so. We may not want those slacks that pill when they are washed, the shoes that come unglued in the rain….the lawn mower that won’t crank etc. Therefore to sell us goods, companies may have to take a few dollars off the bottom line and put those dollars to work making/importing quality products.

Another good thing might be….When the dust settles, the big companies may see they have to do better with their customer relations… They may have to take some dollars off the bottom line and hire a few more people to answer the phones…knowledgeable people who can actually help.…I for one ,am sick and tired of being left on hold for great lengths of time and in the end there is no resolution to my problem.

The forecast is many businesses are going to fail before this thing is resolved…..I have great hopes those who are left will be better…perhaps put some effort in to training their workers so when we ask a question, somebody.. some where in the building will have an answer…companies, the Wal-Marts, the home depots, the phone folks, etc have not treated their customers well…but we like trained rats have kept buying…if they didn’t have what we needed, we bought what they had…and made do the best way we could.

Maybe the companies left standing ,… Will go back to basics, sell what they know…I do not need my grocery store to sell TVs….or my drug store to sell clothes.

Young people do not remember , back in the day , a man could make a living for his family working in shoe store, selling shoes…A shoe store sold shoes…that’s all they did, I don‘t think they even sold socks…..they fitted the shoe to your foot…if your heel was narrow you could get shoes to fit! A man could make a living pumping gas and fixing tires. …and mamas stayed home. Those days are gone for good I am afraid, I was just pointing out far the pendulum has swung….jobs that are looked down on now ….Jobs nobody wants…. not that many years ago, men could earn a living wage doing. “Pride goes before the Fall“ any job may look good before this thing is runs it‘s course.

Even the most optimistic economists, business reporters and Wall Streeters, are saying it is going to take a very long time to come out of this financial muddle, some predicting as long as a decade. Wall Street and Main Street are in for some tough times
Only the Lord knows for sure what the out come will be.

Who knows, I may have to take in boarders…instead of having some one clean my house, I may be out on the street looking for a job cleaning a house. Maybe I will have to raise chickens and sell eggs…. No matter what happens, I pray I do not become a whiner…. I can’t stand a whiner.
Call if you need me

GloriaChristiansen@gmail.com