When the Other Shoe Drops by Dr. Juan Harrison
When the Other Shoe Drops
Not sure what the youngers are feeling or thinking, but for us old geezers we can almost sense déjà vu. It’s almost like something resembling a sky starting to fill with those dark rain clouds that often appear before a storm. It’s been a while since we’ve had this feeling. You hear the newscasters elaborate on the television about all the areas of our lives being touched by higher prices, lower inventory, and loss of real purchasing power.
The bills dribble in all slightly elevated from previous months. As you sit in your household boat, the smaller critters seem to nibble at your checkbook balance while occasional gators snap at your financial behinds, grabbing one hunk at a time. The wealthy and momentarily successful ones may not be feeling the heat for the moment, but as things drag on, we may see some of them joining us at the dollar store or the drive-thru at Mickey D’s.
All things are relative. For some, it may be cutting back on a vacation or getaway. For others it may be less frequent trips to Choctaw or eating Mexican or pizza instead of a good steak. Maybe you line up your bills to see which ones you can pay a little late as you try to stretch it out to payday. You wish Samantha could twitch her nose and hold up a couple of bills while your paycheck or fixed income deposit is credited at the bank.
You think back on the “I do’s” and imagine sugar and spice and everything nice. Years later your love deepened or morphed into widowhood. You became the keeper of the castle. I visited a number of those in Europe where residents opened them to the paying public to meet the growing tax and upkeep expenses. Unfortunately, most of us wouldn’t find it very practical to turn our place into a bed and breakfast or youth hostel as some of my foreign friends have done.
It’s a strange season as we go from “just get it” to, “Do I really need it?” Maybe it’s cutting back on treats or unnecessary driving. It doesn’t feel good nor seem fair. Who took away that comfortable life we lived and tossed in a dose of uncertainty and a dash of concern. Spiritually we’re told not to worry, but humanly we don’t like those darkening skies. What happened to our American dream. Is it bound to morph into the American nightmare or a season or lifestyle of making do and changing our expectations.
Time marches on. We take stock of what we have and what matters. Maybe the clouds are only passing over. Maybe not. What was that sound? I’ve heard it before. It’s the other shoe dropping on top of our American dream.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
