Viewpoint of America as an American

Written April 9, 2008

Gas is pushing $4 a gallon and we own a Tahoe. The stock market considers a narrow loss “good news” and 99% percent of our retirement is being cashed out to pay off the Citi Mastercard. 80,000 jobs (of about 200 million) are lost and everyone loses 3% of their income almost overnight due to inflation. The average person on the street frowns because it is contagious. They don’t really know why when didactically challenged, but the frown let’s them feel as though they fit in.

What does it mean?

It means that since we didn’t all save $10 a month during the last decade(s?) of over-paid prosperity like we should have (by the way, that rainy day you keep talking about - that was today) we’re going to have to do what most of the rest of the world does on a daily basis: work for a living.

Oh, sure. You’ve been working five days a week for as long as you remember. Your W-2 says so. But have you been earning your keep? I spent almost 12 years being highly over-paid for a “job” where performance was so loosely tied to compensation that when a bonus didn’t arrive we complained. Know why I quit? I started to feel guilty about it. The pride I thought I should feel for having a high paid job wasn’t there - and what’s worse, I understood why and couldn’t take it anymore.

I’ve given myself a pay cut. Started two businesses. Work longer hours. And I am actually happier. Sure, the bills stress me out a bit more every month. We see fewer movies now than last year. But when I receive a dollar via the magic of the electron I feel something that I haven’t felt since I was 16 and working the drive through at Mickey Ds - actual pride in a reward for actual work.

As we moan and groan about the economy, maybe we should simply realize that we had it too good for too long and it is time to get back to what our grandfathers rightly perceived as the norm - roll up your sleeves, get better at what you do, and work.

Is it the right of every American who writes and reads blogs to have a mobile phone and cable TV? Are you entitled to two weeks paid vacation after decade of being over-paid? I had a boss once who told us that we could take a vacation any time we wanted - so long as we could afford it. It is a sound theory that could lead us at least partly out of our collective rut.

Now before your knee jerks, I’m not saying we’re lazy. Far from it. It takes a lot of effort to be on the lake by sun up. The gas for the boat, snacks, life jackets, skis all set. Effort. Plain and simple. I’m not saying we’re dumb, either. Programming a DVR to record every episode of American Idol (can you say 4 nights a week!) takes at least an IQ of 110, so we’re also collectively intelligent.

What if we stopped watching American Idol and used that time to research or at least consider options for being more efficient in how we work and live? I must say that since the Jericho finale, e-Giftology.com has received substantially more attention in the evening that it once did. CBS canceling the show improved my business. Thank you, CBS. I’ll add you to my Christmas card list.

What if for just one hour a week we:

Checked the appliances in the house to see which ones stay on when they shouldn’t / Put air in the tires of all our vehicles and checked the oil / Checked the weather stripping on all the windows and doors / Learned to program that stupid thermostat / Turned down the hot water heater just one notch / Wash the dishes by hand / Checked cell phone usage to make sure we have the best plan / Took one good look at all our bills at once to make sure everything is necessary or at the very least not superfluous

American Idol isn’t as good as it used to be anyway.

But you mentioned working harder…

What if, instead of stressing or complaining about the economy, we all had the following conversation with our boss:

Us: I know things are tight, but I have some ideas on how we as a company can be less susceptible to Fox News. I’d like you to OK measuring the progress of my ideas. If they work, I’d like to negotiate my compensation accordingly.

Boss: Huh?

Us: I think I know of methods whereby we as a company can save enough money where you can afford to give us all raises that exceed inflation.

Boss: How long have you been here? Not counting tomorrow.

Us: Most of us waste at least two hours of every work day drinking coffee, surfing the net, padding breaks, etc. You know and I know it. Let me focus one of those hours a day on these ideas and let’s see what happens.

Boss: You’re crazy.

Us: I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll have a summary to you by the end of the day.

Did you know that the average business of 10 employees can save over $1200 a year in office supplies by simply shopping between two different suppliers? Did you know that the average business can save over $1000 a year in utility expenses by simply implementing a written procedure for closing time? I have more, but I usually charge for these types of things.

What do I do to remain immune from the frown? Well, I have a solution in place for tomorrow and a solution in place for ten years from now - and neither of them leads to debt. I spend most office hours building relationships with other business owners and helping them confront the obvious. It pays the bills and I enjoy the notion that what I do is valuable to someone.

Concurrent with my “day job”, I have formalized my online business presence and created e-giftology.com. What was once MY eBay business, has now become OUR (thanks to growth) investment in the future. The nice thing about ecommerce is that you can manage it from just about anywhere and it does not require you to clock in. The dirty details can be done by hired guns and managing the bottom line is straight forward. Funny enough, economic factors can effect eBay or Amazon from a macrocosmic standpoint, but the specialty store with easily understood components and nimble decision making processes is basically immune.

So, what’s your point? You ask.

As I scroll up to edit…I’m not really sure. I do know that despite everything I am happier now in a “deep recession” than I was a year ago when everyone was buying everyone else lunch. And it has nothing to do with the price of gas.