TIMES ARE BAD, BUT MAYBE NOT AS BAD AS THEY COULD BE

The condition of the economy has gotten pretty bad. I have talked to friends all over the country, most who own small businesses and they all have had to adapt and do things differently. Consultants that I know have lost clients. Others have had contracts postponed. Still others can’t find work in a market that has shrunk. Simply the fact that you are reading this column on-line and not in the Pensacola News Journal is another example of the tightening market.

I have been writing ‘Life in the Middle’ for five years, 265 columns, 159,000 words. I have shared with you about my aging mother, my family life, my daughter, now in middle school and my own trials and tribulations of everyday life. My column has been cancelled due to space and economic considerations. I will continue to write the column posting it here on my website weekly by Saturday night. Please bookmark my site and share it with other people.

But let’s get back to the general condition of the country. The economy is in difficult times. People are putting off retirement. Others are worried about their 401 Ks. Many people are having great difficulties in paying off their debt. Home sales are poor, values have dropped. Is there no good news on the horizon?

In this difficult environment, do we really have it so bad?

Look inside your pantry. Is there food there? And if there isn’t don’t you just go to the grocery to buy something?
Fact: More than 25,000 people die everyday of hunger and mal-nutrition according to the United Nations. This averages to one death every three and one half seconds. Count that out – 1 – 2 – 3 – and one half. That accounts for another death, and most of those deaths are children.

Do you have potable water to drink?
Fact: Over one billion (1,000,000,000) people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, according to the World Health Organization. That means that one in every seven people do not have access to clean water to drink.

How about sanitary conditions?
Fact: Also according to the WHO, 769,000 children under five years old, died in the sub-Saharan African region between 2000-2003, frrom diseases, due to lack of proper sanitation. The figures are similar for south Asia.

So as bad as it may be for us economically right now, for the most part we are safe and well fed.

Of course there are some people in this country who have it worse than others. On an individual basis there are people in this country who are homeless, mal-nourished, unemployed, being evicted and in serious trouble. I am not discounting their difficulties. And I’m not indicating that we don’t have something to be concerned about.

What I am saying is that we should all take the time to be grateful for what we do have and take proactive individual and collective action to address the issues.

One of the ways to do that is to vote for the candidates of your choice. Voting is something that is both a privilege and a responsibility.

No matter how bad you think times are they could be worse. No matter how incompetent you believe the ‘other party’ is we still live in a democratic, stable, mostly free country. In comparison to most of the rest of the world we are doing pretty well.

So make sure to vote. Inform yourself on the local issues, and vote. Choose a major candidate and vote. Don't be lazy, apathetic or indolent. Go vote!

Life in the Middle - Pensacola News Journal

After five very satisfying years, my column, Life in the Middle, in the Pensacola News Journal will be no more. Hard economic times have a wide and varying effect. The newspaper business is also facing intense competition from the internet, television and even blogs just like this one.

I'm glad you're here. I will continue to write my column, albeit somewhat more sporadically. Come follow the adventures of my life in the middle of my ninety-two year old mother, my fifty-two year old wife and my twelve year old daughter.

Placed in the middle of this group, I will continue to write about the trials and tribulations that naturally arise dealing with three widely different females. Some of problems are perhaps unique, but most of them are common to many of us.

I will use my experience as a counselor, a consultant and a communications expert to share what I think is relevant to making a difference. I will continue to do this by telling personal stories and anecdotes.

So come back and visit weekly. Leave your comments and let me know what’s going on with you. Let’s create a community that shares the best of our information and support each other in making their life work more effectively.

I look forward to your participation.

Bye for now. Bob Gerold