"It's no fun being in a recession when it weakens the quality of my favorite local consignment shop."
Words of ridulousness you randomly pick up inside your own head when overhearing the staff in the shop complain about the decline in customers and donaters since the recession.
I had noticed it already. On the shelves, which were less filled and had more familiar things then I am used to and like to see in the one place I've happily allowed myself to go on shopping sprees, and whose stuff constitutes about a fifth of my closet.
While woving to remain positive amid all the pessimism, I've been trying to think of this recession as a theme party, making the best of it by embracing second hand clothes, cheap beer, and microwave dinners. Being from Copenhagen, luckily I already find two out of three intensely trendy, while the latter serves to constitute the theme.
I can't help but feel that there's something strangely appealing about a laid back, trucker, My-Name-Is-Earl kinda lifestyle. I see myself in a dirty wife beater, cursing and laughing at dirty jokes with my equally financially strained friends, enjoying the free things in life, such as my ability to open a beer with any imaginary object available, which I am confident that I would instantly develop the second I moved into my trailer.
But then s*** like this happens. My favorite thrift store - the place where I would shop all my fabulous trashy clothes, for no more than a couple of bucks a wifebeater - is having trouble staying in business!
Ok. So I haven't - knock on wood - been hit directly hit by the recession yet. The more or less fabulous trucker life would so far be a choice and not a necessity as is sadly becoming the case for a lot of people right now.
With fear of unfairly downsizing certain people's legitimate financial woes, I think a lot of us need to remember how intensely good we've been having it for a very long time.
Ask your grand parents or even your parents about their standard of living when they were your age and whether they were able to pay a rent like yours, eat out as frequently and travel as much and I know a lot of them will be able to provide us with a reality check.
I don't know your situation or that of your grand parents at your age but I do know a lot of students, young professionals, and even older ones who bemoan their financial situation, while really living a life, which, compared to people of truly scarce ressources, is pretty damn good.
Many of my 'poor' friends have flat screen TVs, decent and centrally located apartments and go out all the time. I, myself, can claim to be no exception, and often hear myself lament that I can't afford my lifestyle without actually having to make sacrifices here and there.
But my generation is not used to having to make these sacrifices. I spoke to a friend the other day who blatantly said that even though she knew that she couldn't afford certain things, she still felt like she should have them, and if she wanted them enough, she would buy them, even if not economically responsible.
We aren't used to having to save our money or having to go without and I wonder how we will deal with the need for a change of that mentality.
I cannot help but think that it might be good for a lot of us to learn to take less things for granted and be more appreciative of the many things we have. For some of us, who have found ourselves gripped by fear of the big, bad, Recession, it would be healthy to take this opportunity to redefine a couple of values. Oh, and just to top off the preaching; give a little thought to the starving kids in hunger struck countries and consider whether our financial pain tolerance could be a little higher.
Finally and much more importantly, we should all take the time to finally acquire that free and intensely impressive skill of opening a beer bottle with a lighter, a salt shaker, a napkin, a bird...
Words of ridulousness you randomly pick up inside your own head when overhearing the staff in the shop complain about the decline in customers and donaters since the recession.
I had noticed it already. On the shelves, which were less filled and had more familiar things then I am used to and like to see in the one place I've happily allowed myself to go on shopping sprees, and whose stuff constitutes about a fifth of my closet.
While woving to remain positive amid all the pessimism, I've been trying to think of this recession as a theme party, making the best of it by embracing second hand clothes, cheap beer, and microwave dinners. Being from Copenhagen, luckily I already find two out of three intensely trendy, while the latter serves to constitute the theme.
I can't help but feel that there's something strangely appealing about a laid back, trucker, My-Name-Is-Earl kinda lifestyle. I see myself in a dirty wife beater, cursing and laughing at dirty jokes with my equally financially strained friends, enjoying the free things in life, such as my ability to open a beer with any imaginary object available, which I am confident that I would instantly develop the second I moved into my trailer.
But then s*** like this happens. My favorite thrift store - the place where I would shop all my fabulous trashy clothes, for no more than a couple of bucks a wifebeater - is having trouble staying in business!
Ok. So I haven't - knock on wood - been hit directly hit by the recession yet. The more or less fabulous trucker life would so far be a choice and not a necessity as is sadly becoming the case for a lot of people right now.
With fear of unfairly downsizing certain people's legitimate financial woes, I think a lot of us need to remember how intensely good we've been having it for a very long time.
Ask your grand parents or even your parents about their standard of living when they were your age and whether they were able to pay a rent like yours, eat out as frequently and travel as much and I know a lot of them will be able to provide us with a reality check.
I don't know your situation or that of your grand parents at your age but I do know a lot of students, young professionals, and even older ones who bemoan their financial situation, while really living a life, which, compared to people of truly scarce ressources, is pretty damn good.
Many of my 'poor' friends have flat screen TVs, decent and centrally located apartments and go out all the time. I, myself, can claim to be no exception, and often hear myself lament that I can't afford my lifestyle without actually having to make sacrifices here and there.
But my generation is not used to having to make these sacrifices. I spoke to a friend the other day who blatantly said that even though she knew that she couldn't afford certain things, she still felt like she should have them, and if she wanted them enough, she would buy them, even if not economically responsible.
We aren't used to having to save our money or having to go without and I wonder how we will deal with the need for a change of that mentality.
I cannot help but think that it might be good for a lot of us to learn to take less things for granted and be more appreciative of the many things we have. For some of us, who have found ourselves gripped by fear of the big, bad, Recession, it would be healthy to take this opportunity to redefine a couple of values. Oh, and just to top off the preaching; give a little thought to the starving kids in hunger struck countries and consider whether our financial pain tolerance could be a little higher.
Finally and much more importantly, we should all take the time to finally acquire that free and intensely impressive skill of opening a beer bottle with a lighter, a salt shaker, a napkin, a bird...
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