With all of the media hype of how we are doing so poorly economically, all families should be living off of their home gardens, walking to work and school, and eating frugal meals. Yet the traffic seems steady past our house of cars whizzing to and from Hilo...20 miles away. The supermarkets are full of people, even on nonFood Stamp weeks, buying carts full of food and drink. Walking along the highway is the occasional hitchhiker in dreds or flowing skirts. And the fast food restaurants take out lines have snakes of cars with people too lazy to get out of their cars to order food.
At the recent Merrie Monarch festival, the craft booths had a range of products and prices and not all cheap. If you want to buy a handmade lauhala hat, plan on spending at least $100. If you would like a string of pearls, consider $500 for gleaming chocolate pearly baubles. How about $50 for a scarf? These artisans deserve the money to produce these items. What amazes me is the people who have the money to plunk down several thousand dollars for strands of Ni'ihau shells.
The recession must not be as debilitating as the media is reporting. There is still money for the fine arts. Or, are the damages from the economic downfall affecting only a certain class of people? Those that did not have much to begin with?
If scarcity bring clarity, perhaps the scare is good for us to reprioritize what is really important in our lives, make adjustments, and go on living.
No comments:
Post a Comment