Recession? What Recession?

So let me first say, I know that we are in a recession. There's no doubt that jobs are being lost and the economy is probably in the worst shape it has been in a long time - though relative to other points in our history, we are still doing pretty good (for now). Still, as I went out to pick up a few things today in Chattanooga, I had a hard time believing that we are in the midst of "tough economic times".

First I simply pull out of the driveway to my apartment and notice that traffic on the road looks like 5:00 rush-hour. I went out to the area around Hamilton Place mall, which is where all of the big-box stores are. My gosh - it looked like Christmas Eve out there. The mall was packed, as when I was trying to get through the food court I had to bob and weave just to keep from getting ran over. Lines were so long turning into some stores that turning lanes were overflowing into the regular traffic lanes. Wal-Mart was... well, Wal-Mart. Full of nothing but mouth-breathers, illegal Mexicans, and 250+ pound women with their hair dyed purple wearing a mini-skirt as they pull around their bratty, screaming horde of children. Oh yeah, don't forget that it's raining which makes the already unenviable task of driving even worse. Yes people, a little misting rain means you need to go 15 mph under the speed limit - I think that's a law in fact [/sarcasm].

So is it like this everywhere? Florence? Huntsville? The rest of America? I know that Chattanooga is actually one of the luckier towns right now. The economy hasn't fallen off that much, and in fact, new jobs are coming in. I just assumed that the media had scared people into not spending money. Are these people simply going out and doing their shopping routine, but not actually buying things? Are they trying to fool themselves into believing everything is okay? Are the majority of people really too stupid to sense anything is wrong, and they are doing what they would normally do? Or - and I would never imagine this - is the media stretching the truth and the recession not really as bad as what they say? I'm not economist, so I don't think I can judge what is right or wrong. But as a simple observer, it's hard to see any difference between now and the past several years.

Finally, just to put a happy spin on this blog, I am going to do something inspired by my good friend Andrew. I will post a personal picture of mine, a place that is dear to all of us geo-nerds' hearts. Enjoy.

Until next time, compadres...