Calamity in America (2 page)

Chapter 2

When I was done going over the grocery list I put it back in my pocket and started my truck.  That’s when I noticed Beth at her car.  She seemed to be having some trouble.  I shut the truck off and walked over.

“Are you having trouble?”

“My car won’t start.  I noticed it turned over slow this morning but it started then.  Now it will just barely turn over at all and won’t start.”

“I’ll drive my truck over and jump your battery.  It will only take a minute.  Pop the hood so I can see what side the battery is on.”

I heard the click as she released the hood latch and I opened the hood.  I took a minute to look at the date sticker on her battery.  It was over seven years old and was likely time to replace it.  I left the hood up and drove my truck close enough to jump her battery.  When you drive an old vehicle like me you always carry jumper cables.  When I had it hooked up I told Beth to try starting her car.  It started right up.  I disconnected the cables and threw them in the back before going up to her driver’s side window.

“Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.  You’re battery is shot so you will have to get another right away.”

“How much are they about?”

“Around a hundred dollars.”

“And then I would have to pay someone to put it in too.”

“I could put it in for you.  I was on my way to Walmart to buy groceries anyway.”

“I’m not sure I have enough money with me.”

“I can lend you some.  You could just pay me back the next time you see me.”

“You sure?  I know money is tight for everyone now days with the way the economy is.”

“It’s not a problem.  And that way I would be able to install the new battery right away for you so your car won’t let you down again.”

“If you’re sure, I know I would really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem at all.  You can follow me over to Walmart.  I will have to go slow with my trailer on today so maybe it is best if I set the pace.”

“OK I’ll be right behind you.”

We left and drove over to the nearby Walmart store.  I had looked at what I would need for tools when I jumped the battery so I grabbed what I needed from the truck tool box.  It took just a couple minutes to get the old battery out and Beth and I walked in the automotive entrance with me carrying the old battery.

While Beth went to the counter to get in line I found the correct battery and brought it over.  I had to borrow Beth twenty dollars so she had enough for the battery.  Then it was just another few minutes to hook the new battery up.  I made sure I cleaned both the posts and the clamps so it would get good contact.  The car started right up when I told her to go ahead and try it.

“Thank you so much!  That was wonderful that you helped me.”

“As you saw it only took a few minutes.  It was certainly no big deal.”

“It was to me.  Money is tight and I would have had to pay someone to replace that battery.  I have to watch every penny I spend.  I have some money at home so I will pay you as soon as I see you again.”

“Its lunch time now.  Maybe you would like to grab a sandwich or something with me?”

I could hardly believe I actually asked her that.

“I already cost you twenty bucks.  You sure you want to spend more on me?”

She had the cutest smile on her face that I had ever seen.  I would have paid any price just to see that smile directed at me.

“Well you don’t eat much do you?”

We each laughed at that and we locked up both vehicles and just walked to a nearby fast food joint.  We sat together for some time well after we were both done eating.  It was great with a capitol G.  We learned a lot about each other and we traded phone numbers. 

I would have stayed there all day with her but she said she had to get home.  Her mother would be really worried about her.  She reminded me as we parted that she gave me her phone number for a reason and I should call her.  I promised and we parted going our separate ways.

I bought my few groceries but I was walking on air the whole time.  I just puttered around home the rest of the weekend doing things that always needed doing on a farm but no matter what I was into I was always just thinking of Beth.

Over the next few months I saw Beth as often as I could.  She was still going to college and working at the library when she could.  She would be graduating this spring but she said the job outlook was very bleak. 

We both watched the internet news about the economy.  Both of us had discovered that the TV news was fine for weather reports and to find out who was running for office or what the latest scandal was happening but for real economic news it was worthless.  The TV news basically always said everything was awesome when often just the opposite was true and things were bad instead.

I’m not sure that Beth and I are dating exactly.  We are just friends who happened to be of the opposite sex.  Neither of us have much money which is a very common situation with almost everyone now because of the way the economy is going.  I am still working pretty steady though even many construction jobs have by now went away. 

I am still working I think because it is a very small operation I work for and they take all smaller homeowner jobs mostly.  Occasionally there is a small commercial job we do but mostly just the homeowner stuff.  The big commercial jobs are now almost non-existent at this point.  That’s why so many construction workers are laid off right now and they are getting unemployment or some getting nothing at all. 

And I still sometimes get the even smaller handyman jobs on weekends.  Certainly I do not get a small job every weekend but still fairly often.  I have somewhat of a name around town for doing a good job at a low price without losing any quality of work.  I work hard for every dollar I earn.  People see that and appreciate it and they tell others about it.

I knew times were hard around here just by how much stuff everyone has for sale.  And most of the things that people have for sale are dirt cheap.  The reason for that is because unless it is really cheap it just will not sell at all.  There is very little that I want or could use so even though I often run into some great bargains I very seldom buy anything.

Now that spring has finally rolled around I am getting more and more concerned about a possible collapse of the already feeble economy.  Starting last fall and all through this winter the stock markets have fallen.  Not huge losses everyday (though there have been some really bad days) and occasionally there were a few up days but over the last several months the trend has certainly been down.  And I mean way down.  Over the last few months the DOW has lost well over six thousand points and is still on the downward trend.  The downward trend has actually seemed to be picking up steam.

Of course stock markets have always gone up and down and that is just what they do.  The TV news could not hide the fact that the markets were way down but they certainly did try to marginalize it.  And maybe the news stations were right.  The stock markets had been setting record high numbers for awhile.  Obviously you can’t keep setting records continuously I wouldn’t think.  If it had just been the markets that were going down that would be one thing.  But commodity prices are also still going down.  The one thing that had turned around and was now going up is the unemployment numbers.  So taken all together things were certainly looking bad. 

Since the recession of 2008-9 the unemployment rate which had been up around ten percent and then supposedly over next several years had fallen down to around five percent.  Over this winter it had again went up to just over eight percent. 

Even when the unemployment rate had been falling one of the main reasons had that the nation’s participation rate had fallen dramatically.  There were just way fewer people looking for work.  Now that low participation rate had went down even more and at the same time the unemployment rate had went up.  Way, way fewer US citizens were working.  And still the unemployment rate continues to rise even more and with more and more out of work everything suffers. 

Wages are low and jobs are very hard to find.  And despite what was once touted as the way to get ahead was to go to college that is not being mentioned so much anymore.  That is because college grads can not find work either.  Those that can get a job after graduation were found doing things like flipping burgers for minimum wages or at other mundane jobs in about that same pay range. 

Of course a large number of these college grads have student debt hanging over their heads.  It was reported that forty eight percent of those with student debt were more than a year behind on payments.  They had not made a single payment in over a year. 

The US government was the holder of all this student debt to the tune of an amount approaching two trillion dollars!  And that was turning out to be a very bad investment.  Some of those in Congress were talking about just ‘forgiving’ this student debt.  What on earth!  Letting them borrow a huge amount of money and then just tell them that they do not have to pay it back.   That the taxpayer’s will pick up the tab.

You didn’t need a crystal ball to know that stormy weather was ahead for the whole nation.

Chapter 3

Spring is here finally.  Spring is always a happy time isn’t it?  Though maybe this spring not so much.  Beth lost her part time job at the library due to the city doing many budget cuts.  The city is deep into the red and has to take drastic measures to try and get their budget in order. 

City governments, county governments, and state governments all across the great United States are in the same boat.  All of them are doing drastic budget cuts and not the kind pretend cuts like they have done in the past.  All levels of government are really hurting financially.  No one knows where all this will end.

It is an ugly financial world out there right now.  Pension fund managers are pulling their hair out.  That is the area maybe the worst hit.  Many pension funds were under funded, wait scratch that and make it read most funds were under funded and now with the stock markets in free fall the funds are losing value at a record pace. 

Whether a private pension fund or a government one they are just about all in the same very leaky boat.  Of course some of these funds do not buy stocks and instead buy all bonds.  But the returns on bonds are way down also and not many of these bonds are on very shaky ground and the bond holders may lose much of their investment.

Some states have laws on the books that control how much money pension funds must contain but law or not they just can not get the money to fully fund them anymore.  Sorry but you can not get blood out of a turnip.  The money is just not there and can not be raised.  So even though some states, cities, and counties are under court order to fund their pension plans the government entities have no choice but to ignore those court orders because there is no money.

Everyone is hurting across the board.  And it is not just here in the United States either.  Every country I think is in a deep recession or a depression.  Governments fudging the numbers will no longer help.  Of course real people do not really care about all that.  They care about paying their rent, putting gas in their car, and putting supper on the table.  Well those three things are impossible for more and more people both abroad and right here in America.

Here in the States they no longer report just how many Americans are receiving food assistance.  The last time it was reported the number was sixty six million.  It is way more than that now.  And food is getting more expensive and there even seems to be less of it in the grocery stores.  I have noticed a few bare spots on shelves in grocery stores here lately.

When Beth found out I always planted a garden she wanted to help.  And she wanted to learn how.  She said her mother and her would have to plant a garden in their tiny back yard this year.  So she came out to help me so she could learn.  Before she came I used my old many times repaired rototiller to enlarge my garden plot.  Really enlarge the plot. 

Beth was very surprised when she came out to help and she saw how big a garden I was preparing to plant. 

“Do you always plant this big of a garden just for you?”

“I just made it slightly bigger this year.  Better to have too much than have too little is my motto.”

“I never expected to need this much space.  Your garden is way bigger than our whole back yard.”

“Just plant what you can at home and you will at least get some food out of it.  If I end up with too much I can always give you some.”

“That’s why the garden is this big isn’t it?”

“I just like to be prepared.  We better get to work.  It is not going to plant itself.”

Beth was a good worker even though she did not know what to do.  I had to show her how to do everything.  Something I did not mind in the least.  Beth had plenty of time to help me because she had now graduated but still could not find a single job of any kind, even for minimum wage.

She asked me about the big old windmill I had on the place.

“Does the windmill work?”

“Yes it works good.  Last year I put in a new set of leathers and now it pumps just like it did a great many years ago when it was new I imagine.”

“But you have a regular well for the house don’t you?  So you don’t even use it.”

“See that big water tank?  That’s my swimming pool in the hot summer.  And I use the windmill to water the garden.  That way it costs me nothing.  Not even for electricity.  Gotta save a dime where I can.”

“Do you really use it for a swimming pool?”

“You bet I do.  On hot days after I get off work I jump in there and nothing feels better than that on a hot day.  How many people do you know with a twelve foot deep swimming pool?”