Events are making me rather uneasy here in south Florida. Recession or not, the big malls have been packed with shoppers day after day, pre and post Xmas. Few lookers, it seems, as most have been carrying shopping bags. As usual, it's almost impossible to get into an Apple store. Or even Sony. Lots of buying activity at both and swarms of young people monopolizing the dozens of computers and electronic gadgets on display. Future customers, so the staff pretty much leaves them alone. The lines at the Starbucks coffee shops extend out into the malls no matter the time of day.

Construction has ground to a halt in this area some time ago, though some houses are selling at bargain prices, at least 50%+ off their highs. The number of foreclosures is staggering considering that this area is considered rather affluent. Unemployment and underemployment are everywhere. And there has been a noticeable decrease in foreign born construction and landscape workers who have apparently left the area due to lack of work.

Big box stores along the highways also still crowded. Where all this spending money is coming from is pretty obvious, since I've never before in my life seen so much credit card use for everything from a toaster to a tv to a box of chocolates to groceries and even to that cup of Starbucks coffee. Everything. I often seem to be the only one paying cash. It's as if I'm living in la la land.

No wonder the US economy has boomed ever since credit cards showed up. Buy something, anything, put it on a credit card. Why wait. Get it now. Keep factories busy and people employed. As if tomorrow settle-up-time will never come. This is what makes me uneasy.

Every time we pass the big Bally health club building, my wife remarks that the parking lot is jammed again and, alas, we coulda, shoulda, woulda joined. As if we're missing something we can't do at home or on our frequent walks. I always counter that we have already joined a health club of a different kind. It's called ECU Silver. Our costs are not going to building temporary muscles but rather building permanent peace of mind.

I also recall that the US now has 41+/- million folks on food stamps and that I wouldn't be surprised to see a bunch of those health club youngsters and mall spenders joining that group if/as times get rougher. I know that many, if not most, of them are living paycheck to paycheck and don't think twice about going into debt rather than saving for that rainy day. Even when they've moved back in with mom and dad. It seems as if their mental capacity to postpone something has never been developed.

I grew up long before credit cards appeared, where if you didn't have the cash, you didn't get the goods, unless the merchant knew you well enough to put a few dollars for you "on the cuff." And lay-away plans offered good savings plans for future purchases at most department stores. My mother had a couple for Xmas and birthdays. Credit cards put an end to all that creating one big mess, a mind-altering illusion, imo, that now appears to be dissolving.

And settle up time is now swamping a lot of people. And they don't know what to do. So many are stunned and bewildered. I'm still sort of angered as well as uneasy by it all but glad I was brought up in an earlier time when a buck meant something different.

So I walk the beach in my cut-offs and watch the big atlantic ocean waves tossing the young surfers this way and that. Temperature now F75. Somehow not enjoying it as much as I used to. Maybe the new year and ECU and the PMs will brighten things up. Already have a good bit.

Best wishes to all for good health and prosperity in 2011.