Money and Fear

Last night, we were supposed to grill with the upstairs family, but all felt too cold and exhausted after an active day of gardening the tree pits on the block and protesting the war. In spite of the fact that we're all completely broke, we ended up at Nana for sushi -- they have goldfish in the windows, lights obscured by colored glass, a shined and polished concrete floor... Maybe because I haven't had sushi since getting pregnant, and we never go to restaurants anymore (well, OK, we went last weekend), but it was just so great to have a Saturday night on the town!

It's made me think a lot about what it means to be an American, ie someone pretty comfortable living with a zero bank balance, and engaging in a completely luxurious experience financed by credit cards. Especially ironic since we spent the money on Japanese food, and the Japanese are so famous for saving.

I read in the paper that even as our individual standard of living increasingly decreases, our economy itself continues to grow. I am so grateful to anyone in my life who has taught me to live on the cheap - Theresa, with Friday night pizza, Lorri with perspective, Mom with recycling absolutely everying and cooking all food from scratch, Sandy with the splendor of keeping what you have simply clean, Sophie and Joseph with tofu. But those little savings aren't going to do it.

Health care is one of the highest categories of spending for Americans. How much does that suck? Healthcare isn't even fun.