Standing in a Paris bank last June, I knew something wasn't right. I had just swapped the $500 cash I'd brought from home -- money earned through many grueling hours in the Stauffer-Flint newsroom -- for just around 300 euro.
I had expected $500 to last me for at least one week of sightseeing, dining, public transportation and shopping in Paris. I ended up using my credit card by the fourth day.
It was a surreal experience, watching the value of my money arbitrarily evaporate within seconds and being able to do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded and awkward. I had no idea the American dollar was so weak in Europe. I look back on it now and can't help but think this experience was probably very much like what a lot of people faced in the recent economic collapse.
But just as the dollar's fall from grace in Europe couldn't have happened overnight, the country's recent economic woes could not all have unfurled overnight, or even over just a few months, for that matter.
I did a quick Google search for 2008 economy warning signs, and it turns out the mainstream media reported many warnings about the possibility of an economic crisis. A December 2007 article on the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.com made me feel outrageously out-of-touch, as it flat-out states, "Everyone knows the U.S. economy is teetering on the edge of recession in the next year, but no one knows if it will tip."
I suspect many Americans were like me, and didn't take notice of our country's economic situation until it hit painfully home. Not to say the blame for this mess rests on the people who lost their nest eggs, or that the outcome would have been miraculously different had we all been religious readers of MarketWatch.com. We just might not have felt as dumb because we were caught thinking everything was peachy keen.
My ignorance regarding the economy was the most recent reminder of a flaw I've known about myself for a long time: I don't pay attention to news that doesn't appeal to my superficial interests, no matter how relevant it is to my life.
Yes, USA Today has a Money section, but it's just the one that always comes before the Life section. Just as I didn't bother to look up the dollar to euro exchange rate before going to France and instead researched trendy Paris hangouts, I also never bothered to pay attention to money -- something that, for better or for worse, permeates every aspect of our lives -- and instead read about Nicole Richie's baby bump and Yoda, the four-eared cat.
So where do I go from here? I'm one of the lucky ones graduating in December, and although everyone's in a panic over how December grads are going to find jobs amidst this crisis, that's not really what I'm worried about. I'm worried about how I'm going to finally shake this Midwest scene as I've been planning to do since, oh, about age 14.
The disastrous economy undoubtedly hinders my ability to just pack up and go, especially because where I want to go is a bit pricey. I know there are jobs there. It's just a matter of getting/being there.
I crave sunshine, warmth, a new beginning. But when icy, confining January comes, I will be in Kansas still, a prisoner to immobility like every year before.
The best solution just might be a one-way ticket back to Paris. Wherever I end up, one thing is certain: I'll at least be skimming the Money section of the newspaper from now on.
I had expected $500 to last me for at least one week of sightseeing, dining, public transportation and shopping in Paris. I ended up using my credit card by the fourth day.
It was a surreal experience, watching the value of my money arbitrarily evaporate within seconds and being able to do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded and awkward. I had no idea the American dollar was so weak in Europe. I look back on it now and can't help but think this experience was probably very much like what a lot of people faced in the recent economic collapse.
But just as the dollar's fall from grace in Europe couldn't have happened overnight, the country's recent economic woes could not all have unfurled overnight, or even over just a few months, for that matter.
I did a quick Google search for 2008 economy warning signs, and it turns out the mainstream media reported many warnings about the possibility of an economic crisis. A December 2007 article on the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.com made me feel outrageously out-of-touch, as it flat-out states, "Everyone knows the U.S. economy is teetering on the edge of recession in the next year, but no one knows if it will tip."
I suspect many Americans were like me, and didn't take notice of our country's economic situation until it hit painfully home. Not to say the blame for this mess rests on the people who lost their nest eggs, or that the outcome would have been miraculously different had we all been religious readers of MarketWatch.com. We just might not have felt as dumb because we were caught thinking everything was peachy keen.
My ignorance regarding the economy was the most recent reminder of a flaw I've known about myself for a long time: I don't pay attention to news that doesn't appeal to my superficial interests, no matter how relevant it is to my life.
Yes, USA Today has a Money section, but it's just the one that always comes before the Life section. Just as I didn't bother to look up the dollar to euro exchange rate before going to France and instead researched trendy Paris hangouts, I also never bothered to pay attention to money -- something that, for better or for worse, permeates every aspect of our lives -- and instead read about Nicole Richie's baby bump and Yoda, the four-eared cat.
So where do I go from here? I'm one of the lucky ones graduating in December, and although everyone's in a panic over how December grads are going to find jobs amidst this crisis, that's not really what I'm worried about. I'm worried about how I'm going to finally shake this Midwest scene as I've been planning to do since, oh, about age 14.
The disastrous economy undoubtedly hinders my ability to just pack up and go, especially because where I want to go is a bit pricey. I know there are jobs there. It's just a matter of getting/being there.
I crave sunshine, warmth, a new beginning. But when icy, confining January comes, I will be in Kansas still, a prisoner to immobility like every year before.
The best solution just might be a one-way ticket back to Paris. Wherever I end up, one thing is certain: I'll at least be skimming the Money section of the newspaper from now on.
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