Another slow week in paradise slips by. It's Friday night and I've done precisely two (2) jobs in the last six days. One was a late-night airport pickup; the other, a five-hour limousine run which I just finished.
With all the time I have to contemplate such matters, I think it is possible that the limousine business is a great leading economic indicator. No-one needs a limousine or a town-car service. Taxis are (and will be - they're like cockroaches, a professional opinion) always available. Although a town-car is in fact many dollars cheaper than a taxi for the kind of airport transfers we do, the perception is of indulgence.
I'm too sophisticated for a taxi; I deserve a car service.
Sometimes ego saves money.
To add insult to pauperdom, a friend and fellow driver had his entire bank account emptied by the IRS this week. They claimed he owed them $22,000 in back taxes from 2002, which he hotly denies. Makes sense to me, knowing his work history. The frightening thing is that the US Federal Government can take your money without notification. I guess that's one way to find the
$13, 000,000,000,000.00 they spent on our behalf.
All well and good, but when he can't pay the rent, or the phone bill, or for gas to get to work, I'm not sure how much of an asset to the economy he can be. Like most drivers, my mate isn't officially counted amongst the unemployed, but like all of us, he is seriously underemployed.
Which brings me back to my point. The limo game is a confidence indicator. When people are upbeat and want to either travel or celebrate, we see them in our cars. Our services are a minor luxury - even for folks who saved up for a year to attend a Metallica concert - that tells much about the collective conscious.
My read is that everyone is hunkering down. If that changes, I'll let you know. For now, the depression continues.
Photo from here [link]
