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I recently went on an observing trip. I viewed hundreds of neighborhoods and met a lot of wonderful people. But mostly I just observed the people around the places where I was going to.

I was most interested in seeking out what happened to the children of the 80's. The teens of the 80's mostly. The teens of the 80's went through the whole Reaganomics ordeal and while most of us didn't really feel it ourselves we watched as our parents did. Some of us paid attention while others of us couldn't have cared less. In case you were too young to notice or maybe not born yet, let me tell you briefly what happened during those times. There were a ton of people out of work. There was a time in the early 80's when tons of people fought their way south to work on the oil rigs only to find there were no real jobs there either. Worse... what few jobs there were couldn't be had unless you had a home and a phone etc. So the people who were running for a better life in places like Texas, on only a wing and a prayer usually ened up living in parks. For those of you who like camping... it was also called homeless. It wasn't camping no matter what the parents said. There were gas shortages and people were striking and there were a lot of very angry people. However, credit cards became a way of life and outragousness was in. So were material things. And buying tons of things on the credit cards so freely offered and given back then was oh so the thing to do. Just ask Madonna.

Now let me get to where I am heading and get back on track... What I saw on my trip horrified me. It seems my dear readers that the people in the small communities have decided to let their towns grow. But mostly instead of population growth and instead of growing in good decent jobs for the people who were already there and what few came in they decided to grow in things like houses. It seems like people have decided that the houses that were already there and those styles are no longer appreciated. Those lovely old homes are populated by the older folks and the people of the 80's have been building what was once concidered mansions. Very large homes for small numbers of people. Usually with 3-5 fairly new and expensive vehicals in the driveways and garages. Which would be fine. Except for the fact that it was all bought on credit. What is even worse is there is now an abundance of these homes on the market. Why? Because the people of the 80's have no self control and couldn't see beyond the moment. They didn't plan. They didn't think ahead and they didn't take the advice of those that are older then them who already had to struggle during other hard times. They didn't invest wisely and they didn't bother to save enough for hard times. Mostly because the life of leasure means spending it all.

The jobs these people had were good ones. They paid a lot of money. Instead of investing their money to help them get through hard times they spent it on video collections, music collections, expensive items, and other things mom and pops never had. Things they thought made life more fun. Things they thought made life easier and better. But they were never satisfied and kept on buying and upgrading and such until their 15 or more credit cards were all maxed out. They could no longer pay their bills with them and they couldn't pay the bills for them either. They slid into heavy debt and had little or no savings to fall back on. Especially when the companies that were paying so well folded.

I observed this kind of thing through 3 states. It was enough for me to understand that the children of these people are going to have it hard. They are spoiled and don't know how to live without all the wonderful things they had. They don't know how to do without their brand names. They won't know how to actually work because mom and dad never made them earn anything. And yet they will always want what mom and dad had in the good old days. When they lived in that big wonderful home in that once really nice neighborhood in that once great small town that is near enough to the city that used to have all the great jobs until there were none. I feel sorry for these kids. They have a perfect recipe passed down by their parents for failure of success.