I took my boxes, paper, empty wine bottles, and what have you to the local recycling place after Christmas. The overweight old guy who runs the plant directed me to put all my trash in the garbage because the huge recycling bins were too full – the amount of recyclables people had brought in were off-the-chart voluminous. Obviously there had been a ton of Christmas presents locally (and it is a fairly upscale neighborhood). I faintly joked, “Well, I guess the economy must not be too bad.”
“Oh yeah,” he replied, “there’s nothing wrong with the economy. People who want to work are going to work, and those who don’t want to work aren’t going to, whatever the economy’s doing.”
I had no ready answer to this, and he pressed me: “Don’t you think that’s the case?”
Wanting to disagree with him without being rude, I finally said, “Well, I don’t want to work, and I’m working.”
He said, “Yeah, I’m working. And I’m going to be 74 next month!”
I have nothing to add to that that you can’t as easily supply yourself. Happy new year.