The Windshield Syndrome

This week I was having a conversation with a friend when  two seemingly disparate topics began to come together in my mind and led me to writing this post. The first topic we discussed was the same topic everyone has been dealing with, the bailout package and the uncertainty and potential problems with the economy.

The second topic dealt with my car windshield and the fact that I was going to have to get it replaced. It was a pretty common story, me driving down the highway, idiot trucker driving ahead of me, chunk of rock tossed in the air and boom, cracked windshield and me liable to pay for it.

In talking about the problem I told my friend I was trying to adopt the broad view. To begin with the problem was there and I couldn’t do anything to change it. My windshield was broken and I would have to pay to have it replaced. The incident was also not my fault, unlike a fender bender or some other accident there was no way I could be at fault and short of leaving the house at a different time there was nothing I could have done to avoid it.

The problem was also not as bad as it could have been. The rock could have struck the windshield in my line of vision and caused some sort of accident. It could have struck the car itself and caused more expensive body damage. So while it wasn’t a good thing it could have been worse.

Finally, while fixing the windshield is not going to help my budget, I can afford to have it done. I might need to delay some discretionary purchases, postpone that new toy I was thinking about getting, but I’d still be able to pay for it.

So given that it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t do anything to change it, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I could handle the cost of fixing it, I am trying to take a calmer view of it.

It occurred to me as we chatted that the same attitude could be applied to the current financial mess. The problem is certainly there and we can’t click reset to make it go away. For the most part it was not our fault. You could blame some decisions we have made to be a credit card society, but there isn’t really any way to blame us. We can’t really do much about the problem or the solution, we aren’t experts and despite our inner desires we can’t go to New York or DC and strangle the idiots.

Furthermore, it could have been worse. While there are many banks and financial groups in trouble there are also many that are quite stable. It would be much worse if more of these places were in trouble. And while it will cause hurt and sacrifices we will be able to work our way out of it.

So while I am certainly not suggesting that we ignore the problem nor should we try and downplay it, I also don’t think we all need to stress out too much. The problem is not in our control, it will be solved and there is nothing we can do to change things.

Keep an eye on the news, make sure to protect your own assets, but for the most part just do your job and live your lives.