October 7, 2008 at 8:01 pm
While the current state of the US economy is about as funny as the obits section, what is funny are the photos accompanying most of the articles about economic gloom and doom. You can’t take a picture of the economy, so most media outlets are running photos of people reacting on the stock market floor. Except they are all reacting in the same way, which is rather humorous when you see the repetition over and over again in every article. I would show specific examples here, but out of fear of prosecution respect of copyright law, I will instead post my personal interpretation of the art accompany articles on the current economic crisis. It is a play in three acts.
Act 1: The stocks have fallen and they can’t get up.
Act 2: Oh wait, they have Life Alert (aka 700 billion from Congress). They can get up after all!
Act 3: You may have Life Alert, but your hip’s still broken. (Stocks plunge again. The world markets recoil.)
* Members of the media, feel free to use these photos in your own economic articles, provided you link back to me :)
Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn't Go Away
Earlier: I love a parade (not) – Riding the Cultural Trail
Home: Main index
Related Entries
No related posts.
My latest tweets
"What distinguishes us one from another is our dreams and what we do to make them come about." - Joseph Epstein
36 Comments
still reading • October 7, 2008 at 8:13 pm
tee hee….My hubby is a photographer for AP, and I cannot wait to show him these photos…why go out to look for photos on the stock exchange floor when he can just log on here? HA!!! I’ll be sure he gives you credit…
Permalink • Reply
floating princess • October 7, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I love this! I’ve been watching those same news pics and thinking the same thing.
Permalink • Reply
Sillycakes • October 7, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I always knew you could be a model!
Permalink • Reply
s • October 7, 2008 at 8:45 pm
hehe, that is cute.
Permalink • Reply
Maggie • October 7, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Maybe it’s just schadenfreude on my part, but I also find those stock-broker photos in the news hilarious. I so enjoyed your model shoot!
Permalink • Reply
maris • October 7, 2008 at 9:46 pm
You are lucky! It seems that the state of the economy hasn’t affected you or your loved ones personally, otherwise you wouldn’t be laughing at it. I am someone who often tries to make light of sensitive situations by making jokes, but there are people out there whose lives have truly been destroyed by the financial landscape today. I think that the stories on the news today are upsetting and disturbing.
Personally, I think that we’re masters of our own destiny and that as a society, we are strong enough to make it through this, but there are a lot of people out there who don’t feel that way and I don’t really think it’s kind to mock that.
Permalink • Reply
PastaQueen • October 7, 2008 at 9:55 pm
@maris – I prefer to laugh, otherwise I’d be crying.
Permalink • Reply
Julie • October 7, 2008 at 10:06 pm
You’re so funny! I’m chosing the “try not to think about it” method.
Permalink • Reply
Zandria • October 7, 2008 at 10:12 pm
This is absolutely fabulous. I love it! :)
Permalink • Reply
Deb • October 7, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Not to pick nits, but I don’t think that’s where your temples are.
Permalink • Reply
PastaQueen • October 7, 2008 at 11:05 pm
@Deb – Oh, good catch! I’ve fixed it and will now re-read my high-school anatomy book.
Permalink • Reply
Sara • October 7, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Tough times, these.
But if we can’t find a way to laugh, then we’d all be curled up in a ball and repeatedly banging our foreheads on the wall.
To quote Dolly Parton as Truvy in Steel Magnolias: “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion…”
Permalink • Reply
Amy • October 7, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I checked my retirement accounts. Trust me – it’s not worth it. There is not enough chocolate in Switzerland.
*sob*
Permalink • Reply
PurpleGirl • October 8, 2008 at 1:57 am
Hilarious. :)
Permalink • Reply
ms. bat • October 8, 2008 at 2:50 am
Hee! This really made me l-o-l out loud. It’s so realistic. And I could really go for some Swiss chocolate. Nothing makes me feel better about the economy than chocolate.
Permalink • Reply
Inny • October 8, 2008 at 5:40 am
HAHAHA, that was hilarious! You should post a warning or something, I almost choked on my breakfast oatmeal ;)
Permalink • Reply
MizFit • October 8, 2008 at 6:04 am
love it.
switzerland or SELFRIDGES.
see their new fancy chocolate bar called CREDIT CRUNCH?
Permalink • Reply
Deb • October 8, 2008 at 7:10 am
You are so funny. Laughter and chocolate are much preferable to the alternatives. So rock on and never lose your fabulous sense of humor. Thanks for sharing it with us. BTW, I can find the humor in almost anything, too. (But I am not an airhead who doesn’t realize how serious life is. All the more reason to keep laughing.) Laughter is good for us. Love you!
Permalink • Reply
Christy • October 8, 2008 at 7:33 am
I’ll help you with the chocolate ;-)
Permalink • Reply
Jen • October 8, 2008 at 9:08 am
Hahah, this made me giggle this morning. A much-needed giggle. :)
Permalink • Reply
Benita • October 8, 2008 at 9:24 am
You are a scream!!! I agree, we might as well get some humor outta this fiasco. Glad you put your interpretation into it.
Permalink • Reply
Cris • October 8, 2008 at 9:37 am
@maris – get a grip, girl. PastaQueen was only finding humor in the photos, not the actual situation. I really wish people would refrain from commenting if their “funny bone” is out of order!
Permalink • Reply
fattired • October 8, 2008 at 10:20 am
ok, I found your blog a few days ago and have been reading the archives. I hit May2007 and though I had looked forward to your weight gain explainations (they helped me a lot to explain mine) but I must be blind, when you revised your weigh in schedule and dropped the weight from the blog titles directing me to a box on the side entitled How Fat Are you…well, I can’t find it. Can you give me a screen print of where it should be …maybe I am behind in some software updates and it’s just not appears or something?
Thanks,
RF
Permalink • Reply
PastaQueen • October 8, 2008 at 10:56 am
@fattired – My stats on on the weight loss page, at the bottom.
Permalink • Reply
Crabby McSlacker • October 8, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hilarious.
Good thing laughter is still free. (Um, it still is, right? They haven’t figured out a way to debit our checking accounts for that yet, have they?)
Thanks for brightening my morning!
Permalink • Reply
JEM • October 8, 2008 at 12:27 pm
So true, so funny! The first one is my fave! Ha!
Permalink • Reply
nostarvingartist • October 8, 2008 at 12:51 pm
The same pictures globally! Maybe it’s clones!
The were at the TSE (Toronto Stock Exchange).
Permalink • Reply
PastaQueen • October 8, 2008 at 1:12 pm
@Crabby McSlacker – No, sorry, you owe me a quarter for reading this entry. You better pay up! :)
Permalink • Reply
Deanna • October 8, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Second career as a actress… multi-talented Pasta Queen!
Permalink • Reply
gazellegirl • October 8, 2008 at 1:34 pm
OMG You are cracking me up. Although I think it might be even more impressive if you had a big digital number or line graph in the background like the one I found in my local rag today…
I had to link the whole article but if you scoll you should see my example…
Have a good one…
:)
Permalink • Reply
Billy • October 8, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Haha, that was very entertaining. Thank you for the three-act play.
It is interesting how some people felt that the bailout package would fix all of our problems.
These are tight times and I believe and fear they’re here to stay, at least into the near future.
Permalink • Reply
Charlotte • October 8, 2008 at 4:37 pm
There is a whole blog of these pictures! http://sadguysontradingfloors.tumblr.com/
Permalink • Reply
asithi • October 8, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I looked my retirement account last week. Down 26% this year alone. Let’s just say that I have been eating more chocolate this week than before the peek. I wished someone had told me about the correlation between chocolate and your retirement account earlier.
Permalink • Reply
Brandi • October 8, 2008 at 5:58 pm
@Cris – Amen, sister! I thought the photos were amusing. Then again, I haven’t lost millions on the stock market. Then again, I like to think that if I had millions, some of them would be in banks in other countries, LOL … and maybe there’d be some in a mattress in my “basement”…
Permalink • Reply
butterfly • October 8, 2008 at 7:35 pm
You’re hilarious!
I work in retirement planning. Two words of advise to anyone reading my comment:
Don’t panic.
Think of this as a time to buy. We look for discounts right? We don’t wait for that hot sweaters’ price to increase- we look for a sale!
A lot of people are running around in a sweat with the current economic situation. Historical trends show that after every major increase, a decrease follows. Now this situation is somewhat unique, but it will repair itself!
Retirement accounts are meant for long-term investing. Unless you’re planning on retiring in the next 5 yrs, no need to run for the chocolate =)
Put it this way: Let’s say you had a large billboard above your house that displayed the property value. Mortgage rates & property rates fluctuate all the time, be we all know that real estate is a long-term investment. ” i.e Grandma bought her house in 1930 for 10 000, it’s now worth 300 000). If the billboard outside your house showed your property value suddenly drop, would you sell your house?
Food for thought. I just felt like ranting. I meet with people in freak out mode all day, and I do understand that it’s scary, especially when I took a peak at my own portfolio- eeek!
Investments are long term, and I’ll take the opportunity to link it to weight loss. Long term commitment pays off.
Permalink • Reply
Alissa • October 9, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I’m currently living in Switzerland, and I can tell you I’m representing the Americans on the chocolate front! For better or worse…
Permalink • Reply
Comments are now closed on all PastaQueen entries. The blog is an archive only so I don't have to deal with spammers. For fresh discussions please visit my new blog JenFul.