I just finished a small home remodel that gives me a dedicated office (a "lair" as one of my friends called it -- a small lair.)  As I was moving in, I discovered a quote book that I kept while in college.  In it is a parable called "The man who sold hot dogs."  I don't know who wrote it but it certainly applies to the unusual economic times we're in.

There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs.

He was hard of hearing so he had no radio.

He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers.

But he sold good hot dogs.

He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were.

He stood on the side of the road and cried: "Buy a hot dog, Mister?"

And people bought.

He increased his meat and bun orders.

He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade.

he finally got his son home from college to help him out.

But then something happened. 

His son said, "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio?

Haven't you been reading the newspapers?

There's a big depression.

The European situation is terrible.

The domestic situation is worse." 

Whereupon the father thought, "Well, my son's been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know."

So the father cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs.

And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight.

"You're right, son," the father said to the boy.

"We certainly are in the middle of a great depression."