Underwater Rationalization-Weaving

I just got reamed in the Real Estate Market last night.

It was my American Dream to provide comfortable hotels for guests, so I scraped together enough money to build on Marvin Gardens, Atlantic and Ventnor Avenues. Unfortunately, my job carried me to an even higher-rent district and I lost my shirt on Broadway.

Monopoly frustrates me. I don’t really want to make my money in real estate. I’d rather be a plumber so when Park Place floods, I can really soak ‘em. But, alas. The game doesn’t work that way.

Life doesn’t quite work the way we’d like, either. An interesting little statistic just came out: Across the country, about 1 in 8 homes are “underwater,” that is, more is owed on them than they are worth. Even more homeowners are struggling to make the payments on ever-rising adjustable-rate mortgages. If everyone gives up and walks away, all the bailout bucks in the world can’t absorb the shock to our economic system.

Simpleton Solutions isn’t all about waxing moralistic at every turn, but we do recognize that life isn’t always fair, and how you deal with the pain says a lot about you. Taxes go up, illness or injury strike, pink slips arrive, and housing prices sink. Some people simply walk away from the mess and expect someone else to absorb the loss. But a surprising number take their own lumps.

To those of you out there taking hits and getting up again, I salute you!