Got that Peter Lorre feeling?

I don’t know about everyone in the graphic arts industry, but I think the nightly national news is the funniest show on television. They call in their economic “experts” who solemnly tell us that the recession is over while the anchor sits and nods wisely in agreement. I can’t help but wonder what they do “off camera.” Do they high five each other and joke about how they are pulling the wool over our eyes? Maybe they think we can’t see the truth, but we can, all we have to do is look at our bank statements. The truth is there in the bottom line. The truth shows up in 1% or less passbook interest and 25% credit card interest. Wouldn’t printers love to have those margins?

I know of no printer who believes that the recession is over. Oh sure, we have moments when the market seems to be coming alive and we experience busy times here and there, but overall–overall there is trouble. Printers who haven’t gone out of business are largely hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

So if the recession is really over and the printers aren’t feeling it, maybe every other business is benefiting. Right? Wrong, everywhere I go I hear the same story of cutbacks, slow sales, and low expectations of recovery. Oh sure, the hope is there. We are, after all, Americans and Americans never say die, but aren’t you tired of the beatings we are taking? You go to work day-after-day hoping that the newscaster was right and things are going to pick up and they don’t–what do you do?

I read the other day that four mutual fund managers each got billion dollar bonuses. The recession is over for them, that’s for sure.  AARP magazine said that Corporate Executives are funding their bonuses by reducing health care and other benefits on the rank and file, so I guess the recession isn’t affecting them either. The insurance companies got congress to pass a health care law forcing everyone to buy private insurance. Happy days are here for them too.

So if you get blue and can’t pull yourself out of the fogs of gloom,  just shout with all the enthusiasm you can muster, “The recession is over!” If that doesn’t make you laugh, nothing will.

Note: The latest blog entry in Chicken Scratchings is “To e-Book, or Not to e-Book, That is the Question.” Just click on the underlined to take you there.

I’m not just talking through my hat, I’ve been battling a he-said, she-said problem with a couple of vendors. The problem was that a set-in-stone deadline was missed and I stubbornly insisted on finding out exactly where the ball was dropped. The evidence produced was an undated delivery receipt. When was the product delivered from vendor A to vendor B? Who knows? Both parties can point to the “evidence” to support their point and the truth is that it doesn’t support either.

What should a responsible business person do? The bottom line is that someone is going to be pushed into a corner.  If you don’t discover exactly where the job went off track you can’t find ways to prevent it, but isn’t it important to allow people to save face?

I want to keep good working relationships with both, but I also don’t want to face a repeat. Does anyone think that by laying the issue on the table and stressing the importance of the deadline is enough hammering on the point, or is it necessary to pull out the nail and leave a permanent hole?

The blame game, is it a good idea or bad?