Signs of the Times

We have all learned to foresee certain things through Signs:

• Thunderstorms;


• Wind;


• Many other kinds of weather;


• Earthquakes;


• Hunger;


• Sickness;


• Traffic conditions;


• Death.

We use this knowledge of signs to manage risk – or at any rate, we should.

If we see traffic stopped dead still, just ahead, we better start stopping, or at least slowing. If we don’t, we’re courting disaster.

Some of us grew up during the last depression. My Dad was a college educated man, which was somewhat rare in those days. (He later taught Math in college, Algebra through Calculus.)

I remember him standing in lines trying to get any type of work so that he could feed us. He performed many manual labor chores not depicted by his education. We moved several times, often in various states.

I say this, not to receive sympathy, but to point out that hard times dictate that we do many things. Many, particularly men, in those days, became very transient. They rode the rails, slept where they could and ate when they could find food.

We were blessed and always had food. Albeit not the choicest, we did not go hungry.

Often, the transients, we called them bums, would stop by and ask for food and a place to sleep, perhaps in one of the outbuildings. I remember that all of them, when they asked for help, would also inquire if there were chores that they could do that needed attention. They actually felt obligated to work for their board and most truly wanted to.

I’m sure there were crimes, theft, etc., but we never experienced any. That’s a far cry from what we see today. Today, the media is completely full of every sort of crime, most of which is motivated by greed or want. Very little is due to actual need.

As times get harder, we will find those committing crimes of need, adding to the others. Although the people who commit crimes for greed or want are many times extremely violent, the ones who have the need to provide food for their starving families will be even more driven.

I am not a doom and gloom guy, but the handwriting is on the wall! My friend, times are going to get tougher than they are now.

I work on the theory that everything in life has risk. Based on that theory, I believe that we must find ways to manage that risk. Otherwise, that disaster we courted earlier in the traffic, will overtake and consume us and our assets.

How do we manage risk? There is only one way and it is most simple:

1. Risk must be recognized;


2. Risk must be acknowledged;


3. Assess the risk;


1. Those of us who have been in physical encounters, (good old fist fights), learned early on to assess the opponent.


2. Strengths and weaknesses must be evaluated.


4. Stay away from the strengths of the challenger;


5. Capitalize on the weaknesses of the adversary;

Pay attention to the Signs of the Times. This may sound like child’s play; it certainly is a simple and easy principle to operate; moreover, it works!