Recession? I can't find it

December 23, 8:26 PMDallas Personal Finance ExaminerTom Mackinnon

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Credit cards are still getting plenty of use.

I bought a new car this past weekend. I didn't want to, but circumstances required it. My beloved Ford F-150 pickup truck is on its last legs, and I need a dependable vehicle for my work. So I took my truck to the Ford dealership to get some repairs done and ended up buying a vehicle.

But, that is not the point of this article. The point is what I witnessed while shopping for a new car and doing the other things we did this weekend. Over the space of Friday night to Sunday afternoon, we went to three restaurants, two malls and two car dealerships. In all of these places, there was LOTS of business being done - LOTS of business.

On Friday evening, we went to our usual Friday night gathering place, BJ's Brewhouse in Lewisville, Texas (great beer!).  We go there just about every Friday for our Date Night, and we usually have several couples and other friends join us.  The place was JAMMED. Every table was full, the bar was 2-3 people deep, and there was a very long line of people waiting. Everyone was eating and drinking and spending money. All the restaurants around this were equally crowed with people eating and drinking and spending money.

When I took my truck to get repairs done Saturday morning, there were lots of people in the showroom and it appeared they were there to buy cars - all the sales people were busy with customers.

The restaurant we went to for lunch - at 1 pm, was crowded. Lots of people eating and drinking and spending money. The mall we went to (the restaurant is by the mall) was crowded - Lots of people shopping and presumably spending money .

The car dealership we went to to buy the new vehicle was very busy with people buying new vehicles - spending money.

The Mexican restaurant we went to for dinner was crowded - all tables full and people waiting. Lots of people eating and drinking and spending money.

The mall we went to the next day - different from the one on Saturday - was crowded with shoppers, and I assume they were buying things and spending money.

All of this leads me to wonder where the recession is. At least from what I am seeing in North Texas, there isn't one.

All the news - in the newspapers, online, and on TV - would lead you to believe that the economic world is about to end - if not right now, certainly by next Tuesday. The next Great Depression is upon us and we have just not noticed it yet.

We should be seeing bread and soup lines any day now, and if you still have a job and an income, you one of the few lucky ones.

So, where are the bread lines? The soup lines? The jobless masses waiting on street corners looking for any type of work?

Here where I live there is little evidence of an economic slowdown, a recession, and certainly no evidence of a Depression.

I know the stock market has lost lots of value, and many people have watched their IRA's and 401K's and stock portfolios dwindle.

I know our wonderful Federal Government is spending money as fast as they can invent it to "save" companies from crappy business decisions and from the Federal Government telling those same businesses how they should be doing their business.

I know many companies have announced thousands of layoffs and the job losses have grown into the hundreds of thousands.

 I know the media pundits are drooling all over themselves as they clamor about this crisis they love so much .

I have yet to hear of one friend, family member, or associate who has lost his or her job in the last 2-3 months.

So, where is the recession? Someone point it out to me, willya? I can't find it.