Saturday, January 03, 2009

It's the Economy, Stupid

Tonight we went out to dinner.

Intending to use a gift card TheDad received for Christmas, we headed for Outback Steakhouse (his favorite) only to discover that there was a 50- to 60-minute wait. Little Brother is too impatient for that, so we decided to try The Cheesecake Factory. They said the wait was only 25 to 30 minutes.

Fifty-five minutes later we were seated at our table. The place was full to bursting. It's in the middle of a new shopping center, which was bustling with shoppers in its many upscale stores (shoppes?) When I wasn't trying to amuse Little Brother, I kept myself busy, as I stood next to the constantly-opening door, checking out the Handbag Fashion Show. Coach and Gucci were well-represented tonight at The Cheesecake Factory.

It didn't look like evidence of an economic downturn to me. People were shopping, and eating out--spending. So much for consumer confidence. I thought they looked pretty confident, and there was no lack of consumers.

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