“Economy” is on everybody’s lips, along with possible bacteria which carry with them the so-much-talked-about flu that awaits us all this coming winter, according to the specialists’ prognosis, the latest one that is, because they prognosticated an earlier disaster in summer, which fortunately, like the New York weather forecast, quite often did not materialize. And while there is a certain way to deal with the flu once it hits you, the same isn’t true with the economy: no certain path to recovery is offered by the other kind of specialists, only the vague hope that things will get better as time goes by; another kind of prognosis that is--a forecast, which unfortunately entails with it the 50% possibility of every guess--not to happen!

However, being the optimists that we are, we can’t give up hope, life is like that, anyway, so we will embark into this new season with the blind faith that there are enough life jackets and self-inflated boats for all passengers, should the boat hits something and begins to sink. Just knowing how to swim helps a lot, only that isn’t enough in this case, as we will be in deep, frozen cold waters and our rescue will depend on any kind of assistance that we can get!

I did not intend to start this page and this season on a gloomy tone, but as is often the case, creative writing has its own dynamic and leads you in ways and corners that you were not planning to visit, or even pass by. And this mood reversal isn’t just the result of high blood pressure pills, but perhaps something deeper and wider at the same time, related to the general decadence of our surroundings, our city, “our way of life”, our illusion of security, all that which we took for granted for so long and we came to realize that like everything else, sooner or later, age, too, and collapse, pretty much like …Lehman Brothers or Bear Sterns. And this is a more real and hurtful crisis because more than our pockets, it affects our morale, where the most important wealth is and the savings that each and everyone looks at in order to overcome a downturn. It seems that a lot of us are running out of that kind of savings – along with the other, that is – and perhaps it is there where we need to focus in order to accumulate again some capital before we venture into reestablishing our economic stability. And that’s the field where our real strength will play or be played out.

Let us turn a virtual page now and delve into this – alas – past summer’s recent memories, especially those of us who were blessed to go away and spend sometime in Greece or the other Greece, Cyprus. I say, blessed, because it isn’t that simple anymore. Despite the crisis which we talk and worry about so much, it seems more and more people are willing to pay up to $1,600 in mid-summer to escape for a few days or weeks to one of the more or less sought after islands, to the extent that is harder and harder to even find a seat on the days you want. Once there, you realize how weak your dollar has become and you start rearranging your plans in order not to run out of money in the first few days. And certainly, we have an image to maintain, that of the wealthy and generous “American” who can afford to spend left and right and treat everybody in the local cafes. Well, those days too seem to be over, along with the drachma. Many places will sell you a frappe, the Greek cold coffee, for more than €3--$4,5, that is, not 350 drachmas or 75 cents that it used to be. Now you go there and you see friends and relatives and you silently hope to be treated and invited by them, while you are offering them sermons about the need to save for the hard days that are coming and how ridiculous it is for a coffee and indecent plate of food to cost that much! In the heat of your indignation you promise to yourself and to the others not to come back for many years (Australian Greeks seem to be completely lost!), because the whole situation is unacceptable! And yet, the moment the plane lands at Kennedy and you see the humidity on the horizon and start thinking of the bills and chores that await you, you vaguely initiate planning your next trip back and the bittersweet nostalgia gets the better of you.

Just to make thinks more realistic, not worse, Olympic Airlines will cease - after more than 40 years - to fly to this side of the Atlantic as part of its restructuring policy after it went to private hands earlier this year. They say that in less than two years, the flights will be reestablished, and lets hope that will be the case, because prices will go even higher and the quality of service even lower, as we learn that Delta will take over the Olympic slots. I had the experience of flying with both carriers to Greece and I can tell you that although Olympic was far from perfect, it had newer, better and bigger aircrafts, while Delta’s are older, smaller – that means less seats and naturally higher prices – and they literally stink! Again, let us invoke hope and wish that they will somehow improve and things eventually will be better than before so that we can fly happily ever after!

Landing back into reality now and before we hang up, let me remind you that the beginning of the season also entails the renewal of commitment, any kind of commitment. In tough times like these, I expect all of you who have come to like and appreciate NEO to take the extra step and help us continue bringing it to the forefront of our community’s limelight. Subscribing to it, placing an ad - talking to friends who might place an ad is equally important – and are ways to actively support this effort and prove – as we’ve been doing for the last four years – that our community CAN afford media that are not BY RULE backed by people with particular agendas or primarily by the Greek government – from disappointing to disastrous results in both cases. As we embark on another season of struggle and great challenges, we are as ready as ever to make NEO open to new ideas and trends that in turn will lead to the articulation of a real community agenda with no preconditions or strings attached. Once more, welcome aboard and fasten your belts for the bad times, but also to take off!

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DEMETRIOS RHOMPOTIS
dondemetrio@neomagazine.com