The Economic Discussion

Thinking about my professional employment is rather disheartening. The global economic meltdown, combined with the fact that our executive management possesses a preponderance of genes scavenged from Ebenezer Scrooge, makes the work environment less than fully enjoyable. Naturally my son, the economist, was supportive:

“They are reducing the salaries by 10%, Darius.” I explained. “It is a permanent salary cut and they’re doing simply because they can…”

“Of course, Dad. All companies should optimize labor costs.”

“By optimize, you mean reduce?”

“From an economic perspective, it is a fundamentally flawed strategy to pay more than replacement value for anything. Right now there is a huge labor surplus. Therefore..”

“Darius..”

“In these conditions, Dad, companies can reduce employment expenses. Thus, to stay competitive, they must reduce...”

“I don’t want my salary to be reduced.”

“Things will eventually turn around, Dad. The economy will reverse itself. Labor will be in short supply and then you will be able to demand a higher wage.”

“Somehow, Darius, I doubt that my ‘demand’ will be answered.”

“The economic model is clear..”

“The model doesn’t know that I’ll retire before the economy itself sesrever.”

The Race

While Nazy is enjoying Easter in California, Darius and I are relentlessly following the detailed instructions (volumes 1-16) that she left behind:

“Mom says we should pre-heat the oven, Dad.” Darius said.

“Okay.”

“What’s an ‘oven’, Dad?”

“Check the definitions page in Appendix XIV,” I replied.

“And she says that we should prepare a mixed salad. What should we mix?”

“Well, I’ve found a cake mix. Do you think that will suffice?” I asked.

“Mom says we shouldn’t eat too much red meat.”

“No problem for me, Darius. I never eat red meat.”

“Do you want some crackers and peanut butter?” Darius asked.

“Is that on Mom’s list?”

“No, but I think we can figure out how to prepare…”

“Speaking of preparing, Dar,” I interrupted. “Prepare yourself to leave. I think we should eat out tonight.”

In fact, Darius is actually preparing for his forthcoming job interviews in Pakistan, Lebanon and China. Nevertheless, we found time for a few manly activities:

“Would you like to an expedition to the Go-Kart racetrack?” I asked.

“Wow!”

“I think it’s the kind of place that Mom wouldn’t enjoy quite as much as we will.”

Persian New Year

We recently celebrated Noruz – the Persian New Year. As you know, the holiday should be celebrated at the exact time of the vernal equinox. Calendar vagaries caused by solar system design flaws (The planet does not circle, eh, ellipse, the sun in an even number of days. Calendarwise, this means that the equinox occurs at almost random times on various days between March 19 and March 22 meant that this year’s Noruz occurred at 12:43:39 PM (Central European Time) on Friday March 20. Following tradition, Nazy began the festivities with an edict.

“We must set the haft seen, Dan.”

“The half sin, my dear?”

“As you well know, Dan, ‘’haft’ is the Persian world for ‘seven’..”

“Ah yes. It’s coming back to me. We celebrate the seven sins.”

“Dan..”

“The seven deadly sins. Hmm. I can remember sloth and gluttony..”

“Dan!”

“Why don’t we have a large and lazy dinner? That would be a good way to start the New Year.”

In fact, the seven ‘seens’ represent items beginning with the Persian letter ‘seen’. Our ‘hafseen’ table was traditional and beautiful