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In Darkening Clouds, Look For The Silver Lining

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By BUZZ KELLY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 2, 2008

I know the recession is a pain. High gas prices, falling home values, rising food costs. It's bad, and it won't get better soon.

You're not the only one affected. The past couple months have introduced me to a variety of hard-up people who'll do whatever it takes to make a buck. Thanks to them, I can offer you a silver lining in the dark cloud.

For years, I've worried about the trees growing higher and higher around our humble dwelling in South Tampa. They've been taking the light from our citrus trees and garden, and pose a problem in the event of a hurricane, but the cost of having them trimmed and/or removed was unpleasant to contemplate.

Then a young fellow came to the door, said he and his crew needed arborist work, and gave me a price I could not refuse. Indeed, I'd have been stupid to refuse, it was so ridiculously low. My citrus and garden plantings are very happy now, and so is my bank account.

Then there's the guest bathroom which my Beautiful and Talented Wife wanted remodeled. She's wanted the job done for two years, and I've kept putting her off with, "We can't afford it."

But a guy I know at my favorite pub asked if we needed work done, and I said, "Yeah, but it's too expensive," and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. The process has been messy and disruptive, but the result is wonderful and the price is more than right.

And there was the guy who knocked on the door last week, had an old white pickup truck with a pressure-washer in it, asking if we wanted our house washed. My BTW hired him on the spot. He did the entire house, even washed the front and back decks, also the driveway.

I hesitate to tell you the price, because it almost feels like hiring slave labor. But he was happy, took the cash, and she was happy because it was a job she'd been asking me to do and I'd been procrastinating, so she felt it was a bargain - she didn't have to nag me anymore, and the job got done, and it was cheap.

Here's the thing: No matter how hard times may seem for you, there's always somebody for whom times are harder. When they come to your door, take them up on their offers. You're not harming yourself by helping yourself, and you're helping somebody else.

Example: While remodeling the guest bathroom, we put in a new vanity sink (her idea), which made the old sink superfluous. I set it at the curb by the mailbox. It was gone the next morning. Somebody got a nice vanity sink, with fixtures, free.

The lesson, Grasshopper, is that even in the darkest clouds, you can be somebody's silver lining, and somebody else can be yours.

Buzz Kelly is a Tampa native, former advertising executive, and freelance writer.

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