Guava Season

You see it everywhere … empty business houses, smaller crowds at the supermarkets.
Normally, at this time of year, it is customary for consumers to spend less, mainly because, having over-extended themselves over the Christmas and New Year season, they have to forcibly tighten their belts during the month of January. It is a simple fact of life – if spending excessively is “tradition Noel”, the guava season experience (hard times) is “tradition Janvier”.
With what is taking place nowadays however, the rising costs of fuel and almost every basic commodity, it is anyone’s guess whether the strain we all are feeling in January will turn out to be the usual, traditional phenomenon or a new way of life that is destined to extend into February, March and far beyond.

Pessimistically, many believe it is the beginning of an era, a reality that we shall have to cope with … that will engender for us a completely new lifestyle, involving a sense of frugality and sacrifice that has been unprecedented in our history.
Optimistically, those who have confidence in the ability of the present administration to be able to take matters in hand and find solutions that will help us ease the burden, face the present month without trepidation, feeling that, as in every year gone by, it will all be over come February and that second paycheque for the year.
We are however, not in the confidence of those who make the decisions and have our fate in their hands.
So for now, we hold our collective breaths and hope that it will turn out to be a shorter, rather than a longer, guava season.