Distracted Again

A recession is coming.
We just don’t know when,
or how bad it will be,
or how long it will last.
But we know it’s coming.

Ah. Well, it’s good to understand the limits of his (and pretty much everyone’s) ability to predict the economy (much less the markets), and I value the honesty. (Not that our financial advisor isn’t usually honest, it’s more a shot at the industry.) (Or maybe a shot at human nature: In our respective spheres of expertise, don’t we all hope to be more certain and definite than we can legitimately be in the face of life’s uncertainties?)

Anyway, he went on to talk specifics, losing me predictably-if-indefinitely quickly.

A distraction is coming.
We just don’t know when,
or how bad it will be,
or how long it will last.

I was (only momentarily, I swear) distracted by badden. Not Baden Baden: badden. (I mean, isn’t one enough?) (Or even too much?)

bad•den: verb
1: to get worse (intransitive)
// The economy will surely badden over the next year.
2: to make something worse (transitive)
// Ignoring your problems will only badden them.

Well, of course, we don’t say “badden” but I can’t say why. We can be saddened or maddened. Our hearts can even be gladdened. What’s wrong with badden? (I mean, what’s wrong with it as a word?  I know what’s wrong with it as a process.)

Anyway, as a *word* there’s nothing wrong with it, so I’m just going to start using it.

Be the change
you want to see in the world.

I don’t see how that would badden anything.

 

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4 Responses to Distracted Again

  1. Jim Taylor says:

    Ah, distractions… I have two different reactions. If I’m deeply into something, such as writing a Giller-prize novel, nothing will distract me short of the house bursting into flames. On the other hand, if I’m only so-so interested, ANYTHING will distract me, even the passage of a fruit fly across my field of vision.

    I hadden noticed
    that the padden of fly feet
    didden distract me

    Jim T

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Jim T – Ah, yes – indistractability (not to be confused with indestructability), or the state of “Oh, I missed lunch. Two hours ago.” Also called “flow” I believe. And thanks for the -adden additions. I tried to find a way to work in “fadden” in the sense of creating a fad, but couldn’t quite get there. To work, it has to be both a surprise and yet immediately obvious.

  2. John Whitman says:

    Isabel – “A recession is coming.”

    That statement is along the same lines as, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere in the world”, and let’s not forget, “Even a stopped analog clock is correct twice each day.”

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      John – LOL – fair enough. A boom is coming too. Eventually. Perhaps it would have been better phrased as, “The next noticeable change in the economy will be a recession.”

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