You Heard It Here

“Whining Americans” has become a regular topic of discussion on the radio show. The economy has slowed and prices on gas, milk and energy have gone up enough that those on the edge are truly hurting. But most Americans are fine. In fact, a lot of folks “feeling the pinch” have had to move from very comfortable to just plain old comfortable. And that, apparently, is hard. Push them out of their comfort zone and they whine. The newspapers and TV morning shows are loving these people.

Like the woman who’s had to switch from organic to regular milk and has stopped buying the convenient single-serve juice bottles (she’s reached “a tipping point”). Ouch. Or the woman who’s using her BlackBerry to send herself reminders of sales on bottled water. Ouch. Or the private plane owner who’s not flying as much because fuel prices have gone up. Ouch again. Or the couple who’ve scrapped plans for a 12-day European vacation this summer and instead will be slumming it by renting a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard. Ouch, ouch, ouch!