Dispatches from Portland and Baghdad

I can't say it's thrilling to read the front page of the New York Times and see they're using Portland as an example of a U.S. city experiencing a downturn, and leading with the example of Powell's Books -- and a photo no less! I have two things to say about this: one, I heard a report yesterday where a gentleman from Toronto was saying, he had a dinner party; there were 12 guests, they were all in their 30s, and the main topic of conversation was the bloody horrible economy. And yet, not one person at the table had lost his or her job; one had just bought a house, two had bought cars, and he and his wife were planning a European vacation. It's good to remember that, while it sometimes feels as though we're moving inexorably toward a very scary economic edge, we also live day to day, and how is it going for you? It's going pretty great for us, which leads to my second thought: my husband would appreciate it if every single news story about how to save money did not lead with the same facile suggestion of giving up your morning latte.

As readers here know, I am both a huge fan and a good friend Michael Totten, who's been reporting, on his own nickel, lo these many years from Baghdad and other parts of the Middle East. His latest dispatch is here. Please hit his trip jar, because while we may be watching our pennies and also, I suspect, have some Iraq fatigue, where else are you going to get this information -- and images! -- with nearly every news bureau either eliminating or contracting their overseas staffs? How else do we gain perspective unless people like Michael bring the world to us?

Car bomb aftermath, Adhamiyah, Baghdad; photo by Michael Totten

Comments

[Jill]

I've become tired of articles about personal finance. Most could be subtitled: How to save money for morons. Cut back on bottled water! Make dinner at home! Cut coupons, just like your grandma did! Make a household budget!
I wonder if the latte advice is having an effect? In my case, as a laid off (former) employee of Portland Monthly, I spend MORE time in coffee shops than I ever have, where I drink my fill. Ristretto happens to be my favorite for its open architecture, professional staff, and music that doesn't distract me from my work.
Heck, I'm going there now to work on a story. Yes, I think I will.

[Hillary Johnson]

Well put! The downturn is like Paris Hilton--it's mainly famous for being famous.

There are job losses, to be sure. In journalism, it's not the economy, but the hammer of fate and obsolescence. In the rest of the world, it's often healthy companies dumping bloated staff under cover of recession hype.

Lattes for all!

[Nancy Rommelmann]

I'll see you there, Jill!

And Hillary, your comment gives me THE perfect intro to tell a little story: sit back folks; this is going to take a minute:

Back in September, when Ristretto Williams was opening, Din's dad bought up some ads in the Oregonian; they would run the last weekend in September, and the first weekend in October. He arranged it, paid for it; they appeared, the end.

Or, not the end: the following month, Ristretto Roasters gets a bill from the Oregonian, for $120. I call the ad guy, whom I will refer to here as John, and say, this was paid for. He said, well, oh, that's the bill for any agreement if you were to place ads in the following 12 months.

I told him, well, we're not, and more than that, Ristretto didn't enter into any contract, Din's dad did, and he paid for it in full. More, that there had been no contract signed; it was a one-off. John startled to kind of chuckle and equivocate and said, yes, he saw that, and he'd talk to "the field guy" and get it squared away.

Ristretto got the same bill a month later. I had the same conversation with John.

Ristretto got the same bill the month after that. I had the same conversation with John, who seemed partial to evasive chuckling, "ho, well, yeah, yeah, well, ha..." I told John, I didn't want to hear from him again. That he needed to get this taken care of.

A month later, we got a bill from the Oregonian, as well as a letter of collection from an agency in Ohio.

This would be just about when I lost my mind.

I called John, I emailed him; I found out who his bosses were and emailed them. I emailed the collection people. And I called my father-in-law, who loves fighting for justice and is as tenacious as a bulldog. Go get 'em, Morgan!

And boy, did he. We had people in the ether of the Oregonian strata calling us to apologize. The bill never should have been generated, and certainly, not to Ristretto, who'd never entered into a contract. Nor had Morgan ever signed a contract, so it was all a real mystery. We were assured the collection agency was not "a reporting agency," they got them off our back, and that, was that.

Until the next month, when we got not only a bill from the Oregonian, but a copy of a contract between the Oregonian and Ristretto Roasters, and signed by Morgan. I stuck it in an envelope to Morgan, saying, "Well, at least we now know why they've been sending the bills."

He called me the next day, to tell me, it was not his signature; it had been forged. More than that, how could he have even signed a contract in Ristretto Roasters' name? He couldn't have, and wouldn't have.

How could this have happened? Was John so down in sales he needed to forge this? Was he trying to prove he'd been right all along? Was someone else in sales trying to cover tracks? We'd crossed over into really weird, to say nothing of illegal territory.

That day, I received an email from John, saying, I see there's still a balance of $31, wow, sure is hard to get rid of this! But I'll take care of it!

I left it all to Morgan, who went to the top and said, John, or someone in your sales office, has forged my signature; this is illegal, and you need to take care of this.

We've been assured, it has been. Also, that HR has dealt with John in the strongest possible terms. We'll see if we get a bill next month.

A very long way of illustrating Hillary's point, that there is dead wood at a lot of publications that not only should be pruned, but must be.

[Amy Alkon]

Not all lattes are worth saving. I must say, I'm one of the best ads you've got for Ristretto Roasters. I have cut my expenses to the bone (although I did splurge on an outfit the other day -- wearing it today: $1 jeans and $3.25 cashmere turtleneck, off the sale rack at Out of the Closet thrift store in Venice, CA). And I only went there to buy stuff for a shoot we were doing for my book cover...I am not shopping for ANYTHING these days.

Well, there is one thing I simply cannot give up: it's Din's coffee. It's so extraordinary, I mail order it from Portland (I'm in Southern California). It's worth every cent and then some. When you drink bitter old-shoe tasting coffee (which is pretty much what most coffee now tastes like to me by comparison), and then drink Ristretto, you will not be able to go back.

PS I get Sumatra Mandheling, ground fine for espresso, and make it in one of those plastic coffee thingies where you just put the filter in. Be sure to just wet the grounds first to make them "bloom," and then pour in the rest of the water.

[Kelso's Nuts]

Tell your husband the Latte crack gave me a big smile!

[Alice Bachini-Smith]

Well there's no way I'm giving up my lattes!

The writers of those articles clearly have no idea what's going on. I don't have stats, but we're doing just fine with our baked English-style goods at the farmer's market too. Not a dent. The "luxury" markets that (as far as I recall) got hit in the last recession/s seem to be doing absolutely fine now. I think the markets that are going under are ones that were poor value in the first place. That means crap. Certainly not top-quality , hand-roasted, local groceries.

It's not a recession in the sense we are used to understanding it; it's a shake-down, rationalisation, whatever that's calledx (ie. what Hillary said much more elegantly!)

[Michael J. Totten]

Thanks, Nancy. :)