Saving Rosetta

                                                         

            I grew up in the city.  We didn’t see many animals outside of the neighbors pet dogs and cats, squirrels in the park and an occasional visit to the Bronx Zoo.  So I didn’t develop much of a feeling for animals.  My wife, however, was from a rural area and loves all things living.  This is just so you have some understanding of what I am about to present here.

            We were watching television on the flat screen shortly after New Year’’s day when we heard a thumping.  Joyce thought it was ice falling against the house.  I had more sinister thoughts.  We located the source on the disturbance at the egress window of the basement room.  The house has no door to the outside from the lowest level. The window would be our exit in case of a fire.  A large rabbit had fallen in the well which is covered by a removable plastic dome.  The well is four feet deep from the outside.  The beast was frantically trying to escape.  There was no way it could get out; nor could we reach it.  Joyce ran out and tried to remove the dome cover but it was frozen shut.  It was the coldest night in about twenty years and about seven inches of snow lay on thje ground.  “Leave it, we’ll try in the morning when it is light,”  I advised, comfortably snuggled under a down blanket.  “It will freeze to death out there,” she exploded,” in an irritated voice.  “Give me your comforter!”  I know better than to protest when Joyce uses that tone of voice.  She ran out again and tossed my favorite TV watching blanket down the hole.  “That should help it survive the night,” she explained.  Joyce was up all night checking on the furry creature whom she now assumed responsibility for saving.  I slept all right, considering that she kept hopping out of bed.

            “She’s still alive,” Joyce reported in the morning.”  “How do you know it’s a she?”   “She gets things done and never complains.  Her name is Rosetta.” 

           Joyce was up at 5:00 AM.  At 7:00 she had jumped down the hole, wrapped Rosetta in the comforter and brought her inside.  She placed the rabbit, a large, hairy rodent, in a plastic tub and given her a cup of water and some carrots, which Rosetta, breathing but immobile, would not touch.  She looked half dead.  At 10:00 Joyce  had called the local vet, who begged off since she had just had surgery.  Most vets will not treat wild animals. She did provide the number of a wild animal shelter.  The shelter doc praised Joyce for her compassion and offered to take the animal.  However, she was now treating a very sick dog who was lethargic and paralyzed.  Joyce, who knows about such things, suggested that the dog had licked antifreeze.  The vet checked the dog’s breath and found that, indeed, she reeked of antifreeze.  The shelter was about an hour and a half away and the roads were treacherous.  Our driveway was a skating rink. so the rabbit was ours for a while longer.  Joyce placed a heating pad over the comforter and succeeded in warming Rosetta.  “How did you diagnose the dog?” I inquired.  “It’s that time of year.”

            Wild animals cannot be domesticated.  Rosetta seemed confused and in shock, lying motionless in her box.  She would neither eat nor drink on her own. Joyce managed to get some water into her using a syringe.  Then Joyce had an epiphany.  “She wants to be left alone.” She rerleased Rosetta from the box and placed her in the laundry room.  Rosetta, now undisturbed by unfamiliar humans,  perked up and began hopping arounnd.  Joyce hung some maple syrup on the  tub and Rosetta took a lick.  We called the shelter once more.  “Let her go,” Joyce  was advised.  “She’ll die in captivity.”  When the sun came out Joyce walked up the snow covered hill and released her at the edge of the woods.  Like Pi in the film, Rosetta never looked back.  Hopefully,l she was able to find her den.  “Don’t follow her” the vet had said “or she will not go to her den.”

            Joyce is proud to have saved Rosetta but also sad. Me?  I guess I’ll miss her too. Anyway, I’ve got my blanket back.

                                                                        ***

                                                                        Addenda

            I doubt that we’ll ever see Rosetta again.  If rabbits have some way of communicating with each other, Rosetta had some story to tell”

            “I fell into trap and was captured by humans.  They manhandled me, placed me in a box, and force-fed me.  Fortunately, I managed to escape.  I’ll never go near that place again.”

DON'T POLITICIZE MY GRANDKIDS, NIICK

                                         DON’T POLITICIZE MY GRANDKIDS NICK

                                                                                                                                                                          

     Rather than watch the Olympics last Friday evening, I sat down with my grandaughter to watch Nickelodian  (Time Warner), one of her favorite shows.  The episode was a series called Sam and Cat, apparently geared toward pre-teens.  My granddaughter is eight, but precocious.  I wound up watching three episodes run consecutively but my remarks here are specifically directed toward one titled :"Blue Dog Soda,”

     I found all the programs inane—Punch and Judy type slapstick, without any educational merit and, in fact, without any redeeming qualities.  I understand my sense of humor differs from that of children aged eight to twelve.  So be it.  My objections here are the not so subtle attempt to interject conservative political philosophy into a children’s program. 

     Sam and Cat are two attractive e girls, a blond and brunette who star in a TV program for kids their age. Other kids play supporting roles.  In this episode the girls have been surreptitiously manufacturing, bottling, and selling a soda drink called Blue Dog.  A policeman, father to one of the characters, I think, enters and voices his frustration about being unable to capture the persons selling the illegal soda.  They will be severely punished when apprehended.  Sam and Cat, of course, do not reveal that  they are the culprits. The policeman is portrayed as somewhat stupid.  Later the policeman returns, still empty handed.  There is a loud crash from the basement and when he investigates he lerns that this is the source of the contraband.  Rather than appearing contrite, one of the girls offers an argument that criticizes government regulations.  ”What is wrong with the soda?” she asks.  He responds that it has too much sugar, which is unhealthy.  (He leaves out that they are not licensed to manufacture or sell the soda.)  The girls present him with the argument that just because some people abuse something is no excuse for needless regulation.  People should be allowed to regulate themselves. Sounds straight out of a Teaparty handbook.   The policeman immediately capitulates, acknowledging the soundness of the girls’ position.

     The appropriateness of this debate is questionable for this audience but,, if it is introduced,  both sides of the argument should be prsented.  The anti-government regulation message is clear here.  The ignorant, adult policeman is defeated by the wiser pre-teen  girls, who apparently will be allowed to go on selling Blue Dog. 

     Come on, Nick.  entertain kids but keep your politics to yourself.

                                                         Emotional Bailout

The meltdown of the stock market beginning in October 2008 has been repeatedly analyzed.  Banking excesses leading to the drying up of credit. Collapse of the housing market and record high unemployment have wrecked havoc upon investors and destroyed consumer confidence.  The repercussions of this economic are no less than catastrophic and likely to last several years,  Behavioral scientists, who typically steer away from immersion in economic and fiscal behavior have questioned whether psychological constructs lend themselves to organizing and understanding  perceptions and decision-making of investors and can  be used to make these perceptions more accurate and their decision-making more effective?  Recently new disciplines of behavioral economics and behavioral finance have emerged.

 The present economic climate and its depiction by the media have generated a psychological climate of depression, anxiety, helplessness, defeatism, and vulnerability.  This feeling is pervasive and behaviorally contagious.  As in clinical states of depression, people view the present economic climate as pervasive, personalized, and permanent.  As in anxiety they may behave in hysterical, histrionic, avoidant, obsessive and self-defeating ways. Consumers, faced with the threat of job loss, housing foreclosures, and the erosion of retirement assets are prone to any of the same psychological symptoms well known to mental health professionals. They may over-react to unexpected losses by withdrawing entirely from the stock market.  They may lie awake at night obsessing over their financial balance sheet.  They may react with feelings of helplessness and deflated self-esteem typical of clinical depression.  They blame themselves for their overconfidence and greed as investors; they see the problem as generally pervasive and unending.

 Like clinical depression, periods of economic recession are cyclical.  Reactions to recession need not be rigid and pre-determined but can include a range of options.  Consumers need to overcome feelings of helplessness and to recognize opportunities, while, at the same time, embracing reasonable safeguards and defensive maneuvers. Just as we can ward off depression and anxiety by psychological defenses and effective problem-solving, so we can defend against self-defeating investment behaviors.  While Greenspan accurately warned against “irrational exuberance,” we now need to avoid “irrational dismay.”  During both bull and bear markets the intelligent and emotionally balanced investor finds a middle ground between the horns of euphoria and depression.  We need a psychological Abilify to combat bipolar investor syndrome.

Contemporary psychological models of personality and psychotherapy have seized upon the concept of resilience, developed by Martin Seligman at The University of Pennsylvania, as the basis for psychotherapeutic interventions.  Cognitive psychologists attempt to train their clients to examine and challenge their own negative perceptions.  Being able to replace irrational perceptions with realistic assessments and effective decision-making, to quell unrealistic fears, control obsessive thinking, abandon self-

blame, recognize the present economic downturn as time-limited,  identify opportunities when they present themselves, and plan for the long  as well as the short term is to be resilient during difficult times.  Such is the emotional stimulus package needed to complement federal efforts.

What to do:

The first step is to perform a global personality assessment.  The approach would be to identify long-standing, pervasive personality trends as they might impact upon financial decisions.        

                                                                                                              

The most general assessment refers to what Herman Rorschach, at the turn of the twentieth century labeled the “experience balance.”  This is a broad dichotomy reflecting the degree to which one responds in a rational, intellectual manner to life events v. the degree to which one reacts impulsively, and emotionally.  It doesn’t require a Rorschach test to make this distinction.   Emotionally healthy people have a reasonable balance between the two poles of the dimension.   In the extreme, both poles along an experience balance can be destructive.  Those high in intellectualization tend to be obsessive and compulsive in the reactions.  They worry excessively and develop defenses to ward off anxiety.  They put off making decisions and once they do act they ruminate about whether they made a mistake. Those high in emotionality respond hysterically to crises and react impulsively, often in a self-destructive manner. This dimension, while important, is complex, and , as a dichotomy, not a comprehension personality assessment, and sometimes an over-simplification.  The assessment tool is the extroversion-Introversion scale of the Guillford Temperament Survey.

            A second approach is a self-assessment of the degree to which emotional problems involve one of three dimensions: anxiety/fear, depression, anger.  To the degree to which these emotions impact upon overall behavioral reactions they may also influence financial decisions.  Standardized assessment tools are required to make these emotional distinctions.  A licensed Clinical psychologist may be the best resource for this assessment.

            Other parameters include age, health, tolerance for risk, job stability, an income, financial status, and the general economic climate.

            The second step, once a rough assessment has been completed, is to plan a strategy based upon these results. They strategy should include both short term and long term decisions. 

The dimensions of reaction include risk management, asset allocation,   investment vehicles—equity, fixed income (cash or bonds).  A financial planner trained in behavioral finance may be helpful.