Upside Up

Go to any wire service, search engine, or news outlet and do a search for the term "upside."

As the consensus builds that we are in for a minimum 1-2 year "downturn," it seems like every journalist on the business/ society/ culture/ architecture beat is talking about the "upsides."

Upside: Housing prices will fall further, as will interest rates for new businesses.

Upside: Energy prices are falling.

Upside: Pressure will build on school administrators to ease tuition hikes.

Upside: New construction will be more practical and energy efficient.

Upside: Old construction will be subdivided in creative ways.

Upside: Books will go to paperback sooner.

Upside: Society will be more classless.

Upside: Communities will be more interdependent.

Upside: People will have more faith in things that they ought to have more faith in and less faith in things they ought to have less faith in.

Upside: YOU will think upon the most important things in life.

It's almost as though we're admitting to ourselves that we prefer to be upside down (or at least on the down-low), but for once we're going to have to go upside up. We're like the character in an Adam Sandler movie who suddenly has to take care of an abandoned child/ raise money for grandma/ go back to grade school. Put the bong down.

It's as though someone went "upside your head" on us. Caught us at a weak moment, on the street, told us to pay up, .. we were then beat, humiliated in front of every onlooker ... told to get our heads straight. Get our upsides up.

But hey, there are upsides to getting up-ended. If you're Adam Sandler at least, your selfish girlfriend will likely be swapped out for a sweeter one. And if you're not, well, you'll be the prototypical beneficiary of capitalism as necessity mothers your invention. I bet you didn't even know how ingenious you are when there's not so much blood rushing to your head!