Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news.
This week’s topic: Are you feeling the impact of the economic crisis?
The crisis seems to be the cause of everything these days. People spend less time and money in restaurants because of the crisis. Prisoners are losing jobs because of the crisis. Motivation to recycle is threatened because of the crisis, we read in the press. The economic downturn is even behind the growing sales of Belgian chocolate, as it is believed that people eat chocolate during tough times to feel better.
In a column published last week, Czech pundit Miloš Čermák complained about the fact some people use the crisis as an excuse for delayed invoice payments, a poorly done job and other things which he says have nothing to do with the crisis. He also said many Czechs could actually appreciate the crisis as they like to complain and the crisis gives them a reason to do so.
Čermák believes that not lamenting but laughter can help deal with the crisis. That’s why he started collecting jokes. Here is one of them: “As a result of the economic crisis, the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off. Your God.”
Some businesses have also decided to be positive about the crisis and use it to their benefit. For example, the Tesco food chain “is helping at a time of crisis” by offering discounted products. The cosmetics firm Avon is recruiting sales agents, claiming women will always need lipstick regardless of the economic situation. Since the local council for advertising standards ruled that using the economic crisis in promo campaigns is not unethical, we can expect more “positive” news.
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Kateřina Heilmannis a staff writer and translator at the Monitor. She
likes writing about cycling and culture.
You can reach her at [email protected]
