Says the Washington Post: "The economic downturn is forcing America's households to learn a tough lesson: how to fend for themselves." Two examples:

"Procter & Gamble said that it had noticed more questions from customers about how to dye their hair at home to match salon coloring." Evidently the possibility of putting up with, or even liking, one's original hair color is not on the table.

"Mary changed the bulb in the headlight of her Mercedes, cutting out a $120 trip to the mechanic." How many Mercedes mechanics does it take to change a light bulb?

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A mailing list I subscribe to contained the news that a certain young lady had moved to Georgia after getting laid off twice in Washington, D.C. -- but "off" got left out. Freud lives!