An economic breakdown on Highway 31

As a typical kid, I was certain a monster lived under my bed.

I did everything I could to keep the furry hand from grabbing my skinny ankles and dragging me to certain death.

One night I hit my head on a ceiling fan while leaping from the bed to the doorway.

I couldn’t wait to grow up so the monsters would leave me alone.

But now I find my adult life threatened by economic monsters.

There is a credit crisis monster under the economic bed waiting to drag my education to certain death. It caught me off guard.

For the better part of this year I have been in a media-induced stupor.

While talking heads were spinning stories about interest rates, credit crunches and the presidential election, I’ve been surviving a gazillion credit hours and work as much as possible.

As a journalism major I normally pay attention to the details, but I haven’t had time to do much more than read headlines.

What I read there didn’t seem to immediately affect me.

I don’t own a home. My credit is average. I believe it would be neat to see Russia from anywhere.

Overall, I believed my life was too insignificant to be affected by the action on Wall Street.

And then my truck broke down on the way to school two weeks ago.

We’re talking a ‘Found On Road Dead’ breakdown on State Highway 31.

The diagnosis is blown head gaskets and a serious case of bad timing.

The timing referred to is mine.

Car shopping during a credit crisis is like wondering if you locked the front door of your Galveston beach house during Hurricane Ike.

It’s rather pointless now.

A Sept. 23 report by TransUnion, a consumer credit reporting agency, forecasts auto loan delinquencies may reach 85 percent by years end, up from second quarter’s 68 percent.

As a result, lenders are pulling back.

It isn’t impossible to acquire a loan, but stricter requirements are in place for the loans that are available.

As a full-time student on a frayed shoestring budget, I don’t meet those tougher credit standards.

So I have to wait for the economy to recover a bit before buying a vehicle.

I’m not that excited about being in class when the weather is so beautiful anyway, so the extra effort to find transportation is annoying.

But I want at least one of my investments to pay off in my lifetime, so I’m finding ways to get to class.

While trying to make sense of this situation, I found that some automobile loans are included in the $700 billion blanket our government officials are wrapping around the shivering economy.

Too bad the CEOs are blanket hogs. You’d think they could just wrap up in those golden parachutes and be comfortable the rest of their greedy lives.

By Melissa Greene Associate Editor