Roller Skating Limbo and The Fiscal Cliff

The other day, while I was at a roller skating party with my thirteen year old son I couldn't help thinking of the fiscal cliff. 

"Is the fiscal cliff constantly on your mind?" you might ask.

No.

"Well what about a roller skating party would make you think about the fiscal cliff?"

Why the limbo, of course.

At this point you're either shaking your head or you've closed this tab and moved on to a (more) interesting blog. What issue led to the whole fiscal cliff fiasco? It was the agreement to raise the debt ceiling with the caveat that Sequestration would automatically kick in if the Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a plan to avert financial disaster for the United States. True to form for Congress, we went right up to the edge of the cliff and hung over the side by a unraveling vine before a new deal was made and Sequestration was averted. That is a simplified explanation based on my limited knowledge and understanding and I probably got it wrong. Since most of us have heard more than we want to about this subject over the last year and a half (and the rest don't care), if you want more information on it, Google "debt ceiling" and "sequestration."

Back to the game roller skating limbo. The game of Limbo (not to be confused with the Catholic concept of an abode of souls who have been barred from heaven), whether played on foot or skates, is a dance or contest that involves bending over backwards and passing under a horizontal pole lowered slightly for each successive pass. Limbo is kind of like a high jump or pole vault in reverse. One rule is that the player's feet, or skates, must remain in contact with the floor. You cannot slide on your back or stomach. Limbo can be seen being played at fun weddings, weird office parties, and tropical resort destinations. As a matter of fact, Limbo is unofficially considered the national dance of Trinidad and Tobago.

The game is won by the person who is able to pass under the bar at a setting lower than anyone else. But what if you couldn't win the game, at least playing within the rules? I guess, in the spirit of Captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru you could cheat and change the rules so you could win. What if instead of the bar being lowered after each pass, it was raised? That would make it easier, right? Assuming your size and girth and ability to balance didn't change, you would be able to make it under the bar each time with greater ease. But what if between each try you hit the buffet pretty hard and guzzled a beer or margarita? Your belly would get bigger each time and unless you are Dr. Johnny Fever your balance would diminish with each pass, making it harder to get under the bar.

Instead of continually gorging ourselves and just raising the bar so we can waddle under, we need to freeze the bar, trim down, and get our house in order so we can get under the bar where it is now.

Daniel Neff at Amazon

About.me

Follow me on Twitter - @neffmoore