As for your question, I think red is used cause it's associated with danger. Don't know about black. They should change it to green.

Does anyone know why loss is written in red and profit in black? Or was that just the only two ink colors available back in the olden days?

There are a thousand social activities which explore our humanity. Spend the time you would have shopping going to an art show or volunteering. Do something where the chance to form connections with other human beings has nothing to do with possessing crap you don't need.

And yes, I do order stuff online now and then. The thing about ordering clothing or shoes online is that the companies *know* it's a weird way to buy such items, so usually they make returns and exchanges as easy as possible. And the better sites also have information or customer reviews clarifying a particular item's fit.

But the small local businesses – they're dying. In my county we have one independent bookstore left, along with various chain bookstore outlets. Luckily this independent bookstore is a powerhouse, well-run, supported by the community and a number of local authors. I go there and browse, or hear an author reading, and once or twice a year I'll buy a book, because of the money thing, and because I love our local library system.

It seems like I hear all this background yammering about empowering small entrepreneurs blah blah blah. But more and more of us are going to have less and less money to spend *anywhere*, let alone locally. The great mass of us exists to consume stuff, and we're not going to be able to afford the stuff. So what use are we? What happens then? None of us wants to believe that we could be a Have-Not. We assume – still – that every day in every way we're getting better and better, that we'll all certainly be Haves, and that there's nothing stopping us from being actual Have-Mores.

Maybe I need more pie.

Pie and snark are two of the things that make life worth living.

You are a wise woman.

Cheers!
JzB the snarky pie-loving trombonist