Bitter national and local elections, intense political squabbling, posturing, and bi-partisanship, especially at the national level, have characterized 2009. This, coupled with a struggling world economy and the 24-7 bad news coverage by mainstream media, has the United States looking for its soul.

Distressing details about layoffs, plummeting profits, deteriorating businesses, corporate executive indiscretions, and any number of financial failings are reported daily. The new Administration’s nearly $1 trillion federal stimulus package — a massive government (taxpayer) bailout of select industries and sectors of the economy — has many critics.

Adding to these negatives is the alarmingly poor condition of the country’s basic infrastructure, which is an indicator of a country’s standard of living, quality of life, and ability to compete globally. In its recently updated national 2009 Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the American infrastructure a low overall grade of D, only slightly above failing. This indicates little movement from previous reports, which ASCE has been issuing regularly since 1984. ASCE suggests $2.2 trillion is needed to right things in the 15 categories studied, all of which require significant input from structural engineers.

With the current state of affairs, one truly has to be a “glass-is-half-full-not-half-empty” optimist to maintain a positive attitude! But that is precisely what is needed to bring about a bright future in this century.

During the 43 years that my firm, Richard Weingardt Consultants, has been operating, we’ve gone through six major recessions as well as boom years — with the “up years” lasting much longer than the “down years.” During the first slowdown, when I was starting out, one of my father’s trusted construction cohorts introduced me to an oft-repeated anonymous anecdote about the hotdog man. It helped me get through not only that first economic setback but every one since. That story is paraphrased below.

The hotdog man
A man lived by the side of the road and sold hotdogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers and watched no television. But he sold good hotdogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, Mister?” And people bought his hotdogs. Business got so good, he increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He brought his son, who had been away at college, home to help him.

But then something happened. His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio or watching TV? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? There’s a big recession on. The European situation is bad. The Asian situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse.” Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son’s been to college. He reads the papers and listens to the radio and watches TV; he ought to know.”

So the father cut down his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hotdogs. And his hot dog sales fell off almost overnight. “You’re right, son,” the father said to the boy. “We certainly are in the middle of a terrible recession!”

The point of this story is that nothing gets better by giving up or going into a tailspin over the non-stop, the-sky-is-falling news one hears in the media. Nor is it recommended that depending solely on government bureaucrats to come to the rescue is the answer. They haven’t done so in the past and they won’t in the future. Rather, to deal with the current worldwide slowdown and move forward positively we need passionate effort from individuals. We need perseverance, hard work, and common sense, along with ways to reduce inefficiencies, be creative, and possibly take new directions — the same things that pulled Americans through all previous recessions and crises.

With a crisis always comes opportunities, but it’s best to focus on the micro view of life and business, and stay on top of what you can control or change. Of course, we should work to remove dishonest politicians and ostracize greedy scoundrels at national levels. But to be most effective, let’s direct our efforts toward local activities we can influence in meaningful ways.

Take charge of your own fate and avoid becoming a “hotdog” man, adding more to any negative situation than necessary. After all, you don’t want to be responsible for creating your own recession all by yourself.

Richard G. Weingardt, P.E., is CEO and chairman of Richard Weingardt Consultants, Inc., a Denver-based structural engineering firm. He can be reached via e-mail at rweingardt@gostructural.com.