My wife, Donna, writes crime novels, five so far. It’s hard to get published these days, for a variety of reasons, and Donna is self-publishing. She has an Internet site, but also knows how important it is to network. As part of this effort, she attends functions of Sisters in Crime and Crimewriters of Canada. Sometimes I go along as well.

We recently attended one annual conference and had an enjoyable dinner with the other writers. These are engaging people who are charming and nice, as well as being super bright. However, as I kidded Donna, afterwards, you can easily get the impression that writers have only three topics of conversation – their previous book, their current book and their next book.

But then I started to think about it and realized that the same may hold true for all professions. Think about it. For lawyers, the three pre-occupations are:

(1) Sue?

(2) Be sued? Or

(3) Settle?

For doctors, considering the welfare of their patients, it’s:

(1) Getting better?

(2) Getting worse? or

(3) Stable, which is good, unless that means that the patient is dead?

With accountants and their ledgers, it’s:

(1) In the black?

(2) In the red? And

(3) Where can I get a personality? I know this is an old joke, but it always gets a laugh.

For undertakers and funeral directors, the three major questions are:

(1) Bury?

(2) Cremate? or

(3) Stockpile?

Life is more complicated for professional athletes. They wonder:

(1) Where are we in the standings?

(2) Can I pass the next drug test? And

(3) Am I the father?

This brings me to economists. Economists are all about charts and statistics. Often we’ll attach arrows to the results. The bottom line for us is whether the latest numbers are moving:

(1) Up?

(2) Down? Or

(3) Sideways?

And don’t tell me that economists aren’t sexy, because if you think about it, workers in the sex trade have exactly the same three major concerns − up, down or sideways?

I don’t even know what that means. My wife, the writer, told me to say it.

I refer to the foregoing as a mathematical proof that economists are sexy. And no, I do not think that such a statement is oxymoronic.

Alex Carrick

Find Canadian construction-related economic articles in Canadian Construction Market News and in the Economic Outlook section of Daily Commercial News.

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