38 NOVEMBER 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Booth 525 eek Groundwater W The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Don’t Allow Uncertainty to Take its Toll In my last article, I wrote about how inflation, a falling stock market, recession, unemployment, rising gasoline prices, and war in the 1970s triggered a collective sense of nostalgia that permeated the United States and much of the world for the tranquility of 1950s. In this article, I will address the collective sense of uncertainty caused by stressful times. I’d been insulated from reality. I’m not old enough to properly remember the 1950s, and I was mostly insulated from the problems of the 1970s by my family, but it all hit home when the recession caused my father’s construction business to fail. And it affected me personally as I prepared to attend college. I’ll never forget the conversation I had with my dad. It began when he asked me how I did on the SAT college entrance exam. I was prone to test anxiety, and the high stakes of getting into any particular college - as a member of the biggest Baby Boom year - made scoring well on the SAT paramount. Unfortunately, I became so nervous I suffered from a severe case of indigestion that distracted me from doing my best. I told my dad I did so poorly I would have to retake it to get into Emory (the college my father attended and where I had set my sights on going). My dad then told me he could longer afford to send me to Emory. I was stunned. It had been my plan for years. I looked at him and asked about the college fund. He had bragged to my sister and me for years about how he had set up a college fund for us that would pay for all of our college costs wherever we wanted to go. He soberly replied, “Son, what do you think we’ve been living on for the past year?” The uncertainty of the 70s suddenly became real for me, and I was flummoxed. Lately, people have responded to uncertainty in dramatic ways. Many have voted with their feet and moved to other states. Between July 2020 and June 2021, there was an enormous exodus out of New York and California with the two states losing 319,000 and 260,000 residents, respectively. According to the Associated Press, in 2020, California's population declined for the first time since state officials started measuring it in 1850. Others have quit their jobs causing worker shortages everywhere. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports over 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021. This unprecedented mass exit from the workforce is being called the Great Resignation. Still others have become survivalists and preppers anticipating some kind of Armageddon. How to Deal with Uncertainty j First of all, rest and relax. Take a deep breath and don’t react. j Next, take your time to assess and assimilate the new information. Wilson Cont’d on page 40.
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