Tennesseans resigned to riding out downturn

By JENNIFER BROOKS • Staff Writer • October 11, 2008 Business is bad. Prices are up. Houses aren't selling. Retirement savings are up in smoke. And last month, the entire city of Nashville ran out of gas. Still, most people here seem to be taking tough economic times in stride. Maybe they're cutting back on expenses. Maybe they're ordering a bit more comfort food at lunch, because a nice plate of fried green tomatoes really does take the edge off the latest stock market gyrations. At the Noshville delicatessen this week, the lunch crowd was resigned, but not panicked, by the economic downturn. Bob and Wanda O'Donoghue, retirees from Lafayette, are finding it's no easy thing to live on a fixed income, when the price of everything from groceries to gasoline keeps rising. "The hard part for us is the increasing cost of... [read full story]