Sep. 25, 2001 10 PM

When people hear the word "recession," some grow fearful for their future while others let it pass like yesterday’s news. It’s amazing how one word can gather such differing opinions from a common people.

We live in a society where money isn’t as evenly distributed as some people think it should be. Therefore, though a recession would affect all of us, it would affect some more than others, thus explaining the wide margin of opinions.

Our economy has slowed recently and some experts believe it is a direct result of the terrorist attacks which have caused Americans to grasp their money a little tighter.

After recent events Americans have had a hard time picking up the pieces and returning to their normal routines, which include spending money. Several members of the Pike County community shared their feelings on whether or not a recession is a reality for us and how they plan to go about dealing with it.

When asked whehter or not he thought Americans would face a recession Charles Williams said, "We’re in one right now. You have to look at the definition of a recession which is an economy with no growth for two consecutive quarters. We were going into a recession before the New York incident."

Edna Railey said lately she has noticed several leaders on the news urging consumers to spend money like they normally would.

"I’m going to spend like I usually do," Railey said. "I think we will all go along like we usually do."

Sergei Shillabeer has a different view concerning the matter.

"I’m in the middle of refinancing my house right now and I’m cutting back on spending," Shillabeer said. "(Recession) is going to continue, and I believe that it will last until Bush leaves office."

Bobby McLendon doesn’t believe that America will plummet into a recession.

"I haven’t seen any sign (of a recession) so far," he said. "I’m going to try to keep my same spending habits. I believe it will have a domino effect. If one person spends money everyone else will follow. The scare of a recession is due to the shock right now, and I think that we will recover quicker than what is predicted."