Times are tough in CNN-land (Or Fox-land or MSNBC-land or whatever other land you beam into your home).

Against the backdrop of the big screen beam, it’s easy to forget that what we see on TV is not reality. Certainly some of what we see directly influences us in Panola and becomes immediately applicable here, but the belt-tightening in Washington, London and Beijing has the potential of  driving business to Batesville.

How?

In difficult economic times, local merchants tend to look at how they’re doing business and adapt. They change to offer their customer base their best goods and services in the most affordable way.

At the same time, local buyers are more willing to re-examine what the local merchant has to offer. Soaring gas prices last summer caused local buyers to take another look at shopping options closer to home. Often they liked what they saw and they will keep coming even as gasoline prices have spiralled downward.

In our small towns, we know that all the talk about bailouts is most likely to involve somebody much farther up the food chain than we are. We know that when the money finally gets divvied up, precious little will find its way into our pockets.

Around here, bailouts will more nearly resemble what we do for each other. While times boomed on Wall Street and in Washington, we enjoyed a moderate prosperity. When times go bust on Wall Street and in Washington, we’ll tighten our belts and hang on for the ride.

But we will remain resourceful as we always have in Panola, offering a helping hand when we can knowing that on another day we might find ourselves needing that helping hand.