This year’s gazing device is a curve ball; things are anything but crystal clear. For me, too many extraneous influences cloud even the most informed prognostications. Small events on the other side of the world can now bring us to our knees, medically, economically and politically.

I mentioned in my last essay that Americans have a huge capacity to bounce back from hardship – look at any graph that shows economic activity after a recession.

As we were getting to grips with how to cope with COVID-19, folks were rushing back to do what they did pre-pandemic, eat out, travel, get together and so on, only big-time, as if to make up for that which was lost. Now Omicron is putting us to the test again, protracting our ability to get back to whatever may be normal tomorrow.

One of the things to have altered significantly, and likely to stay that way, is how we shop, from home, from our laps or from outer space, for goodness’ sake. Everything from carrots to cars and tacos to trucks are literally being delivered to our doorsteps and Wal-Mart is even proposing to come and actually load your fridge! Not me, as food shopping is a thing I still hold dear; I often get inspiration to cook things off the cuff as I stroll around. It’s the closest I’ll come to being a hunter-gatherer!

Predicting everyday stuff is crazily difficult as trends often now run counter to common sense – who knew house prices would go through the roof (pardon the pun) or the stock market, in spite of a couple of aberrations, continues its upward march. I predict that I will have to research what Bit-coins or other crypto-currencies are all about just to understand them. I have no intention of frittering away a life’s attachments on anything that can wipe out a small nation in a day, against the possibility of making a quick million. 

It’s a fair assumption to say that our world will become less safe or stable as intolerance spreads from neighbors to nations and commercial competition takes on more of a geo-political significance.

Chinese leadership won’t tolerate the implosion of their social attainments or expectations while Russians love a bully for a leader, Putin being the epitome of ‘thugdom’ as he pushes and shoves his way around the Ukraine to satisfy his oligarchs.

These United States are becoming less so; I daren’t predict whither we end up in the next four years.

On a lighter note, insurance company advertising will become even more stupid, emus and cockney geckos notwithstanding. Drug companies will dream up more ways to color their adverts to reflect their products or logos. Have you noticed that? Bathing suits only come in yellow, green and puce to match the beach umbrella and the host’s blazer and pants, oh! And the hot air balloon that just happens to be taking off next to the swimming pool! Really? All this will cure eczema.

Predictions about global warming are becoming prophetic and the drive (!) to change to electric vehicles is now a race against the clock; manufacturers’ stock values are being evaluated on the size of their investments to protect their markets from others making a dent (oops!).

I predict that puns will still be part of my writing style in 2022!