Ouch. From Ben Stein’s recent CNN Money column Tales of the crash of 2007:
“One of my best friends, a blue-eyed, red-haired stunner and a math whiz, is married to a builder and mortgage broker near Naples, Fla. She flew into town, and I had lunch with her today. ‘How is your husband taking all this stuff?’ I asked her.
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“‘He doesn’t sleep. At most he sleeps from 5 A.M. to 7 A.M. We built two spec homes near Naples. We spent $2.7 million on each of them. We had them listed for $4 million each. We haven’t had one prospect in a year. We lowered the price by a million each. Still no prospects. We’re losing $60,000 a month on the two of them. My husband has no business. None. The phone never rings.’
“‘Horrible,’ I said.
“‘I’m leaving him,’ she said. ‘He’s grouchy all the time. I want a guy who’s rich and cheerful all day and all night. Why should I have to suffer because his business is bad?’
“‘He’s your husband,’ I said. ‘You have to stick by him.’
“‘Why? I want to laugh and have fun, and he’s in a bad mood for months on end. I didn’t make this mortgage mess, and I don’t see why I should have to suffer for it.’
“‘It won’t last,’ I said. ‘It never does.’
“She suddenly looked much more upbeat. ‘How long until the market turns around?’ she asked expectantly.
“‘Maybe six years,’ I said.
“She looked staggered. ‘That’s it,’ she sighed. ‘I want you to start looking for a rich husband for me who’s going to stay rich no matter what. Tell him I’ll be a really great wife.’”
Read Stein’s full column here. He is pictured above.
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