What recession?

Today, I went the Jewelry Manufacturers Association trade show at the convention center. Imagine a huge convention hall filled with several hundred jewelry stores. Most vendors were selling high-end jewelry such as diamonds, gold, and south sea pearls. There were also diamond dealers who had loose diamonds by the bucket full, as well as, stones as big as gum balls. The show was completely overwhelming and mind-blowing. I kept thinking about how much wealth was in that one room.

I had to wait almost an hour in line to register and enter the show. It was that busy. I was completely amazed at how much people were buying. I am talking about multi-carat diamonds and tens of thousands of dollars. People were crammed three deep to push up to the glass cases. I saw wads of cash, many inches thick, crossing the counters. While there were some people buying wholesale, most were simply shoppers. The badges were different so you could see who was shopping for business or pleasure.

I guess someone forgot to tell all those shoppers (buyers) that we are in a recession. It was actually quite refreshing.