The Paradox

Delta Airlines is leaving my hometown airport. Sixty-three years of service to Atlanta and Cincinnati and the world beyond is over. I know. It's a global economy. There's a huge demand for oil world-wide and there aren't enough passengers in Toledo to pay the necessary price to keep the jets landing.

Yes I can go to Detroit. They won't stop the flights there. It costs twice as much to drive there and parking is at least twice as much. Still, if I need to be somewhere I will gladly do it.

The internet has made the world flat. No matter how rural or removed from civilization the web provides access to the rest of the world. Want to watch animals on an African preserve? Need help with your, er, I mean your kid's homework? Made a bucket list of exotic destinations? Interested in attending a national political convention? The internet has made all this possible. Who hasn't used the virtual world to plan for real world adventures?

Here's the paradox. The world is flat but it is becoming too expensive to travel across it. Don't have an airport nearby and have to add $100 each way to get to one? (And that's after spending three times what it did last year for a flight.) Commuting to work an hour each way? Drive forty miles to get to Whole Foods? We all need vacations, jobs and food so what are the solutions?

It's hard sometimes for big city dwellers to imagine dealing with these dilemmas. Unless of course you depend on suburban and rural folks because you own a travel agency, desperately need to retain skilled workers, sell organic groceries or whatever your particular situation.

The global economy is more than a trendy catch phrase when talking about cheap imports or outsourcing to India or the increasing cost of gasoline. It is a profound change in how we do business...how you do business.