The only time i listen to the radio is when I am in the car, driving back and forth to work. I listen for the traffic updates — as if my knowing about the traffic snarls means I can avoid them.

But it is not my fellow drivers that have me pounding the steering wheel and shouting in disgust. It is the business reports.

Last week is a case in point: the gross domestic product numbers for the month of November had just come out. The radio announcer was opining that the numbers clearly indicated that Canada is following the U.S. into a serious recession.

I would argue — and certainly guffawed loudly in my car — that the numbers do not clearly indicate any such thing. After all, the U.S. GDP contracted by 3.8%. Canadian GDP contracted 0.7%. In the world of GDP measurement, that is a fairly significant gap.

But the announcer said it with such a tone of righteous authority that there could be no doubt the world is coming to an end. It is clear — there is no escaping this financial Armageddon. And he was more than just a little pleased to be the harbinger of such bad news.

It’s the old story, I guess: misery loves company.

Well, personally, I have had enough doom and gloom. I am calling a halt to it — right here, right now. If Canada wants to follow the U.S. into a serious recession, it can do it without me. I have lived through more than one recession and, with any luck, I will live through still others yet to come. And if there is one thing I have learned, my fretting about the economic situation won’t change one single thing.

So, I refuse to fret.

In fact, I have been perfecting my avoidance strategy all weekend.

First off, no more listening to the radio in the car. Forget the traffic reports. I always miss the part that is relevant to me anyhow. My plan is to learn Italian. My husband Norm and I are meeting up with friends from Edmonton in Cortona, one of the Tuscan hill towns. I will listen to language CDs as I cruise the Don Valley Parkway and the 401. By the time I get to Italy in April, I should be able to order more than a glass of wine.

And, if I get stuck in traffic, I will practise my Italian phrases and keep my mind on sidewalk cafés and stone squares and red wine.

As for television, I resolve to watch only programs with happy endings, in which the bad guys gets their just desserts and love conquers all. When in doubt, I’ll turn to Turner Classic Movies. One recent evening, it was Jean Harlow night; it was a whole delightful evening of fabulous costumes and silly situations.

If TCM has a war night, I can pull out some DVDs of favourite movies. Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, for example. And there is always the BBC’s rendition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I can escape into another century.

And I’ll talk to people in my neighbourhood about what is important to them — their families, their pets, their hobbies. There will be no depressing economic discussion while walking our dogs in the park.

I should be able to breeze my way through until the turnaround, unimpeded by oppressive gloom.

Because, of course, nothing is as bad as the mass media seems to think it is. If you review our “Report on the Nation” (pages 17-25) you might even come away thinking there is a lot to be grateful for — that the glass really is half full.

And each day is a lot more enjoyable if you see the positive and refuse to get bogged down in the negative.

— TESSA WILMOTT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF