Recession v parking lot index

The parking lot at the mall looked awfully full given that we are in the throes of a recession. The rise in gas prices last summer and the subsequent reversion to the mean has individuals questioning whether we really are in dire economic straits or is it just another marketing ploy to regulate our habits. The trust level as a society needs work. People are tired of doom and gloom, Y2K, pandemics and all the variety of the end of the universe prognostications. People just want to have fun, so they went to the mall over the weekend.