It feels as though things are getting better – right?  To some – but to others it’s about weathering the storm and hunkering down for the tail of the hurricane.  We don’t know for sure which applies to us and it’s all kind of fuzzy anyway.  But there are some signs that will genuinely tell us that consumer confidence is on an upswing and isn’t that the key indicator that things are headed in the right direction?  Looking for such signs has become a national pastime.

I’ve had my antennae up and I think I finally got wind of something concrete.  Stinky garbage.

Actually, it started as an observation that the restaurant business is booming.  A friend and owner of a local French Bistro sent out a simple promotion recently.  He’s delighted that his simple offer has produced overwhelming results packing his restaurant with eager diners.  But I wondered – was it the draw of that particular offer – or were things turning around.

Then I went out to dinner last night (Thursday).  Yet another restaurant was loaded to capacity and the noise was deafening.  The last time I’d been there (in July) I could have had my choice of any booth – this time I was lucky to get an ill-placed table.  Hmmm.

Water cooler talk convinced me that local restaurant parking lots have been full to capacity over the past few weeks.  So it seemed like time to do some checking.  According to a post on Forbes.com by Maureen Farrell the restaurant industry is a pretty good indicator, and indications are that things are definitely improving.  She quotes a restaurant industry pundit, Sam Firer who looks to the size and scent of restaurant garbage piles.  According to Sam “this summer it was stinky again”.   I don’t know about you but I’m pretty excited about the stink!