The hands-on-faces tell me so.

The pictures have been all over the place the past few weeks, in newspapers and on television, featuring folks from New York to Europe to Japan. These images prove that consternation is expressed the world over in exactly the same way.

TV producers know that average joes like me don't care much for numbers. So the only way to visualize what's happening is to show these sad-looking people, staring up at facts and figures that are just out of the frame.

But at my house, the hand-with-smooshed-face look is at least a couple of steps away from big-time worry. I use it when I'm confused by the punch line in a comic strip or when I can't finagle all the just-purchased bacon into our overstuffed freezer.

Latter stages of worry are best exemplified in these ways: the face completely covered by two hands, the face completely covered by two hands while on one's knees, and the full-on fetal position with face covered.

Please alert me if you see photos of any of these taken inside any of the world's stock markets.

Until then, I plan to conduct my life as normally as possible.

The bacon helps.

PL says don't let the whole Wall Street crashing, recession/depression, retirement-getting-further-away thing bring you down. Here's a bright side: The last Depression (1929-39) spurred a golden age of screwball comedies. (Don't you need a laugh?)

Watch one this weekend and forget your troubles:

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

The Sycamores, an eccentric family of free spirits, have problems when Alice, the one stable member, falls for her boss' son. Starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart. Directed by Frank Capra.

It Happened One Night (1934)

Another Capra film. A runaway heiress falls in love with a reporter who is chasing her across America. Starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly.

My Man Godfrey (1936)

A little social commentary here. A zany millionaire family invite a tramp to be their butler and find that he is richer than they are. Starring William Powell, Carole Lombard, Eugene Pallette. Directed by Gregory La Cava.

The Awful Truth (1937)

Leo McCarey directs this story of a separated couple who sabotage each other's love affairs while waiting for their divorce decree to become final. Starring Irene Dunn, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy.

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

An heiress who is determined to catch a stuffy zoologist uses her pet leopard, Baby, to help get his attention in this Howard Hawks film. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charlie Ruggles.

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