Times are the most uncertain since the Great Depression, I'm told. Can I arise in the morning, walk out the front door into the clean air splashed by the morning sun and embrace the day? No, sir! Times are uncertain. A meteor might drop on my head.

Sometimes it's so numbing that it's hard to know what pair of pants to put on in the morning. A prudent man must be cautious.

I guess it didn't used to be this way. During World War II, you could count on things. A young man was almost certain to get drafted. And the women were left to take care of the children, or move to the city and work in a factory. But apparently everyone felt sure that all would be well once the job was done in distant lands and the men came home. Apparently everyone knew that the invasion of Europe would succeed, Germany would embrace us, and that the Japanese kamikaze pilots would eventually become industrialists and sell us cars. Surely they knew that when the war ended, there would be celebrations. Unless, of course, the men didn't come home.

In the 1950s, times were certainly more certain. If an atomic bomb landed, you were gone. That's certain. But kids hid under school desks for protection. There was no sniveling and worry over uncertainty. A fellow could embrace the future with confidence. Things were either one way or the other. Here or gone.

Then there was the Vietnam War, civil rights and Watergate. Times of certainty, to be sure. Anyone could see that the war was a mistake. And the protesters spilling into the streets and occasionally bombing buildings added a measure of certitude. Certainly the right decisions would be made and all would be well. Civil rights boiled hot at the same time. Cities were set on fire. Martin Luther King got shot, that was certain. And Watergate? Well, that was just a burglary. By the president? Well, not exactly. Some people said we had a constitutional crisis. So what was the worry? Things were a mess and we knew it. Besides, we got over it.

By 1981, we had 16 percent mortgage rates. Now that was easy to figure. All a borrower had to do to come out ahead was make sure his borrowed money could earn at a rate greater than 16 percent. For 25 or 30 years. Yes, there was no uncertainty there. At 16 percent, rates were probably the highest in the history of the country, since the Civil War anyway. The housing market stalled, dried up completely. Were times uncertain? No sir. We knew exactly where we stood. Didn't we?

"Volatility" -- that's another new problem. Who knows when we might collapse into the next economic hole, or rebound off some unseen trampoline. In the last century --- you know, the 1900s -- things went up nicely because of the Internet prosperity. Everything was predictable, far into the future. Until, of course, it changed. Up was good. Now, down is volatile. And, by the way, when the century ended everyone knew to buy a new calendar. Everyone except computers, that is. They had to be reprogrammed so airplanes wouldn't fall out of the sky, cities wouldn't go dark, automation tools wouldn't "seize up" and similar inconveniences. Sure, there was some volatility, but not like today, I'm told.

So if you follow the breathless analysis amid all our current uncertainty you should put your life on hold, wait for more "certain" times, wait for calmness and predictability, and be sure markets can't seize up or turn volatile, because certainly we can't expect this uncertainty to go on forever, can we?

Donald M. Hall, of Minneapolis, is a retired stock broker.