KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Signs of the new normal for young adults seem to be piling up like ripe sweat socks in the bedroom of your 20-something son down the hall.

We used to dismiss it as a “slacker” thing- an odd fad, we thought, of a generation that appeared content to take its sweet time before leaving the nest, finishing college, getting married and making commitments their parents began considering at 18.

When Lakesha Hauser went off to Utica College, her mother warned her against signing up for credit cards.

She didn’t listen.

Without her parents knowing, Hauser loaded up with four pieces of plastic and now she’s paying the price. The 24-year-old East Harlem resident neglected to pay up on one of them, and three years after graduation she’s being hounded by her credit card company.

ARIES (March 21-April 20) Unique social gatherings may offer surprising business introductions this week. Career contacts, new partnerships or potential investments should now be carefully considered. Aries natives born after 1976 may soon experience a complex series of job or financial proposals.

WESTLAND, Mich.- If Obi-Wan Kenobi and his green friend Yoda could visit the home of John Muse, they would come away with just one conclusion.

“The Force is strong in this one.”

Muse, a 35-year-old business consultant, has seen the “Star Wars” movies too many times to count.

DALLAS- They arrived at college campuses in the fall of 2001 ready for a life of independence.

But this would be an extraordinary fall term for a freshman class expecting to be ensconced safely in college.

Before completing their first set of final exams, a perfect storm of economically crippling events struck, starting with the terrorist attacks on Sept.