Two Comments Overheard This Afternoon

[ThomWV]

First comment: I had to have a tire repaired this morning; ran over a sheet metal screw and was losing air slowly. I have been going to the same local tire place for a couple of years; it is surprising how low the turnover rate is among the very poorly paid tire changers. While they were rebalancing my repaired tire one of the young fellows related this to the other: He had been out at 11 last night to take the tag off his wife's car and put it on his. He needed a tag to drive to work. She had to take the kids to school in her car, with no tag. They can't afford to put the tag on the second car.

Second comment: You ever been in a "Dollar Store"? They've sprung up all over the place around here. These are stores about the size of a 7-11, stacked to the ceiling with Wal Mart reject stuff. Out of date batteries, $8 Chinese wall fans, felt-tipped pens dry as the gobi, that's their stock in trade. Most things are a dollar or two, nothing in the store costs more than $10. I needed a box of pencils and the Dollar Store is right next to the Grocery, where I also had to stop. Cheap place to get pencils, so in I went. So many young people, so little money: An early middle age lady talking to a boy of about 15 as they walked out of the isle where there were children's back packs said this as they passed me, "well, she's just going to have to do without, I've only got money for one and her sister ..." as they moved out of earshot.

What have we become? The rich just keep on getting richer and the poor ..., well, fuck the poor.

[malaise]

1. Amazing how heartless society has become

There are so many poor people everywhere and there is never news about their lives, their hardships, government's responsibilities.

[panader0]

2. Just rolled up my coins this morning..................

[Sal Minella]

8. My coffee tin of change yielded $5.31 -- how did you do??? eom

[kimmylavin]

66. Did mine too!

Came out with about $40.
Yay! We can eat this week! :)

[EVDebs]

3. Today's 30 yr old makes less than his Dad...in the news lately

And you can look forward to having your job outsourced or eliminated in order to make Wall Street investors 'happy'. Kevin Phillips tells about this in his book Wealth and Democracy.

We need to return to the FDR style of commonsense demand-driven economics, no more of this supply-side trickle-down crapola.

[leftofthedial]

4. poor?

hell. that's the former middle class

[williesgirl]

5. Off to the greatest page - how true.

[Snarkoleptic]

6. I was laid off a week ago.

20+ years in the mortgage business...3rd layoff in 5.5 yrs.
The mortgage industry shed 10,500 jobs in April alone!
Meanwhile, the likes of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers are all making record friggin profits.
These are the big Wall Street firms that have been causing the mortgage liquidity crisis (and layoffs).
We struggle while they go yachting!

[yardwork]

21. I'm sorry. Welcome to DU.

[StarryNite]

75. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse

Good luck in your job search and welcome to DU.

[partylessinOhio]

7. This is the reality for many in America. Who cares? Certainly not our congress.

We can't expect * and his rich supporters to care.

For many wages are too low and for most of us prices are too high. Far too many jobs have been moved to other countries.

The high cost of gas and fuel hit the poorest and those with fixed incomes or disability the hardest.

Safety nets have been dismantled.

We are in rough times and I feel they will get even worse.

[RoseMead]

9. I literally felt sick with anger this weekend

We had to pick up my husband's youngest daughter from her mother's house on Sunday, and we were 1/2 hour early getting there, so to kill time my husband decided to show me a house he had worked on a few months ago. He builds and installs kitchen counter tops - solid surface, not inexpensive stuff by a long shot.

We drove up this gigantic hill through a community of mansions and at the top of the hill were houses that looked like castles. I mean, these weren't crappy McMansions, these were the real deal. Unbelievably huge. And then we pulled up in front of the biggest one of all, and my husband said this was the one where he'd help build and install the kitchen. He also built an outdoor bar for the monster pool-side porch. When I asked how much the house cost, he said millions. The *kitchen alone* cost half a million.

My husband, who is a wonderful man and a loving father and works hard every day building crap like this, makes $10 an hour and hasn't had a raise in two years. That's about $20,000 a year for a family of four (he has 8- and 4-year old daughters for whom he is primary custodial parent.)His job also does not provide insurance.

I guarantee the people who own that million-dollar mansion couldn't have built that kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the people who own and manage the business he works for couldn't have built it. He's not unskilled labor - a person can't just walk off the street and make things like this. He said this kitchen is considered one of the top 4 *in the country.*

But still, he can't make enough to provide for his family.

"Ever been in a Dollar Store?" All the time. And Save-a-Lot, and Family Dollar, and Big Lots...those are the only kinds of places we can really afford to shop at with any regularity. Goodwill for clothes, if we can find anything there that fits. And yes, I've stood in places like the Dollar Store trying to decide what to put back because I don't have enough money to buy everything I need.

[yardwork]

22. This is awful. How can we let this happen?

Skilled craftspeople like your husband make so little, while the well-connected make an obscene amount of money for essentially doing nothing.

We're destroying our country.

I feel sick.

[eridani]

58. An old, old proverb that hasn't gone out of style--

I am a bricklayer
My father was a bricklayer
My grandfather was a bricklayer
How come I don't have a house?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

I Don't Buy The First One's Premise.

If they can afford two cars and the gas for two cars, then they can afford the like what, 50 buck registration fee? I don't buy it. Chances are there's more to the story. I wonder if both cars are even insured.

[The Straight Story]

12. Would have to disagree with ya on this one - been there myself

Both cars were hand me downs from the folks. Break down once in a while, had to learn to fix myself or have a friend help me.

I was making $5.25/hour with a wife and 3 kids to care for. Had lost a better paying job to an injury for awhile as well - and was on welfare some months, and getting checks from worker's comp other months (the whole system was screwed up, if WC got off their asses and paid me I was ok that month, but I went a year with no check and was trying to live on welfare, couldn't work or I would lose any chance of getting my worker's comp paid and getting needed care....all in all, a long story and hideous mess.)

It was hard having utilities shut off, a sick wife (my X, who has since died from her illness), trying to feed 3 kids and pay rent.

Tossing out $50 for tags - well, sometimes ya ain't got it :)

Things are better now. And I'm still sexy too.

[ThomWV]

14. I doubt very seriously if either of those two cars has a 1,000 miles left in it

And you can absolutly bet the farm that they were 'hand me downs'. Car's like these boys drive do not get sold, they are given away.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

16. Just Seemed Odd To Me But I'll Default And Take It At Face Value. Personally, I Think All Standard

DMV fees are bullshit to begin with, especially regarding the lower class.

Such things as licenses and registrations should be a service provided by the state in my opinion. At the least, a car should only be required to be registered once. Why the fuck do we need to pay a registration fee every goddamn year anyway? What's the point? Why does it even expire?

I can understand the need to cancel it if the car is sold or junked, but what in the hell is the purpose of having to renew it each year? The whole thing is a crock of shit in my opinion.

[RoseMead]

19. I hate the DMV with a blazing passion. n/t

[Wednesdays]

62. I just sold off my old junker for $65 today

I couldn't make the sale unless I paid a fee upfront to the state tax commission. Ridiculous.

[tkmorris]

31. Depends on location but it might be about insurance

In some places tagging it means insuring it, no option, so that may be the cost they cannot handle.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

32. I Don't Care About Providing Proof Of Insurance; I Care About The Bullshit Of Having To Pay A Fee

every year for no reason whatsoever.

Maybe we should charge even another fee to prove you're still registered which proves you're insured. Then we can have a fourth fee to prove that you proved that you're still registered which proves you're insured.

[dave29]

34. my wife went to jail because she did not know about a no insurance

state surcharge that was sent to the wrong address.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

36. Jesus Don't Even Get Me Started On Surcharges.

:mad:

[here_is_to_hope]

60. I curse them too...

why we pay them to tell us who owns our cars is beyond me...

[proud2BlibKansan]

70. Well you can either pay when you get your tags

or pay higher state taxes. One way or another, they are going to get their money.

[high density]

72. I take it you don't have to pay excise tax on your vehicle?

I don't mind paying for the registration, but the excise tax here on vehicles is the dumbest tax ever. First I pay sales tax for the car when I buy it, then to register it every year we're required to pay taxes based on the MSRP of the car and how old it is.

http://www.maine.gov/revenue/propertytax/sidebar/excisetax.htm

[RoseMead]

17. Never gone without tags, but

I have at one time or another been without valid registration, valid inspection sticker and/or insurance because I couldn't afford them at the time, but I still had to drive to get to work.

Right now we're holding on to our State Farm auto policy for dear life, because if it lapses we have to resort to high-risk insurance, and it would cost twice what we currently pay with State Farm.

BTW, don't know how it is elsewhere, but in WV you have to show proof that you've paid your property tax to get your tags renewed. And show proof of insurance. So, in a worst case scenario, a person has to pay the fee for renewal, plus property tax, plus the cost of insurance, in order to renew their tags. It's not just the cost of renewal.

I know in the example given the people have no tags, not just expired ones. However, saying, "It's just a $50 fee," ignores the other costs they might also have to pay to get their car legal.

[catmandu57]

71. It's the same way in Missouri

Plus you have to have your car inspected every other year, so that a failing ball joint that is going to kill you and others can be caught and repaired, what happens in the off year or if you do like the poor people here do get someone to give you a wink and a nod inspection for a slipped twenty isn't talked about.

The last two years I drove, I drove on expired plates for a couple of reasons, I drove my car less than a thousand miles a year, and there was something wrong that it wouldn't pass inspection, I don't remember what it was, nothing major and nothing that three hundred dollars wouldn't fix, trouble was no three hundred dollars, give me the ticket it's cheaper.

[Th1onein]

20. I disagree with you, OPERATIONMINDCRIME

You are assuming that things have not changed for these people, economically; and that's just the point: people who used to be able to put gas in, and get tags for, two cars, can't do that anymore because of the Bush administration's economic policies.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

23. Well Yay For You.

But if you paid attention to the thread you'd see I no longer am holding onto that position anyway.

[Th1onein]

26. Well, GOOD for you!

And, by the way, you are SOOOOO courteous! You really raise the level of discourse on DU, don't you?

Always nice to see that!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

30. YAWWWWWNNNNN

:boring:

[Th1onein]

47. Oh NICE!

Very, very nice!

[Divernan]

65. For a real laugh, look at Mindcrime's "comment" in his profile

Here it is:
"It's all about integrity, respect, honesty, decency, open mindedness, fairness, and genuine desire to wish good upon all. That is why I'm a liberal."

He seems to inhabit an alternate universe when it comes to definitions of the above terms.
And the "yawn" and "shrug" responses are the marks of posters intending to insult and demean any who disagree with them - don't look for any reasoned, calm explanations or responses.

I also note, that your polite disagreement with him was posted within minutes of his grudging, half concession, "Seems odd to me, but I'll default and take it at face value". So it's likely that you didn't see that post of his because you were writing your post.

[TheWatcher]

67. He never has been and he never will be.

He's the only person on my Ignore List on DU.

And if you can read this OMC, Geoff Tate wouldn't give someone like you the time of day.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

74. Awwwww, You So Cute!

And really silly too! Like I love your sheer ignorance at declaring that Geoff Tate wouldn't give give someone like me the time of day even though I've met him, chilled with him, and he was cool as hell! :rofl:

God I love how posters here think they can actually accurately assess the depth of a person just based on internet postings. So so so so SO simple minded of a premise! :rofl:

And feel free to attack some more. I'm doin my best to ignore all the children for now on anyway! :hi:

[Tesha]

24. Some states charge a yearly excise tax; it's often much more than the registration fee.

> If they can afford two cars and the gas for two cars,
> then they can afford the like what, 50 buck registration
> fee?

While I agree that this sounded off on the face of it,
you have to realize that some states charge a yearly
excise tax on each car; it's often *MUCH MORE* than
the registration fee.

Also, the cars often renew at different times; maybe
they didn't have the "what, 50 buck registration fee"
when the time came for one of the cars?

Tesha

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

25. I've Changed My Position. I'll Believe It.

But did you read my other reply above? I think the entire process of charging for registration is a load of crap. Now there's an ancillary issue I'd like to see congress take up in its spare time LOL

[sandnsea]

41. Excuse me

It seems to me that you have to change your position quite a bit. You have a habit of being disconnected from what life is like for the poor, and making assumptions based on your biases. You might want to step back next time, do a google to check the numbers behind your thinking, and then think some more.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. No Need To Excuse Yourself. Just Talk.

And if you consider changing my positions about .01% of the time to be 'quite a bit', then I'm not sure your opinion is one that should be given much weight.

Furthermore, your accusation of my being disconnected from what life is like for the poor is amazingly ignorant in its accuracy and laughable in its premise. Mind providing this bias and evidence of disconnect? I'd love to see it. Especially since there was a time I was poorer than almost any single goddamn one of you while living in my car through two winters, barely hanging onto life. So spare me your whole disconnected from the poor bullshit. I'd wager when it comes down to it, it is YOU who may not know what it's like to have no money and be almost freezing to death inside a car.

And I just happened to find the first anecdote to be odd. I know it could happen, but it just didn't seem right to me here. But I chose to give it some additional thought and since I know such things are possible, I figured I'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt instead. Big fucking deal.

Maybe next time you should actually respond to context instead of going straight for a personal attack pal.

[sandnsea]

49. It's not .01% of the time

It's most of the time. It's not an attack, it's an observation. Which you're perfectly free to reject.

And don't wager what I do and don't know either. You'd lose every time.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

51. You're Right. It's Probably .0005%. I Was Being Generous.

I have over 13,000 posts. I can remember changing my position on something maybe 6 times give or take.

You say it's an observation, but it isn't. It's a false attack meant to provoke, since there's no way a poster such as you who has been here for such a time could truly believe for a second that what you're spewing has any legitimacy.

Prove me wrong pal. I have over 13,000 posts. Find me more than 5 instances in which I changed my position. I had one the other day due to an OP in which I misread yet no one was sharp enough to catch it until far down the thread, though they kept responding to me as if my interpretation had been right, and then we have this amazingly minor change of position which isn't really all that significant, since all I did was question the premise but then said ahhhh hell, I'll give the benefit of the doubt. So there's two. Go find me 3 more times out of my over 13,000 posts ok? And that would only get ya to .0003%. But I'd like to see ya even get that far, since you're obviously so observant as you say.

Ok. Ready, set GO!

[Marrah_G]

50. Nothing wrong with realize you didn't know all the facts

Aren't we all here to learn?

Hell I WANT people to know just how tough it is for a working poor family these days. How can someone care if they don't know the reality?

I applaud OMC for being willing to see things a different way then he first did. It means he is listening and learning, something alot of people here have forgotten how to do.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

52. Thanks.

I just couldn't help finding it odd at first but then I thought about it more and figured maybe it was true. There was just something about the guy being out at 11 at night changing plates that didn't sit right with me. But I do have to admit that one of the initial lines of logic I used was wrong. I kept thinkin he had two plates for the car, so why not just put one on the back of each? Most cops don't really pay attention to the front one. But then a bit later it occurred to me that many states only require one plate and maybe that was the case. I figured rather than challenging further I might as well just give him the benefit of the doubt, since lord knows there are enough people hurtin out there these days that many are probably in such a position.

But though this sounds odd, don't really fault the posters above. They're not angry at me because of what I said or because I changed my position. They are responding to me in such ways merely because they can't stand me overall, no matter what I say LOL. But hey, can't satisfy all the people all the time right? :)

[sandnsea]

56. Recognizing biases is important too

That way you won't jump to the right wing conclusion first.

[Marrah_G]

61. It's not a left or right conclusion

It's a class conclusion. It comes from your own life experiences. The way we get past some of the misconcepts is to share our stories and life experiences. Many dems and liberals don't understand the details of the daily struggles of the working poor because they haven't faced them and don't have people in their lives struggling with it either. Christmas with no presents is not something they can relate to.

[JANdad]

27. It would not surprise me

If both cars were not insured...and ya know why???

B/C they can't afford it. I bet gas is one of the few things theycan afford in order to get to that low paying job. I for one believe the OP o be 100% accurate, b/c I've been there done that!

[tyedyeto]

38. 50 bucks?

I'm driving a 1999 vehicle in Arizona. My annual MVD registration fee is pennies under $100 per year. So, where do you get this $50 per year 'fact' from?

Want more info? Per this same vehicle: PL/PD (no collision or comprehensive) insurance on the same vehicle is almost $1000 per year.

This is right off the top of my wages which last year were way under $20K.

And people wonder why they cheat in order to drive.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

40. Seriously, What Is Their Possible Justification For These Charges?

I've never been able to figure it out. What the hell do they deserve a hundred bucks a year for????

[tyedyeto]

44. Who the F* knows?

You pay it or you drive knowing you could be stopped and pay much more in fines than the $100. When I first moved here in 2001, my registration was close to $300 per year, so it has gone down substantially.

[knitter4democracy]

53. So the Republicans can say they didn't raise taxes.

We have high fees in Michigan because they need revenue from somewhere and so raised all the state fees for everything (I think it was close to $150 for each car this year). Damn Republicans--if we just raised taxes on the rich a little bit across the board, we could lower the damn fees again.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

55. But I Want Real Reasons.

All the states charge yearly registration fees (as far as I know) so it obviously has nothing to do with political party. I am curious to know the real reasons how they technically justify it. It's a crock.

[knitter4democracy]

77. It's a car tax.

That's how I've always heard it explained by state officials. It's to help cover the costs the state has when it comes to cars and drivers--roads, licenses, cops, stuff like that.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

78. That Sounds Pretty Stupid To Me. Not Sure How Many Said That To Ya.

But it's a crock of an excuse. There are state taxes and property taxes. What exactly are they for? Taxes to pay for licenses? We PAY for licenses. Taxes for cops? What, people without cars don't need cops?

State and property tax is enough. Yearly registration fees are bullshit.

[knitter4democracy]

79. I agree. I'm just saying what I've heard.

I know that Governor Granholm can't get the state congress to raise taxes, but she can get it to raise fees, as if they're not the same thing. Maybe that's how it started in the first place.

[eridani]

59. If you have two people shuttling between three to five jobs--

--and there is no public transportation, they can't afford NOT to have two cars.

[Javaman]

10. We have met the apathetic and they are us. nt

[lapislzi]

11. Also see many seniors shopping for food in $1 stores

Odd-lots of canned soups, often with labels printed in Portuguese, Arabic, or Russian, all laden with salt, sugar, and fat; boxes of snacky crap; weird cookies. Nothing good to eat here. But $3 buys you food for the day.

[GliderGuider]

13. quote from the CEO of a place I used to work

The tech bubble was just beginning to pop. We were busting a gut trying to get a network processing chip to market. 60-hour weeks were the norm even though we were considered "professionals" so we were salaried on a 40-hr/week basis.

They'd just given us all a 10% pay cut. I argued with HR that the admins shouldn't have to take a cut too because they're already making a fraction of the engineers. I got some bullshit response that a universal pay cut was more fair.
:puke:

So the CEO comes up from San Jose to give us a pep talk.
"I have a friend that used to be worth A Billion Dollars. Now he's only worth a hundred million. You have to work harder!"

"My wife used to be able to shop at Gucci and now she can't. You have to work harder!"

A$$hole! None of my wives have even seen the inside of a Gucci store.

A$$h0le!

[Blackhatjack]

15. The wealth inequality in this country is hundreds to 1, and climbing....

How can a CEO retire with tens of millions of dollars after slashing the workforce, outsourcing jobs, layoffs, cutting employee benefits, putting a lid on salaries, and watching corporate profits skyrocket?

It is the obvious principle that there can never be enough compensation for those at the top, no matter how abused the workers below them might be.

When that CEO is sitting on the beach, counting his 20 million dollars, somewhere an employee lost their job and cannot afford to buy food, pay rent, and buy meds all at the same time.

I am sure the CEO feels he is worth every dollar he got.

I am sure the laid off employee feels he has been mistreated.

Who is closer to being right?

It is just immoral, period.

[catmandu57]

18. I've lived this way all my life

Let me tell you being poor is a bitch and now she's having puppies. The solution is unmentionable, but it's going to take another FDR and things are going to have to get very much worse than they are now.
Which they will, the haves and have mores are running a scorched earth end game on us pobre citos, providing the circus, but, ignoring the bread. Even the braindead will rise up when their bellies are rumbling, and the circus then will be the bottom rail getting back on top.

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

29. No one will rise up

Even the poor today have entertainments like high-speed internet porn to keep them occupied. It's to keep them down. Also, the right has capitalized on the anti-elitist sentiment by accusing the left of elitism.

It's nonsense, but what can you do?

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

28. Thank you ReaganBushClintonBush

New Economy indeed. Thanks guys.

[dave29]

33. I am training my own outsourced replacement

they flew him to me, but did not bother to give him transportation, or mention that he would need a ride to the office, since he does not hold a drivers license. So I get to drive my own replacement around. If I don't, no severence package for me.

Classy, these mergers and acquisitions.

I'd be more angry if this poor(er) fellow wasn't such a nice guy.

[Blue Diadem]

37. Gosh, whenever I hear stories like yours I just get so angry.

I've heard about it happening several times at financial institutions back when my daughter was in that line of work. It's like being held hostage to get the severance package you deserve.

edited to add word for clarity.

[LeftyFingerPop]

43. Are they compensating you for...

your mileage and extra time?

I've been held hostage a few times by severance packages. I love it when you have to sign a form that waives your legal rights to sue your employer. If you don't sign, you forfeit all rights to severance. Bastards.

[dave29]

63. I sure hope so.

I've made them aware the situation is unnacceptable, the funny thing is, they just don't respond.

And I should have a waiver on my desk by the beginning of July. The whole thing is so absurd, I have to try to not think about the fact I wasted 9 years of my life just trying to get back on my feet. The severence package will ALMOST get me there.

With any luck, the wording of the waiver will say nothing about fictional accounts of the absurdity written by someone named "bave29"

:)

[tabasco]

35. Very sad days for America. The new robber baron era.

When will we ever learn?

[wellst0nev0ter]

39. Remember The Handbook Northwest Airlines Gave To The Workers They've Screwed?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/nowa-a18.shtml

The tips on how to live like po' folks includes dumpster diving, accepting second-hand clothes from friends, shopping in thrift stores, and making your own baby food. I'm surprised it didn't have a section on how to make entrees from cat food :grr:


If anyone needs reminders of how the rich view the "help". . .

[ldf]

42. my question is "who is going to snap, first?"

as everyone has pretty much agreed on, things are bad all over, and getting worse.

the rich get richer, and don't give a damn.

the shareholders DEMAND their dividends, NO MATTER WHO IS HURT TO GET THEM!

the ceo's eagerly do whatever is necessary to get them their dividends.

the poor, the workers who actually MAKE the ceo's companies their profits, just get poorer, with no hope for improvement, at the very best, hoping it won't get worse, hoping they won't get outsourced.

while at the same time, our soldiers get the shaft by the very people they are "supposedly" fighting for.

soldiers being forced to stay for extended tours of duty, multiple tours of duty.

soldiers being sent home, a physical and mental wreck, then being ignored by the ones who are supposed to take care of them.

soldiers being forced to fight for oil profits, and a president who would lie rather than admit fault.

then, what about the good american people who have put up with this crap for so long that the faint idea of the america we were all proud of is just a distant memory. will we ever get our country back? will our political leaders who expect our vote, then ignore us, ever be willing to fight for what is right? are we nothing but pawns in their game?

and then, to top it all, what about those disgusting pieces of crap masquerading as humanity that are OUTRAGED because the boyking doesn't seem to be getting away with it. the ones who can't stand the thought of differences being celebrated, instead of justifications for persecution and attacks. the ones who are so afraid they won't be able to force their sick religious beliefs on all the rest of us. the ones who can't STAND THE THOUGHT OF A TRUE AMERICA, like the founders envisioned.

who is going to snap first? because someone IS going to.

and the floodgates will be opened.

it is NOT going to be pretty.

[anitar1]

45. The rich will have to hire Blackwater guys for protection.

Theft is rising and I don't think it is just for drugs.Could be for food.

[Wednesdays]

64. When somebody snaps, the M$M will say it's just a lone nut

If it's even covered at all. Or more likely, will show the person being apprehended or killed, and spin it as "he had it coming." Ever watch COPS?

The people in power have all bases covered. :cry:

[TheWatcher]

68. But if those who snap become Legion.

Their gated communities and Mercenaries aren't going to stave off a tidal wave forever.

They can't kill us all and they know it.

[LeftHander]

48. "What have we become?"

Selfish, TV watchers.

[knitter4democracy]

54. I've heard both of those here in Michigan.

Our economy is really, really bad. People are doing what they can to get by, but with some of the highest gas prices in the nation, it's just going to get worse this summer.

Btw, the pencils I bought at the dollar store were from China, and they sucked. The leads were off-center in the whole batch. I've gone back to only buying American ones again, just so I don't waste all that wood and graphite trying to make them work for my kids.

[marions ghost]

57. Americans are pretty good at putting up....

sacrificing, tightening the belt, etc. But people are getting closer to the snapping point.

I was talking the other day to the young Heating/AC technician and he says when some customers' heating/cooling units expire these days they can't afford to get another one, not even when offered easy term payments. He sees a lot of anxiety and depression out there now. He's also under no delusions about this little war for oil...has a good handle on the whole picture.

In the coming days of scarcity, it's not hard to guess who's been selected to suffer.

[bighart]

69. how do you all

help those less fortunate than you? I probably would have asked the lady with the young man to come back in with me and bought whatever it was they needed, especially if it was for school.

[Ladyhawk]

73. Nobody gives a shit, not even the people who say they do.

I can't back that except that I feel completely fucked.

[Ladyhawk]

76. No health care for Ladyhawk.

I cannot get treatment for a serious illness and no one wants to help me. My primary care doctor told me to ask my counselor; my counselor told me to ask my doctor.

This morning my counselor called me and I asked her what I could do.

"Well, since you're on Medi-Cal, you can't do anything."

"I'm sorry," I said. "That is unacceptable. Now what are you going to do about it?"

Silence.

I brought up a former doctor of mine who would find a way. "So, are you going to help me find a way to get treated or not?"

"Will your mother pay a doctor?"

"No. I asked you what you're going to do. How are you going to make sure I get the care I need?"

I finally just hung up on her. It was useless to talk to her. If I call my doctor, I'll get the same run-around. This has been going on for--what?--a couple of years. Maybe longer.

Basically, I have to see the "doctor" Medi-Cal specifies or I see no one. The approved doctor is a complete ass. I wouldn't call seeing him "getting health care." The only thing I can think of is lying about my place of residence, but someone would figure that out pretty quickly. :cry: