reality bites

Just a bunch of seemingly unrelated news this weekend. First, a little incident that perfectly illustrates the current economic situation. As I was loading my groceries into the car yesterday afternoon, a guy came up to me and said he did body work and could fix my cracked bumper (which was, as you might remember, held together by several stripes of duct tape, attached neatly and singlehandedly by yours truly). Not only that, but he could also take care of the few rusty spots and the broken lock on the trunk. He could follow me home and do everything right there on the spot, and he would charge me only $150 total. When I hesitated (because it sort of sounded too good to be true), he quickly added: "I have four kids, and they like to eat". He then proceeded to tell me how he now works 20 hours a week instead of 40, and how his boss at the body shop would charge me $400 for the same stuff (which I totally believe, btw). Convinced (and also because I felt bad for him), I agreed. And he did exactly as he said. Luckily, I had just visited an ATM and could pay him in cash when he was done. So my car now looks much better - and you should have seen that guy's happy face as he pocketed the money to go right back to the store and get groceries for his kids. It was a humbling experience, in a way. I shall now complain no more. I may be getting a ridiculously low salary, but at least I have no kids to feed and don't need to go around advertising my cheap services to random people in the street. I can't imagine it's the most entertaining way to spend your weekend...

Incidentally, yesterday I also met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in months, and she told me her teacher's salary had been reduced by $2000 (it was the only way to keep her job - either accept the lower pay or go). She felt duly wronged by this - but when she heard how much I get paid, she just grimaced in sympathy and said: "Okay, now it feels wrong and selfish of me to complain". So here's my advice to you people: if you think you have it bad, just find someone who's doing even worse. I bet it will make you feel better.:P

Oh, and another friend of mine - the one who was a receptionist for a workers' union - recently got fired for criticizing the local canditate for Congress supported by her employer. She was volunteering for another candidate's campaign, and supposedly sent an email to some of her coworkers, voicing her doubts as to the suitability of their chosen candidate (I don't know exactly what that email said, but she had told me once that the guy was quite corrupted and she didn't have a high opinion of him at all). The next day, she was summoned to the CEO's office and fired. She was even on the local news. So yeah, another piece of advice: it might be safer to keep your political opinions to yourself. At least in the workplace. I had no idea one could be fired just like that for stating an opinion... but I guess you learn something new every day. Free country?... I think not.:/

And that is all for tonight. Bedtime. *yawns*