I can't argue with what you're saying P-hole ... it just really hurts to agree with you.

I feel very lucky right now in that I paid my house off in August, my truck is paid for and I have Social Security, some VA disability payments as well as a little home-based side business going. Lynn is out of work, but at least has unemployment to fall back on. As a security blanket, she's also old enough to start drawing Social Security if worse comes to worse. We've busted our asses contributing to her 401K and IRA for many years, but that's pretty much fubar right now. I'd have to say we're in a comfortable position compared to many, so I can't complain.

BUT ... I had a thriving business in 2008 that i'd built from the ground up for 20 years and it flew out the window almost overnight when the economy tanked. I had a couple months of money saved, but not near enough to make up for the losses and actually pay my bills. In a panic, I started driving a frigging truck to earn a paycheck. After only 1-1/2 years of that, my health took a nose-dive and within short order, I was financially devastated and honestly didn't have a clue how we were going to survive the downturn. SOMEHOW it worked out and I was able to pull myself up by my bootstraps and return to a somewhat normal life, but it was a lot of work.

Now this. I look back and wonder how I'd be able to handle it if it had been an earlier time before I salvaged what I had left to salvage. I'm not sure I'd have had enough left in me to pull through this one. There are a LOT of people out there who are in much worse positions than I was in and I'm not sure how they're going to make it. I remember a few years back, a young dude who looked totally healthy (to me) tried to bum a buck off of me in front of Walmart. I was in a bad mood to begin with and told him to get a fucking job! It was really his approach that turned me off, it's like he thought I was "obligated" to help him out. His response? He's tried but there ARE no jobs! Sorry, that didn't fly with me and I told him he can ALWAYS get a job flipping burgers at MacD's, then I walked off. Today, one can't even fall back on a burger flipping job and if there were one open, there'd be elebenty-bazillion others standing in line for it. Although we're having a bit of a rough time, I'm VERY grateful to be in the position I'm in today and will have no problem riding this one out. But that's just me ... and you ... and a few others around here. Some aren't so fortunate.