One Woman's Fight to Rejoin the Middle Class

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7:00 am during our morning huddle, my boss asked us to take a look around and then stated that half of us would be gone and that if we felt overworked now, get used to it. We'll be doing their job, too. Trouble is, I'm 53 and wondering if I'm going to remain in the overworked group or the group constituting "their".
Seriously, I'm working two part time jobs and still not earning a living wage between the two. I gave up a once thriving business in 09. I had been looking for another job for a year before I gave it up. After two years, I find this job and now work sometimes in the place I once owned.
What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Ever see the flick from the 70s titles the Resolution of Mossie Wax? Is this what waits for me, for us?

Rochelle of CA 10:35PM August 04, 2011

One writer wrote "It's easy to make judgements when you have never been in this situation". So true ...
ANYONE can find themselves in this struggle regardless of education and effort. Years of "success" and careful spending and saving are no guarantees. You can be on top of the world in your 30s and 40s only to find your world turned upside down with you struggling to survive in your late 50s. It's maddening!!

Annie of OH 11:05AM July 24, 2011

There but for the grace of God go I. Anyone of us could be in the same situation. Why is it that the politicians want to protect the very wealthy (2%) from higher taxes and deprive the poor and middle class of their safety net? Isn't it obvious to the Tea Party followers that they are being brainwashed by the very wealthy into thinking they are being shielded from higher taxes? The poor and middle class may be able to save a couple of hundred by lower taxes, but the very wealthy are saving millions.
At the rate we are going there will be few people to purchase the products being produced by big business. When their sales decrease, maybe they will realize the overall effect of their selfishness.
Too bad the very wealthy won't be reading this blog ... They are blind to everything but their extravagant lifestyle.
Maybe it is time for a revolt!

Barbara of CA 2:11PM July 18, 2011

It is outrageous we have so many people unable to get medical assistance or a place to live. America just sent 100billion dollars to the UN. 4 billion of that money was for medical asstance to foreighn countries. When are we going to take care of Americans First?

Karoline of CA 5:53PM July 17, 2011

I too am homeless with ever growing medical issues in need of serious medical care and a very high risk surgery. I am also a victim of abuse. I am in horrible pain every day and I hate the pain medications. I have been referred out of state to a top surgeon as well as Mayo, Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins. Things have spun so quickly out of control recently and it is very difficult to keep up with my health and what I must do for myself on a daily basis. The health problems are controlling me and have slowed me greatly. Being homeless doesn't help either.

Amy of IL 2:05PM July 15, 2011

That there are such vastly growing numbers of the homeless sleeping rough and living in tent cities, under bridges and in boxes and sheds and ditches in the richest and supposedly most tech-savvy/"advanced" country on the planet is nothing short of obscene.
But there's always trillions of $$$ for election campaigns and to over-stuff the obese and greedy War Chest. Such irony that starving homeless vets are the most rapidly-expanding population from coast-to-coast. So much for "priorities..."
Where is our humanity in this culture of increasing violence and chaos??? Where is compassion for the suffering of our fellow human beings???
Americans need to demand campaign finance reform, media reform & End all the Wars Now! Forget war-making and build the national Green Grid which will also get people back to work. Solutions are possible but every American must engage their will and pressure Congress and those at the local level to demand that accountability of those who have created this disaster is enacted pronto. People are dying needlessly every day due to lack of health care, excessive personal stress and lack of access to nutrition, clean water and safe living conditions. It doesn't have to be this way.

Av Williams of VA 7:46PM July 14, 2011

I am a middle aged mother of three boys. My goal was to get them educated so they could get better jobs and have it easier than we had it. We have always been concidered poor so cutting back does not bother me at all. So many people seem to have it so much better than we did. I felt bad because I could not give my children what they gave thiers. I taught my boys to do hard labor. Now my husband is sick and unable to work. I have always been a stay at home mom but I made garden and canned. Seen to it that the boys went to school. My husband worked a job and Me and the boys ran a small farm. Now I need a job.
In the last 3 years I have had 6 kids (that just turned 18) come live at my house because they have no place to go. Seems like these parents who gave them every thing won't let them live a home any more because they don't have a job. They sleep in thier cars, go for days without food. They have no place to take a bath or clean their cloths. My kids are doing day jobs to keep our family a float. But I do have to say most of these kids have gotten jobs and are working and are making it on their own. It just makes me mad that these parents can't under stand how hard it is for young people to make it. After all they still live in their big homes and live the same way and they taught their kids what to expect out of life. Which was beyond their means. I guess they just have to come to my house to learn how to survive.

Wathena Monroe of OK 7:12PM July 14, 2011

I am employed...I am unemployed...I am employed...I am unemployed...My mom has a stroke...my brother is diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer and Chronic Hepatitis C...I am diagnosed with Chronic Hepatitis 4 and non respondent to current medication...I am employed...I am unemployed...I am employed...I am unemployed...My mom has another Stroke....I am diagnosed with Lichen Plantus a symptom of Chronic Hepatitis C...My hands and feet appear burned and my skin from my neck down has sever itching bumps all over..the skin on my hands and feet dies and flakes off...I am afraid that no one will hire me in fear of me being contagious...I itch 24/7...there is no cure...I am not a drug addict...I am holding on to my home by Prayer, The grace of God and Unemployment...I still have hope.

Stephanie of CA 6:21PM July 14, 2011

i understand how hard it is to be homeless. I am the mother of three children and i was homeless when i was pregnant with my 7 year old. I am still struggling every day even though i have a place to live now and a good job. I live in a $500 a month apartment, right now the fridge is broke and my sink is broke, i have to wash dishes in the bathtub. That is not good cause my neck and back are disabled permanently from an accident at work. The landlord will not fix anything where i live. So I know all too well about struggling. I am also a veteran of the gulf war.

Robin of WV 5:19PM July 14, 2011

This lady is remarkable. She is smart, loving and hard working. I salute her and pray for her.
I have known for a long time that I lived on the edge of homelessness, but have escaped it's clutches over and over again. My job of over 20 years has dwindled to about 10 hours a week.
If I had not married some one who had inhereted 2 houses I would be homeless. However, a large part of our income to pay to keep the houses is his Soc Sec. disability check and it may not come in the very near future. We get about the same amount in rent from the second house, but our tenent lost her job - in health care - and has struggled to pay us. We have worked with her and accepted partial payments and late payments without penalizing her, but we do not know if she will be able to pay anything next month.
My sister and brother live on a leased lot in Texas, but barely get by. He had made a lot of money in the stock market, but lost most of it in recent years. He has turned to landscape work to survive. Sis just gets Soc. Sec. and cannot afford to go to the Dr. anymore - she is 66 and he is 58.
We all have college degrees, folks. We come from upper middle class backgrounds, too. There is a recession for those of us over 50 and I do not see it getting better any time soon. I know Republican business men who have been forced into retirement, who have seen savings drop drastically. They thought they had security and now they are having to deal with the reality of today.
I hope that most people have realized that homeless does not mean dead beat. It means catastrophic circumstances like a health crisis or a devorce or a lay off or industry collapse, etc. It includes illnesses like addiction - of all kinds. It includes mental illness. It includes so many things that we are all elligable to have happen to us and ours that it makes no sense for any one to look down on the homeless.

Lissa Henry of VA 5:09PM July 14, 2011