Jan 12 2009
Middle class shuffle
I’ve lived in the comfortable “low” middle class range since I graduated college three years ago. I’ve saved carefully and worked faithfully toward paying off my debt and student loans. In May, I decided that I’d saved enough to purchase my first home.
Then, on Friday, I was laid off without notice, due to “political reorganization.” (Political reorganization means that I don’t qualify for “merit” pay, don’t qualify for benefit day pay-out, and don’t get any severance pay…. it’s “political” alright.)
So today, after filing for unemployment…. and discovering that on my last paycheck I will actually owe
money because of my so-called benefits… and finding that despite my $125,000 college degree and experience I still don’t qualify for a job… I am cranky. Especially since I received a $161.33 gas bill, when the thermostat hasn’t crossed the 60-degree mark ever in the past 34 days. It has cost me roughly $4.75 a day to shiver and sit in front of the tiny electric heater. Even the cat has started to sit in front of the heater!
Anyway, I found out that I make too much to qualify for any assistance or even just a payment plan. The gas company can’t “assist” me until I’ve made $0 for a year. A year! How does a family with kids even get help then!?
My only option is to let my account default. I pay my bills early every month, and now they want me to not pay to the point my gas gets shut off… because they have no other options. This is why our country is in such a desperate situation. The people that need the help can’t get it… because they “make too much.” We’ll see how far my $0 a month goes these days.
