C-D P&OC posters: What is your lot in life? (minimum wage, insurance)

[Blue Grass Fever]

I think this is a fair question to ask provided one can give generic descriptions to put each other into context and content given the order of the day is class-warfare, don't you think?

I'll start first:

UAW worker/small business owner (raise sheep)
family man


(to start off...)

[North Beach Person]

Hmmm.
Late 50s
married, still to my first wife. 4 kids, 3 college grads or soon will be, 1 still in high school
27 or so years teaching
local elected official
several "interests" (not hobbies)
Hunter Safety Instructor for MD DNR
USN veteran
fairly content with where I am (with some regrets)

[mackinac81]

High School English/History Teacher. I'm a pharmacy technician on the side.

I'm a twentysomething single white male from West Michigan living in North Carolina.

[summers73]

Ph.D. student in comp sci, natural language & game-based intelligent tutoring systems, graduating Fall 2011. Who knows what lies ahead of that. SAS? DoD? Teaching? Definitely have to keep my politics under wraps just incase I want to work with my colleagues in the future. Been in IT for about 10 years prior to that. OTC derivatives, pharma, defense, municipal gov. some of the sectors.

30 something soon-to-be-married in North Cakalaky. Concealed carry permit holder, nature lover.

[mohawkx]

Vietnam Vet. Retired from business. living on SS and a small stipend from a 401k. Member of the "Zipper Club". Major vascular complications. Don't expect to be around long. Every sunrise is a blessing.

[Casper in Dallas]

Mid 50s,
Workout daily, bike riding, running, swimming, weights and martial arts
Senior Technical Writer (30 years)
Married twice (8 years 1st time and now going on 26 years with the 2nd)
2 Sons
4 grand kids
2 dogs
2 cats
Live in the country on the lake, and when I am not working my you know what off I love fishing, hiking and shooting to stay sharp
Love History and Science
Read a book a week at minimum, plus seeing what I can find on the web to spark my interest
Army Vet (8 years)
Happy but Concerned about our Country
Casper

[Jaggy001]

Mid fifties, retired recently from public accounting where I specialized in working with large cap corporations. Capitalist with centrist political views.

[Backspace]

Mid 30s
Married for 10 years
Medical Engineering and design
Masters in EE
Residential electrical work and generator work on the side
4 year old and 8 month old
I live in a very rural area North of Houston
4 dogs (want 1?)
Concealed handgun permit and handgun enthusiast.

[hooligan]

36 yr old white male.

Happily married for 5 years.

IT consultant.

Living in NC, but born and raised in MI.

[charolastra00]

23 year old recent college grad working in administration at the university I graduated from. Was about to start an MBA program at said university in the very specific field I want to enter once the economy gets better, but was diagnosed with cancer a month after my 23rd birthday. Now I am living day to day, unsure how I will pay my medical bills even with no college loans or debt and decent insurance. I cannot go home to where I will have a caretaker because I would lose both my income and my insurance. My father is a 99er and my mother has a master's degree but barely makes above minimum wage at a daycare. They can be of no financial help to me nor can they afford to come be with me during the surgery I will need immediately before starting treatment (getting a port put in next week) or during treatment. I am in pretty much the worst place a cancer patient can be in- I have no caretakers, no reliable way to get to appointments/treatment (I rely on public transit which is great when you don't have to go an hour and a half each way to get to your chemo appointments), and am extremely stressed out about money.

I live in an urban suburb of Boston with a professor roommate who also does not have a car. Born in Mass, lived in Georgia from age 2 to 18, returned to Georgia briefly after college to job hunt.

Basically, all of this makes me extremely angry. I was the picture of health before my diagnosis- and even today, I feel fine, just happen to have cancer raging through my lymph nodes. It makes me incredibly angry that I have done everything right in my life thus far- saved money, graduated from a top ranked college with no debt, got a job that would be decent if it was in any part of the country but here (though I was willing and did move 1000 miles to take "what I could get"), hold no credit card debt, etc etc can be going through this financially. In a developed country, we should not have 23 year olds worrying about receiving chemo while living in a homeless shelter because of the costs of treatment and the time needed to take off of work.