Pay up or take the bus 2737

Yes. Those who doubt this should read "Nickel and Dimed' by Barbara Enrereich. (I probably spelled her last name wrong.) She's a journalist who decided to see first hand what it was like to work blue-collar jobs and try to make a living. She did stints as a waitress, housecleaner, Walmart and a few others in several U.S. locations. It's a fast read and enlightening. Basically she found out that you simply can't pay for housing for one person near a job like that, let alone support a family. Those jobs tend to pay around $7-hour. She found that you either work two full time jobs and kill yourself, or you live in your car. Many people resort to trying to live in cheap motels a week at a time until their money runs out when they have to live in their cars or move back with other family. For another real-life anecdote, take the Washington DC area. I live 40 minutes from DC, in northern Virginia. I'm in software, so I do okay. But there are lots of retail and other blue-collar workers who live near me. The smallest, oldest homes in my area are selling for around $400K. Rents on those same homes are around $1000-month. My best guess as to how they afford it, is they go into debt up to their eyeballs and all the working-age adults in the family pool their incomes. If you go in closer to DC, those prices double. The Washington Post has had a few articles in the past week or two about low-income housing in the city being torn down and replaced with luxury condos. The word "Gentrification is quoted alot. There is alot of pain among the city's blue-collar workers right now. It all boils down to, they have to live an hour's drive away - minimum- and commute into the city to work. Metro doesn't go very far outside the city.

- Sharon "Gravity... is a harsh mistress!"