A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about how and why my wife quit her job in this difficult environment. Late last week, one of my readers posted the following comment in response to my post, which I wanted to share with you:
"I guess it all depends on where you sit. I was married for 14 years then divorced and have been raising my 3 children for the last 10 years on a single income (30K per year)with no child support(blood from a stone thing). I worked for 19 years for a major industrial supply company before suffering some disability. The company does not want to provide me with a position that I can survive on . The disability insurance will soon end and if I can't find a job that will allow me to pay bills me and my kids will be out on the street in a one to two months. You can serve your country in the military, work hard all your life, try to do all the right things and still end up on the trash heap. One thing people may not realize is that many people in such situations as mine are stuck working in positions without promotional opportunities because the company realizes they have you by the balls. You have to feed your kids etc so you just have to take it. Good luck to you all, god bless and consider all things. I hope you find this world a better place than I do at the moment. "
Wow. That was powerful, moving stuff. How do you respond to such a statement. Clearly, my reader is under a lot of stress and feels that she doesn't have too many options.
It is pretty humbling to hear of a person facing such profound challenges. After all, my wife and I are extremely lucky. We are financially secure. We are both healthy. Our kids are all healthy. We have everything that we need. We have the luxury or resigning a well paying position because it does not allow us to maintain the work-life balance we desire.
Any advice, insight or commentary would be appreciated.
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