This is a random post

One more week of anesthesia and then I’m off for Christmas. I will actually be sad to see this rotation end because I enjoy it immensely and am learning a great deal of information. Depending on what I am able to set up for January I may see if I can come back for another two weeks. I’ll have to see what happens this week in respect to potential endocrine and radiology rotations I have cooking for next year.

I had a great weekend. I went to visit my friends again. I sure hope they are not getting sick of me since I’ve been to their house all weekend, every weekend for the past 3 weeks. I had a craving for salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden, so we braved the parking lot on one of the freeways to venture to the restaurant. The food was pretty good, but I was a bit amazed at the bill. It is now next to impossible to get out of Olive Garden for less than $20 per person. I remember when I was younger and my entire family could eat at Red Lobster for less than $50. We talked about that a bit on the ride home. We all just feel fortunate that we can afford to do things like that and not worry about paying the bills at the end of the month.

Part of this is because of a book I just finished reading. It is called Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. My pseudo-girlfriend had read it and mentioned how good it was. It is about a writer how works in three different cities in entry level jobs and tries to make ends meet. She writes how affordable housing is nearly impossible to find, how working two jobs is almost a requirement to get by. It has really been an interesting and eye opening look into the working class. I have never been one to think, “If they were only motivated to find a job”, but I still never realized how difficult it could possibly be even attempt to find a job if you don’t have a permanent address, no money for a deposit or the first month’s rent. It’s a vicious cycle. I still haven’t had time to process it all.

I’ve never felt bad about my situation growing up. I never had any reason to. I lived in a small town and we looked basically like any other family there. I was pretty sheltered. I was never really exposed to either end of the wealth spectrum. Everyone looked middle class whether they truly were or not. Then I went to undergrad and saw what true wealth was out there. I was appalled at how many people at a Christian university flaunted what they had. I guess I really shouldn’t have been that surprised as the vast majority came from what would be considered middle to upper middle class families. It just seems wrong when compared to the struggles that so many of the working class families must go through just to survive day to day.

I’m not totally innocent. My friends and I rip on Wal-Mart constantly. We even joke about going to pick up a few things right away in the morning, sans shower, in our pajama pants, sweatshirt and bed head. The joke is that it is okay to do that since we would fit in without any trouble. I know, it is insensitive and wrong. We also mock many, many other things as well. I just will fail to share them all.

Anyway, minimum survival wage for a family of 3 (parent and 2 kids) is apparently $14 an hour and most jobs pay $7-8. As you can see, it is nearly impossible with only one job in the working class. These people are really amazing in how hard they work to make ends meet.

I’m not certain I have really made a point. The book was interesting though, I would definitely recommend it.