It has been a long time since I voiced an opinion or observation about the world in writing. Like many, I’ve been dealing with and reeling from the financial catastrophe brought about by the “financial crisis.” I’ve beat back the demons of foreclosure, teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, got laid off for the first time in my entire life, faced the specter of no health insurance and went without filling prescriptions. After trying every avenue I could think of for help, and getting none I cashed out my retirement plan early, paid a whopping penalty to both the plan holder and the IRS, found a new job and am slowly coming back to life.
Yes, it has been one long pity party in my house. I can’t imagine that I am the only one who has had these troubles, and plenty have had it worse than me and have ended up jobless, homeless and healthcareless and remain that way today. So, I consider myself lucky.
Especially today, the day the recession really hits home. The day we realize that no one is safe from this financial maelstrom. Yes, it is the day that Harvard announced that cookies will no longer be supplied to faculty meetings, hot breakfasts will no longer be served to students, and some athletes may be forced to supply their own sweat clothes. Oh the horror!
Of course, you might say, with the tuition charged to attend, a hot breakfast should not only be served, but delivered on a silver platter. After all, what kind of a country are we living in when the elite-est of the elite educational institutions have to cut back? And how mean-spirited am I to make light of the situation when their endowment is in serious trouble? For truly, is not one person’s loss of a hot breakfast just another person’s home foreclosure? Then again, I could say bravo to Harvard for cutting back, and providing an educational experience of how the rest of us live.
