John's lab Notes 6/15/09


Check out John's Lab Notes for today. 

Now seems like a good time to resurrect one of the topics from the old forum. How is this economy affecting you? Are you one of those folks who was doing well until this year or has your financial situation been challenging for some time?

I ask this because of the conflicting economic pictures John and I have seen for many, many years. I won't bore you with all the stories, but we have known so many people for whom the stock market and the housing bubble did not constitute a stable economic situation. We have watched as they have been repeatedly laid off or downsized, as their health insurance premiums gobbled up any "raises" they may have been given, as their medical bills outpaced their insurance coverage and their incomes. as their unemployment benefits ran out, and on and on. This has also been across the board - blue collar to white collar. Whenever John did strips reflecting this, he was roundly criticized, "The economy's great! Quit with your  knee-jerk liberal whining already!" This always amused me as John only calls them as he sees them and has no political agenda. His forays into the more editorial layers of the strip are a reflection of a system riddled with absurdity and his frustration with that absurdity. 

So again I ask, "How are you doing? Is your situation actually much worse suddenly than it was? Have your losses been real or "inflated on paper" projections that will now not come true? Have you been forced into a career change? Do you have any optimism for the future?" And please understand that I am asking these questions in all seriousness with no sarcasm or undertone, but with a true desire to take a pulse of the readership. Please feel free to answer anonymously if you wish.

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