General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A segment of DU is very invested in painting a dystopian picture of the US [View all]notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)and that you are over 50 and have a job because I know 3 people in my household over 50 that don't. Two of the women are divorced and one is a widow. I have 3 sisters all of us over 50. Three of us do not have jobs. One has indeed stopped looking. She suffers from depression and at this moment is spending day 3 of this week lying in her bed eating her anti-depressants (which she can now get because of the ACA) and looking forward to later when she can take more pills so she can go back to sleep.
The widow is working on getting her own business off the ground. She currently generates about 2400.00 a month in income cleaning houses for well to do millenials and senor citizens. She uses that 2400.00 to support her two sisters and another woman she knows who is over 50 who can't get a job because she has seizures. The widow is the lucky one in the bunch. Why? Because her husband when he was alive had a good paying union job and through that union she is provided with part of his pension and health care and as long as she never gets married again, she will retain that small income (about 500 a month) until the day she dies.
The other 3 women over 50, I guess you could say are lucky; under the ACA, they finally have health care. One sister has recently lost a lot of weight. She has a lump in her groin about the size of a golf ball and is finally getting it looked at next week. If she is really lucky, it won't be cancer and she will be able to continue to work with her sister the widow cleaning houses.
The lady who has seizures and also helps the widow clean houses, was never able to see a Dr until recently. In the past, everytime she has had a seizure and been taken to the hospital, she has checked herself out because she couldn't afford to pay a bill. Needless to say, she has never been able to follow up (until recently) and is now in the process (with the help of two of the sisters) of creating the paperwork necessary to be able to apply for disability. Still, that is going to take about another year to complete.
The widow, the really lucky one who has a small cushion and has been able to help these other 3 women financially suffered a bout of diverticulitis last November, she ruptured her guts and did not know it. And if not for her son rushing her to the hospital in the middle of the night, would have been dead. Well, she's so lucky that she now has her guts stick out a hole in her side which is attached to a plastic bag that she shits in. Yeah, she's the lucky one alright.
So on behalf of myself, my sisters and the lady that has seizures, I would like to take a moment and apologize for your annoyance. I try not to complain on DU about it. I really do.
Again, congratulations on your success in life. Hopefully you will not spend too much time being annoyed by those of us who do indeed live a different reality than you. I sincerely mean that.