Goto Iraq, or lose your house, a family not making it in GWB's America

[American Renaissance]

Let me tell you a story about a couple, lets call them Jack and Jill.

Jack is a 33 year old Ivy League educated engineer, who had worked for Sun Microsystems for nine years before being laid off.

Jill is a 34 year old college educated, ex-military, navigational radar and instrumentation specialist. She was laid off from a company that supported navigational aides used in commercial aviation just about a year ago. To make a long job description short, she makes sure you flight to New York doesn’t end up in Peru.

They have a five year old daughter, and they bought a house in the year 2000.

Neither, despite years of experience in their respective fields have been able to get work in their fields. Jack works in the videogame department at Circuit City. Jill works as a bartender at a hotel. Both make just above minimum wage. They can only work part time because one has to stay home at any given time with their child. The hotel has threatened to fire Jill twice if she doesn’t take more shifts. They can’t afford a baby sitter for what they earn.

They can only afford to keep up mortgage payments through the end of March, with no real jobs on the horizon they face the prospect of losing their home.

There is only one real option open to them, the military has offered Jill a substantial bonus if she re-enlists, and the military just magically seemed to know she was out of work.

Given her experience, it is almost a dead certainty that she would be sent to work on the installation of modern radar and navigational aides at airfields in Iraq. That means their daughter will be without her mother for extended periods of time, if not permanently. But if she doesn’t they almost certainly lose their house, and that would set them back more than a decade.

How is that for an American Dream?

I should also point out, they are stone cold democrats.

[Corgigal]

1. First

What branch?

[American Renaissance]

4. Airforce

She was originally in the navy, but it is the airforce that is trying to pick her up now.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

2. Has he explored healthcare information systems jobs?

There are IT jobs growing in the healthcare sector in the large, university based health systems. Whatever they have to do, including selling their house, downsizing, filing for bankruptcy, moving...DON'T go into the military.

[American Renaissance]

6. IT

He isn't an IT type, he worked on the design of firmware for storage controllers.

[Doctor_J]

3. that's one reason the cons celebrate

bushonomics and the high unemployment that we have. It may prevent a full-scale draft.

[bush_is_wacko]

5. Jack and Jill are one of

many. I can't give you any advice I'm afraid. IT IS DISGRACEFUL THAT IN THIS COUNTRY HALF OUR POPULATION HAS JUST SOLD THEMSELVES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS INTO SLAVERY AND THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IT! John and Jane in this house are too old to go to war, but we have no doubt our 15 year old daughter will face a draft in the next few years. We are already weeping for her generation's loss!

[eleonora]

7. Depressing....

We break our asses indebting ourselves to then work crappy jobs. Sucks.

I hope this couple doesn't choose to go to Iraq. MONEY can't REPLACE LIFE!!

[Oilwellian]

8. What's so important about their home?

Why don't they sell their home (while they still can) and get an affordable apartment? Why is the home more important than the safety (and presence)of the mother? Sounds like this couple's priorities are out of wack.