wow what happen?

[thefed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cattusbabe Did I miss something or was there no word of Mrs. Karpman getting off her tush and getting a job to help with the bills.

On the TV segment last night they said she works the concession stand at her kids baseball games for some $$.

[steve88]

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Originally Posted by thefed On the TV segment last night they said she works the concession stand at her kids baseball games for some $$.

actually its towards the kids little league fees.

[Gardnr]

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Originally Posted by . . . Yrs to Go I'll agree with you once they drop the $30K in tuition before taking food stamps. Kind of reminds me of Reagan's "Welfare Queen".

Yeah, I thought the same thing and said that to DW as we watched this. I really don't understand it at all. Also they should have already sold off all their excess stuff and toys (watercraft, etc.) before taking food stamps.

[thefed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardnr Yeah, I thought the same thing and said that to DW as we watched this. I really don't understand it at all. Also they should have already sold off all their excess stuff and toys (watercraft, etc.) before taking food stamps.

they sure did have a nice pile o' stuff, didnt they?

If i were in that exact position though, i'd take the 500 in stamps as fast as i could get them. why not?

[tmm99]

Quote:

I feel sorry for the guy and at the same time, think - wow don't you have any common sense. The story ran on 20/20 or whatever the name of the show is last night and they have been living in that house for 2 years without paying the mortgage. Most normal people would have been evicted way before that. ....and they have run up $100,000 in credit card debt. The wife hasn't attempted to get a job from what I can tell - other than working the snack bar at the Little League games so the kids don't have to pay the fees. I can't help but think with the $100,000 in credit card debt that they haven't really adjusted their life style other than not getting the pool repaired or the hot water heater in their master bath. And when they are foreclosed on - they will have to move to a small apartment which won't hold all the wife's clothes - well among other things - less face it their house is huge. Then they will sell things on Craig's List. What are they waiting for?

I agree with all of the above (except I don't feel sorry for the guy. He lives in such a beautiful home!). Same exact questions came to my mind too.

tmm

[tryan]

With the news media following them, they'll milk this situation for everything they can ... never sell or pack a thing. Let the camera's roll during the eviction. This will be a real tear jerker.

[ziggy29]

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Originally Posted by tryan With the news media following them, they'll milk this situation for everything they can ... never sell or pack a thing. Let the camera's roll during the eviction. This will be a real tear jerker.

Wealthy or not, stupid with money or not, I hate to see this sort of thing happen to anyone and I feel no schadenfreude about their situation.

Having said that, what I resent is that the typical media coverage of occurrences like this tends to focus on how bad things are out there and make consumers even more fearful -- when I think the real message should be, "this is what can happen when you live at or above your means and drink the keep-up-with-the-Joneses Kool-Aid."

In other words, it's less about a terrible economy (this could happen at any time to people and in any economy; you only hear the sob stories now) and more about the dangers of living on the edge of your means and falling victim to affluenza.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by ziggy29 Having said that, what I resent is that the typical media coverage of occurrences like this tends to focus on how bad things are out there and make consumers even more fearful -- when I think the real message should be, "this is what can happen when you live at or above your means and drink the keep-up-with-the-Joneses Kool-Aid."

While messing around on the internet this weekend, I had my TV on in the background. I listened to a show about how desperate unemployed people can find a job in this awful economy (and really, it was frightfully depressing because they came up with nothing new or effective IMO).

Then, I listened to a show focusing on some individuals with HORRIBLE credit card debt that they couldn't ever pay off, despite more income than I have. On top of that, one was getting his credit terms modified drastically by his CC company (higher interest, lower limit, that type of thing) due to his inability to pay more than the minimum, and his situation seemed hopeless. Medical expenses got at least one of them in that situation.

After listening to those two shows back to back, I just shut off the TV. It is too depressing! And I don't even have these problems, myself. Imagine how depressing it would be if I were worried about becoming unemployed, or a little behind on credit card debt.

[ziggy29]

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Originally Posted by Want2retire Then, I listened to a show focusing on some individuals with HORRIBLE credit card debt that they couldn't ever pay off, despite more income than I have.

See, that's the thing. While layoffs are more prevalent in a terrible economy, they can and do happen in ANY economy. Such a person would be in deep kimchee even in a strong economy. But you never hear the sob stories then. No, let's pile on the fear and gloom while people are fearful and gloomy.

It's a wonder economies ever recover with media stories influencing consumer confidence like this.