The Cost of Living

The cost of living has become outrageously high. Food and gas prices continue to soar as the job market shrinks and shrinks the working middle class with it. Even more frustrating is when people holding two to three jobs can't pay off their mortgage. This growing frustration is felt everywhere as employers judge a potential employee from a piece of paper or a computer record before meeting him or her in person. Yet the deciding factor is the person applying for the job. In fact it seems as the middle man, you and me, gets replaced by a computer, our resources dwindle as well.

The other day I called a supposed Human Resources department to ask about jobs. The lady told me she can't share this information with me over the phone, even though it is public. In fact she outright refused to share it with me. My reaction? I was miffed. After all she and the Human Resources department are the resources, right? Bye-bye middle man or woman. Now maybe it is just me, but I felt there was little point in the lady being there to answer the phone if she isn't going to perform her job function. Few employers consider this a possible source of difficulty for the working man and woman trying to feed their family and not end up on the streets. The conflict is people need jobs and the economy needs services to function, even as more employers go the route of computers. People are better equipped to share resources simply for the fact they have been there.

One way to minimize the cost of living is going to stores like Aldis that actually offer the same or more for less money. General Dollar Stores can also come in handy, as some of them carry food, too. A consumer like you and me can buy twice as much for half the amount spent at corporate stores like Walmart. If a person is down and out, go to the local food pantries. They can be found at the Salvation Army and the churches. We all need to eat to live, so there's no shame in using the resources available.

I have also had to use Com Ed's budget billing program and a liheap grant to make it through the very cold winters around here. The budget billing program helps the consumer by mediating and distributing a big heating bill over the span of a few billing cycles. This lowers the immediate cost and the person doesn't develop hypothermia from the cold. However what doesn't lower the immediate costs of living are the rising prices of resources like oil and gas. It is little surprise if more people turn to resources like horses to get around and fireplaces to stay warm in the future. Yet is the price too high? Are we ready to chop down the cherry tree that gave us life in the first place? When the everyday working man and woman get sourced out along with the resources they need to survive on a daily basis, the cost of living is too high.