So, we got our Federal Stimulus Check yesterday.


It’s already deposited, and I skimmed a few hundred bucks off the top that we’re going to use for spending money on vacation at the end of August. Our contribution to revitalizing that American economy, I suppose.

Mrs. TriSec needs a new muffler; there’s a few hundred bucks there that’s going to a long-deferred repair, so I guess that’s going back into the economy too. I bet the repair shop will be glad to see it…I’d imagine there’s a lot of people in the same boat that have been deferring repairs because they can’t afford them.

I tell you though, it’s what I thought to do with the rest of the money that has really and truly upset me. We’re not buying any electronics…aside from throwing a few extra bucks at the credit card companies and some other bills, over the weekend I was thinking what I could do with this money.

So…I’m planning on heading for the supermarket. Maybe I can buy some bagels, we haven’t had them for breakfast in a long time. Or brand-name orange juice, so we don’t have to drink the bitter ‘from concentrate’ stuff for a few days. Maybe some better cuts of meat for a change from chuck or chicken thighs. Hell, even a bottle of spaghetti sauce instead of the 99-cent cans of Hunt’s we’ve been eating for years, or a pound of bacon for breakfast, or something other than bologna out of the deli….

This morning, when I was thinking about making a shopping list, I just got incredibly sad over the whole thing. We’re not starving, not by a long shot. But all those little things we once took for granted in our middle-class lifestyle have slowly become luxury items. So here I am, relying on a government handout so I can buy decent orange juice.

Where has America gone?