[redwitch]

Gracie, for some, they could afford the Lexus when they bought/leased it but they couldn't afford being out of work for over a year. They couldn't afford major medical expenses. They couldn't afford the dot.com bust or the stock market crash.

I was a saver, even as a kid. Even my pennies squeaked before they were spent. Things I had no control over (illness, boarding school, a bout of unemployment) wiped me out financially. I've managed to survive without getting assistance but it hasn't been easy. I had one major advantage that a lot of others didn't -- I knew how to save my money and how to budget. It is amazing how many people truly don't know how to do that and I'm not just talking about my daughter's generation, I'm talking about baby boomers.

If you have no clue how to save, if you're used to being able to buy on impulse, then it is hard to recover when some real bad luck comes your way. So, I do understand my friend and her Lexus getting public assistance. I do understand that things happen. Some of us are better able to survive those things than others.