Contractors and co-pays.

In the spirit of my Carpe Diem attitude lately, I've decided it's time to spend a bit of money. If we're doing the whole "full disclosure" thing-a-ma-jig, I guess I should say I'm spending more than a "bit" at the moment. But, it's worth it. I'm renovating an entire room on our first floor and it's beginning to take shape into exactly what I imagined. Here's the deal though: one of the carpenters working for us just had a baby. Awesome, right? Yeah. But here's the rough part: he was recently laid off from his full time job - and this was after buying a new home to start his nice new family life. I've been so rocked by the total sadness of this guy's situation that it hurts. He's a super-nice guy, hardworking, quiet...a simple, quiet man who is now searching high and low for work because he's one of the many catastrophes that's happening as a result of the economy taking a nosedive. This is the first real example I've experienced of the crappy economy. I've read about people losing their houses, their cars, their businesses in the newspapers. But to hear that this guy has a 2 week old baby and no health insurance??? I'm stunned to silence. And that just doesn't usually happen.

I'm lucky to have what I have and be where I am. I'm lucky for so many reasons and maybe for even meeting my carpenter. He has made me realize that small things - things like a $15 co-pay - are things for which to be thankful. Because his co-pays may take him years to payback.