Our country is a hot mess right now. It has been for a couple years, but these past five weeks have been particularly nightmarish. The government shutdown affects us all, though it’s quite clear that some folks don’t see it that way. It’s like throwing a pebble in a pond. There’s the impact zone (in this case, the workers not being paid because of the shutdown), and then there are the countless ripples that extend outward, endlessly (which in this case is the rest of us). That’s the way this shutdown works. For those of you who don’t understand this concept and think that the workers not being paid should just “deal with it” or “get other jobs for now,” let me explain it to you.

First of all, no one wants to work for free. Yes, they MIGHT get back-pay, though not all of them will, but that doesn’t help them NOW. And for those who don’t get back-pay, they’ve just given away all these weeks of work, weeks of their lives, for nothing. Is that something you would want to do? Go to work day after day, week after week and receive no money for it? Would you just shrug and “deal with it?” I highly doubt it. Besides that, it costs money to get to work. Whether it’s fuel for your vehicle, bus or train fare, you have to pay to get to the job that you’re now working for free. So you’re actually going in the hole to provide free labor for your government. Sound fair to you?

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s move on.

When you get paid, you spend money on necessities like rent, groceries, electric, cable, phone, water, trash, and gas. Then, you spend money on luxuries like eating out, buying new clothes, going to the movies, and taking vacations. When you don’t get paid, you don’t have the option of paying your bills, buying your groceries, seeing a movie, eating out, etc. Not only does this suck for you, but it sucks for everyone else.

Pay attention, folks. This is where that ripple effect comes into play.

If you can’t pay your rent, your landlord is short on money and now can’t pay his or her mortgage on the building. Now you’re both screwed. When you can’t go out to eat, the single mother working for tips makes less money than usual–which wasn’t quite enough to begin with–so now her children don’t get all the school supplies they need or a new pair of shoes because they’ve outgrown the old pair. Now there’s a bunch of people who are screwed. The restaurants that depend on the income from those workers eating out have lost the income they depend on and now have to lay off their own workers to try to balance things out. They also have to close the restaurants early because their bills are out-weighing their income. The people working for free have children that go to daycare. Those daycare centers aren’t being paid, so now THEY have bills that are going past due. That’s right. Now the daycare providers are working for free. Are you starting to get it? Are you starting to see how this shutdown affects us all?

I’ve seen some folks post online that the workers should’ve had enough money saved up to live on. To that I say ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME?! Do YOU have a few months’ worth of income saved up? No. No you do not. The majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. We’re pretty much all one major illness away from bankruptcy. But we’ll remember that if something ever happens to YOUR job. We’ll remind you that you can just live off your savings.

There are almost a million workers not being paid by the government during this shutdown. But there are so many more people hurting because of it.

That’s why I’m offering any furloughed worker affected by the shutdown a free ebook. Just send me an email at kimberlyabettes at yahoo dot com and I’ll send you an ebook. If there’s one you prefer, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll send you one at random. It’s the least I can do. I can’t open the government. I can’t get your paycheck for you. But I can help take your mind off your troubles for a bit.