I interviewed my father for this assignment. He was born and raised in Poland and moved to the US 27yrs ago. He has served in the military and worked many jobs (a jack of all trades,) and has been through a few hardships in his life as well as seen many as well. He is a critical man, very to the point, and has a great working knowledge on many things, though sometimes I think his points of view are sometimes out-dated.

What do you think when you see where the US is right now, with the financial situation and just the way life is now in 2009 so far?
I think it’s the fact that people don’t think very far ahead, the most maybe a week. They think that if I have money now it will not go away; it’s the thought process of a bird, a pigeon. They think of what they need today, but not what they WILL need in the future, or how today can affect tomorrow. It’s not about being cheap or a penny pincher, it’s just simple saving up, using good judgment on what you buy, and never settle for one price at one place, look around, research other stores. Having the $500 from marshal fields is not smart when you can get the same jacket somewhere else for $200 lets say or even cheaper. That’s dumb impulse buying. We never had all the things that are around now. The toys for kids, the type of cars, even the food. But we made due with what we did have and survived; I was never picky or would complain about this or that. When I was little, we didn’t have a deli on every corner, or a bakery. When my mom would bake bread we had that bread for a while, and once in a great while we would have sausage, and I would cut a little piece off so my parents would not notice because it was not widely available then and you had to have a butcher make it for you. When I would go to school I would take a piece of bread, dip it in some water, and sprinkle some sugar on it. “Mmm...” that was good then, a treat even. Even in the stores, you didn’t have this many choices of meats, bread, anything, that you do now. But now, people don’t value that.

You think people, even in the financial crisis, don’t value or respect what they have?
I remember one year I went to work on a project, a construction project. I had to move to live on the site in these barrack type buildings. These were not the trailers that are around now with electric heaters and insulated to the extreme. No, the barracks we stayed in were double panel wood structures; a panel outside and a panel inside, with a 5in gap in between, and straw for insulation. Inside was a single wood burning stove that was our only heat source. And no hot showers, unless you heated up a bucket of water. We had to dress warm and eat right. That was how I spent that winter. Now people want to heat their homes beyond what is smart and later complain that their bills are so high and expensive. They complain that 65 or 70 degrees is to cold, YOU even complain sometimes that it is to cold inside. But people want to have summer inside and wear shorts all year round inside their homes, and again don’t think that this will make my bills jump up.
I think that everybody is spoiled now, with all they technology and innovations, some are good but others too much excess. It caused people today to be whiney and complain about everything, not to mention people now get sicker much easier and faster. Times were simpler before and sometimes a little harder but it made us strong and resilient. You think I got sick that winter. People need to see that everything will not always go their way and times will be tough and they will need to be strong and weather it and think ahead for the future and not just about today. And most important, being able to help others out, not just your self.