“To be honest, I’m kind of looking for the home run,” said
Christopher Priga, who is 54 and has not had steady work since he lost
a job with a six-figure income as an electrical engineer at Xerox
in 2002. “There’s no point in hitting for base hits,” he explained.
“I’ve been down the road where I did all the things I was supposed to
do, and the end result of that is nil.”
Instead, Mr. Priga
supports himself by borrowing against the rising value of his Los
Angeles home. Other men fall back on wives or family members.
Are these guys out of their ever-lovin’ minds? What’s going to
happen to their families when they keel over dead in year or two, and
leave no savings or a house that’s upside-down on its mortgage?
Some friggin’ breadwinners these guys are. Don’t bring anyone
like this to meet me; I’d slap him silly.
I guess we now have a new demographic region running through the middle of the country: the Shiftless Belt.
Tip from the pinch-hitters at the Instapundit.
Update (2 August). Here’s where this shiftlessness leads:
it would be unwise to abandon the work ethic, because once we have
enough money to satisfy basic needs, such as food and health, what
makes us happy is not the money but the activities we engage in to get
it.
The Random Texan 
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