I blame lack of parenting.
Anyway, the implications of this shut down are far-reaching and there were many articles yesterday about how the shutdown will affect the average American. Interestingly, there was a blurb in one of the articles that caught my eye:
Twenty-eight poison ivy-eating goats were removed from the Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey after their owner became worried that a government shutdown would shutter the park where the goats had been recruited to eat the pesky weed, according to the Asbury Park Press. The goats had been a “tremendous hit” with parkgoers, the president of the Sandy Hook Foundation told the paper.
WHAT?? UNEMPLOYED GOATS????? This has gone too far already.
Kudos to NJ for using non-chemical methods to control things like poison ivy, and double kudos on finding goats who will eat the stuff, because mine won't go near it with a 10 foot pole. But now unemployed? People! Something's got to be done.
As I'm pretty sure sarcasm doesn't come across in writing too well, let me say this in all seriousness: In a time when most people (76%) are living paycheck to paycheck, essentially "laying off"--even temporarily--thousands of workers is a big freaking deal. If this thing lasts a week, these people lose 1/4 of their monthly pay, as there's no plan in place currently (from what I've read) to pay them back what they're missing. Ouch. I have to imagine that's got to hurt everyone hit by this, and my heart absolutely goes out to everyone. I hope that there will be a speedy end to this for all our sakes.
Dear Congress,
Get your shit together and play nicely.
Ok? Ok.
Sincerely,
