It starts slowly then begins to snowball. I’m noticing an increasing amount of unraveling around me and can’t determine if I’m being overly sensitive to it or if it is relating to the beginning of decline. Everything I’m noticing in itself is relatively minor, but within the past six months, I cannot help but begin to feel a sort of “death by 1000 papercuts.” The unraveling seems to be spreading, and each item represents an opportunity cost of time or
money that could be invested more productively but instead goes to the abyss of waste.
- Unpaid health benefits. My health insurance provider is Tricare, and I have never had much trouble using their system. However, recently my child contracted H1N1, and we had to take her for treatment several times and nothing has been reimbursed for months despite repeated attempts.
- Unpaid Veteran’s Administration benefits. I have been attempting to get a tuition reimbursement for nine months and have written dozens of letters and spent hours on the phone. Every call, I hear the same story that everything has been filed appropriately and that the tuition costs will be paid soon. The VA cites “increased workload” as the reason it has taken nine months to process something that normally takes 2 weeks.
- Public transportation outages. Instead of expanding with the population in NYC, public transportation lines have been reduced or eliminated making the system more crowded, less efficient, and far less reliable. The system is quickly becoming an overburdened relic, and I frequently remind myself that New York has not expanded the railway or bus system in several decades. Given the amount of bureaucracy, the idea of creating new subway lines is laughable and is never seriously contemplated given the problem of maintaining the current system.
- Increasing costs. I am noticing nearly everything in my neighborhood is rising slowly — from rice to soap. This steady creep upward feels like the toad being cooked slowly while the water temperature rises patiently over a long period of time. There are no spikes to cause an emergency, but everything just keeps rising gently and surely.
This is how it happens. Expenses don’t get reimbursed, so you eat the cost after giving up. Your landlord doesn’t fix a lock because it’s too expensive, so somebody breaks in to your apartment. An unexpected transportation outage makes you late for work and you lose your job. The water pump goes on your car and what used to cost $200 two years ago now costs $750. Everything adds up to a point where if faced with a true emergency, you are immobile and incapable of responding. So, what happens if there’s another spike in oil prices and suddenly EVERYTHING gets effected? No longer is it just happening to you, but to the entire world. Are you ready?
Are we running out of time? Nearly everyday I am noticing something new declining that I used to take for granted – mostly minor, but some alarming.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I haven’t noticed anything different with my “health benefits” because my job has never provided any. In that regard, there’s nothing to unravel. I’m already at the bottom. Fortunately, I’m in good health. Like an old Filipino guy once told me, “My health is my wealth.” He was right, and I’m thankful for mine.
For transportation I drive my gas-guzzling van 16 miles round trip to and from work 4 nights a week. It’s a short commute without much traffic so I don’t really spend much time burning gas and money while going nowhere. I may not have a Prius or SmartCar, but I’m also not sitting on the highway for an hour because I live 50 miles away (or more)from my job. When the weather gets better I’ll start biking it again, or maybe get a 50cc scooter. My van is not efficient for urban commuting, but it’s paid for and I can fill it with a fair amount of supplies, including a cot, in case I have nowhere else to sleep. In that sense, I’m ready. In matters of food prep and debt elimination, I am not. Thanks for repeatedly nudging me in the right direction.
I too have noticed the increasing costs in my neighborhood. I’m not surprised because I expected them, but it still stings when I’m checking out at the grocery store. It’s becoming painfully more obvious how dependent I am on money for my next meal, and how useless that money will be if those store shelves become empty.
Your post calls to mind that old “For want of a nail…” proverb. I’m always impressed by how one guy with a flat tire can shut down 20 miles of I-5 for hours, throwing an unexpected twist into the lives of thousands of people. It takes next to no time in the chain reaction before a lot of people are pissed off and freaking out over something quite minor. If something major happens that’s affecting everyone, I expect people to get real nasty, real quick. I will never eat my own house pets, for example, but in a given situation, my neighbor might. The reality of sitting here typing peacefully on my computer can be easily shattered by a single bullet crashing through the window next to my head. I’m not expecting that, but I am if need be prepared to shoot back. An ugly truth, but a truth nonetheless.
I think I am too sensitive to it, and have to avoid the internet as much as I can.
I have spent the last 15 years or so collecting tools and useful things so that I will have something useful to do no matter what happens. Growing food, fixing things, the rest is just entertainment.
Noone is secure if their neighbor is hungry. Healthcare schmelthcare: we better start growing more flowers and herbs.