One full time, one part-time I can see someone doing for fun or a little extra cash. It's the multiple full time positions that are un-fun.

No, you sigh and say "Well, payday is Friday... we're getting by." I know this game...don't like it but I know it. And I would rather give blow jobs for money than get food stamps again. So mortifying. Last time I got $65.00 month and got fingerprinted too.

One full time, one part-time I can see someone doing for fun or a little extra cash. It's the multiple full time positions that are un-fun.

And the multiple-part time, too.

Americans really don't talk about money, even among people in the same income group.

I grew up in a family that was strangely open about money and finances (well, the last 2 generations. Above that, they got quite squirrely, so much so that unravelling estates was a pain. Which is probably part of the cause.) So not the norm. I had to learn to keep my mouth shut when I was younger after being told repeatedly I was being rude to ask (not by my family, other people.) Or weirder, when I'd volunteer info. It's strange to me. But I'm an outlier and I know it.

would we feel as comfortable reporting our salaries to each other? Nooooo.

No shit. I somehow always manage to be self-conscious about it. Four people (outside of HR and my boss) know my salary (and I'm self-conscious about that), and two of them are my parents.

What PMM said. A lot of people have a second job that's really more of a hobby -- teaching evening classes, creating crafts for sale, that sort of thing. Getting paid for your pleasures is great, so I suppose some professional doms qualify. But having to work 120 hours a week just to keep up with the bills? Brutal.

I was raised not to ask how much money the family had; "we're comfortable". Which is what I tell my children, too. "We're very comfortable, but we're not so rich we don't have to work." Numbers? No.

I may add that every raise or bonus I've gotten has come with a warning not to tell anybody else, but that's because of intra-work competition and the boss not wanting to hear "Why didn't I get one, too?"

I work 2 jobs, only partially for money. That is, if I didn't want to keep my very low paying theatre job, I would look for a better "day job" and just quit the theatre. However, I do need the money of both jobs, so in order to live.

Sigh. My dinner plans just fell through. Anyone want to go to dinner tonight?

Can you clarify this sentence? How do you define exceptionalist, and are you saying you're one in your culture, but not your brain?

"Exceptionalist" means seeing America as a city on a hill, a new kind of country that liberates instead of conquering and offers opportunity instead of class limits and generally operates like no other country has before. That's why Bush thinks he doesn't have to worry about the country taking on the trappings of empire or totalitarianism. America's just not going to be like other countries -- it's special.

I was raised never doubting this, but now I do. That doesn't keep me from living like the American I grew up to be, though. I still value things like productivity, frugality, motherhood and apple pie even though I understand whose interests they really serve. I can't help that. So when Bush makes a speech about apple pie it resonates on some level no matter how cynical I get.