growing up, my parents busted their asses to keep food on the table for my brother, sister, and i; and later, to put all three of us through college.

oh man, there were rough times. i'm talking about mom working mon-sat (and sometimes sun.), working obscene hours, 6-7am to 7-9pm or later.. dad doing whatever he could to help her, also working construction before it proved too difficult for his back.. working in a paper factory, then going to school himself to better our lives (he managed to get his bachelor's and master's degrees while we were growing up). of course, they were 1st generation immigrants (came here in '76), so they had to learn english before all else.

they didn't actually purchase their own home until i was already in college. even so, it was bought cheap, because it needed a lot of work. fortunately, after my first year, i was able to cover all tuition, room & board, with loans and a few grants, for the rest of my college career.

there's a reason why i learned as much about the mechanics of cars as i did. we couldn't afford to pay for repairs, so we had to do everything ourselves. i spent many hours working with dad on all kinds of stuff.. transmission swap, clutch swap, brake jobs, fixing busted water pumps, whatever.. he didn't do it for fun, he did it because we needed the money. i do it now because i enjoy working on cars, not because i can't afford to pay someone. it's probably because it reminds me of the time i spent with dad.

i also remember wearing my brother's hand-me-downs, or clothes donated by some of my mom's clients.

fortunately, mom's hours are now a little more sane, and my dad works as a computer consultant/technician while still assisting mom. though i'd still like to see it even easier for them.

anyway, i guess after my parents having busted their asses, and myself having busted my ass to get through school, and find a job, and now that i have one that pays fairly well, it's only fair that i get taxed even more so that it can be poorly spent on bullshit programs and things that i don't agree with? no thanks! :airon: