He came to work for us today(wife loves to organize things in cabinets :)). He told me the situation is bad even here in Seattle(as opposed to what we hear that things are still good here). He asked me to just checkout the workers line near Home depot every morning (even in -6 degrees celcius). Many of his friends have been kicked out of their homes and his income fell by more than 20%. At his income level 20% is perhaps low in absolute terms but its substantial hit in every department of expenditure. He also pays more than I would pay for his apartment, because he has no credit history. Some of his friends are working night shifts, repairing roads in this cold weather. Perhaps they work in night so that we don't get stuck in jams during the day.
He also had an appendix surgery that cost him 12k (paying in installment, so more due to interest). He has no insurance because he is undocumented and because he is undocumented he has not visited his home country for last ten years. He tells me the situation in his home country is bad, very bad. They recently shutdown their free healthcare too. We joked that the only difference between him and me was that my "boss" was able to pay for my documents.
He and his wife also had a baby recently. My best wishes are with them.
PS: ....and for my new friend I dedicate this song
http://www.yesmagazine.org/audio/musicpicks/48Wanderer.mp3
Lyrics here
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