I always do the deepest thinking in the bathtub. Probably because I get really quiet and there are no distractions. Now that I’m all squeaky clean and smell like pears I can tell you what I was thinking about. Money!

I got a lot of crap last year when the water main burst in my house and I didn’t have $10,000+ on hand to cover the immediate expenses. The plumbing not covered by insurance for starters without getting into the costs of being displaced from my home for almost a month during repairs and all the little things which add up in major unexpected home repairs.

In all honesty, it’s not until today that I sat back and really questioned how realistic it is for most Americans to handle a major unexpected expense like that. I was so caught up in the stress and overwhelm of the year long struggle that I didn’t have time to question how many people would be able to handle a similar situation much better than I did.

As I started thinking about it I realized that there are tons of responsible, working people who can’t handle getting a brake job in an emergency not to talk about thousands of dollars. I’m not on a liberal rant about income inequity, though it is an issue. I’m more talking about the reality that many of us face. The shame and guilt began to shed away as I really let in the fact that a situation like I was in would wipe out the life savings of some while it would be an impossible situation for others.

Those who shamed and guilted me are in positions of being able to handle such an incident without much hardship. Not a reality for the vast majority of us.

Alas, I did some Googling to see what average savings are like for Americans in 2020. I haven’t fact checked the source I’m posting because it is in line with all of the information I’ve seen and heard for decades. https://spendmenot.com/blog/american-savings-statistics/ When I read that the median savings is less than $5,000 for a family my heart sank. I am in the majority. How very sad that most of us wouldn’t be able to handle an emergency.

I’m sitting here with a mixed bag of feelings now. I’m a bit more frustrated at those who shamed and blamed me, while being sad that there are so many others just like me.