I'm not suggesting anyhow that deadbeats should be excused for what might merely be a lackadaisical attitude on their part, or that children of divorced parents should not have the best lives possible in their circumstances, but I can say this; this "economic downturn," as it is so politely referred to, is going to be hell on all the men out there who, like myself, are obligated to pay child support. The job situation isn't getting any better, and probably won't, if the experts predictions are right, until at least the second half of 2009. By that point, many fathers who have made their efforts to be responsible, only to somehow come up short continually, will either be hauled off in the "bracelets," or so squeezed financially that nothing else will ever become of them. To make matters worse, if the Wayne County Friend of the Court is any indicator of the way the divorce court system operates nationwide, well.....let's just say the word "inaccessible" hardly covers the state of affairs a lot of men face in dealing with these entities. I'm talking, not only can you not get through on the phone to talk to a real person, the fax machine is either off the hook or continually busy. I think I've only gotten through to an actual Wayne County Friend of the Court representative once in the whole time I have been divorced, and I can't honestly say I was truly helped in my concern. I don't know if the staff of organizations such as these is female, and primarily "anti-man," or if they figure this is just a job. Either way, given the shape I'm in currently, my arrearage, though I won't speak in specific figures, is obscene and won't go away anytime soon; obscene, like, "I can't even figure out how I got to such a number." I can only pray for the grace of God and the courts, because apparently my situation isn't going to resolve itself any time soon.

And dare I mention what the state of affairs regarding care of the elderly in such circumstances is going to do?! If I'm obligated to do my part, because my father's emotional, physical and mental conditions render him unable to be left to his own devices any longer, if "long term care facilities," charging $2-3,000+ are month are the norm, forcing people like my should-be-retired-and-enjoying-life stepmother to go back to work in the name of looking after family, and her own husband, things are so dramatically amiss in this country, that it would take nothing short of what Anthropologists refer to as a "dieback," where a swollen population is culled by disease, famine or other mitigating factors, to get to the point where the earth can save itself. Something like the Bubonic Plague all over again, except by virtue of typhoons, wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, mudslides and other acts of God. Old Testament God. If you see Noah, get-your-a*s-on-the-Ark God. Yeah. Stay tuned.