What I'm thankful for

I've been reading about the Great Depression, and I'm thankful I didn't live through that time. As we watch the market stumble, I think about the miners of Harlan County, Kentucky in the '30s, struggling to make $1 a day in script to be spent at the company store. One man recounted how he and his father had to ride their horses seven miles back and forth to the mine. Since the mine itself always had water pooled on the floor, they would come out with soaking wet feet. After riding home on a winter's evening, he would have to chip his father's feet out of the stirrups. I'm thankful I've never had to do that.

I'm thankful I never had to make the decision to send pigs to slaughter while the nation went hungry, in order to drive prices up so that farmers could make a living. I'm glad that I never had to foreclose on a family farm, or have my family farm foreclosed upon. I'm glad that I was never shot during a bloody union/manufacturer confrontation, like between the auto workers and Ford during the depression.

I'm glad I never had a bank fail, taking my hard-earned savings with it. I'm grateful I've never had to sell apples on the street corner. I'm glad I never had to qualify for a PWA job by proving I had at least a few teeth, upper and lower.

I'm grateful my German ancestors were allowed to immigrate here in the 1830s. I'm thankful I am allowed to read news that criticizes our government's economic policies. I'm glad I live in a country where I'm allowed to express my opinions, as wrong-headed as they may be. And I'm thankful that you readers have the same rights.

Happy Thanksgiving.