Middle-Class Blues… can you feel me?

I been in a tad bit of a funk for a couple days now, I suspect it was brought on by the fact that elder boy who is a high school junior revealed his list of colleges he in interested in attending. I asked him to start with a list of 10 schools, now he is nowhere near ready to make a career choice but he likes writing and theatre so I suggested some good liberal arts programs. The list he presented included schools like Oberlin, NYU, Colgate, University of Vermont and some other fine institutions. Well being a parent and the person who will need to pay a good chunk of the bills, I decided to look at the websites for these schools and get an idea of how much they costs.

Why did I do that? I swear I have had a case of heartburn ever since, the cheapest school on his list with room and board and since he can’t commute 4 hours each day to Vermont is $27,000 tution alone plus with room and board almost $40,000. Gulp… The other schools average between $48,000-51,000 annually with room and board. Um, hello… When the fuck did college get so high? Shit, fours years at any of these schools will make the $100,000 in students loans I have for both my BA and M.Ed seem like chump change.

Now for a moment a sista was wondering if she should rethink her position on plastic surgery and go get a boob job and tummy tuck and start a new career as a stripper. I’m almost 36 yet most folks still think I look 25 (thank you Mama for the genes you gave me) maybe a side gig of stripping and damn maybe even a little sumthing sumthing extra will get elder boy’s college paid.

Nah, too old for that plus the spousal unit didn’t like that idea. I quickly nixed robbing banks since robbers never get much and you get caught and then you do 10 years in a federal prison. Bad idea as I am claustrophobic.

Instead once I calmed down and did some more research, I realized that since elder boy is a product of my first marriage that the ex and I will have to split costs and since ex-spousal man doesn’t earn a ton, that might bode well in dear son’s favor when it comes to financial aid. On the other hand I don’t earn a ton either but according to all the stats we are still solidly middle class, which I suspect will mean that the gubment will assume I can pay something on his education. Truth is I am middle class but broke as hell, shit since moving to Maine, I stay broke. Some days I want to be poor just so I can get some help, a friend of mine is going through a nasty divorce she was a stay at home Moms for years married to a man who earned 6 figures. Well now that they have split he is playing nasty and my girl who has two young kids had to turn to state aid in the short run. She called me the other days when she got her food stamp card and I will be honest for a second I wish I had a food stamp card. I know that’s bad but its how I feel.

All this to say what happened to the middle class in this country? its like we are a dying breed, i mean who thinks middle class folks can afford to send their kids to college for 50G a year… hello??? If you had that kinda scratch, what would you be doing for retirement?

Seriously at times it feels like there is no profit in hard work anymore in this country, you work hard and what do you get? Jack-shit.. As for the son, he will go to college, I suspect in the end his well off granny (my lovely ex-mother in law and I actually mean that) will probably make a sizeable contribution since she loves him to death and he is her only grandchild. Otherwise you might see a paypal button on this blog soon seeking donations to send elder boy to college so I don’t have to be an almost middle age stripper. LOL

On a different note, tonight’s the night.. time to see Sarah show us what she is working with. Am I the only person amped to see this train wreck? Hopefully mini-me will go to bed early.

5 thoughts on “Middle-Class Blues… can you feel me?”

  1. Hi blackgirlinmaine,

    The middle class has been sucked up by the ‘gubment’ to pay for the AIG, Lehman Brothers, Wa-Mu, etc. CEO retirement funding. Pretty interesting that we went from a surplus under Clinton to 10,000,000,000,000 dollar deficit under Bush.

    If we had that money, we could spend a million dollars a day for over 27,000 years.

    Like your blog. 🙂

  2. Ugh, the plague of the middle class. We make too much to qualify for assistance, but are too cash poor to afford shyt. Have a serious talk with your son about his choices. I remember being his age and having lofty thoughts about college, until the price (way cheaper then) hit me in the face. Encourage him to go to a small, local college for his undergrad degree and for grad school, he can go grand! He’s chosen some very nice schools, but they come with nice price tags. Depending on what his major is, the dollar/ cost factor might not be worth it.
    Peace mama and I pray it all works out for yall.

  3. I feel you, I was wondering this morning what is classified as middle class today especially since its seems more and more are disappearing into poverty at a rapid rate!

    I am so glad that most of my education was paid for based on my academic scholarship, if I would have know how much living on campus would cost me I NEVER would HAVE DONE IT my freshman year. Once I realized that if I lived off campus, did work study and took a job in the summers I could live in an apartment that WAS much cheaper than what universities’ charged, I racked up basically no debt and if I hadn’t taken that extra semester that my scholarship didn’t cover, I’d be free from my student loan debt. As it goes now I should be paying it off this year (but it’s the last loan I’m worried about *lol* as it has the lowest interest rate in the world)

    I am so interested in seeing what Sarah gonna make this debate do!! I really do want to know. *lol*

    -OG

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