George Shirley wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
> > Cindi - HappyMamatoThree wrote:
> >> "Goomba38" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>> PeterLucas wrote:
> >>>> "kilikini" > wrote in
> >>>> :
> >>>>> My hubby makes about $14K a year and supports the both of us as best
> >>>>> he can. It can be done!
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Excuse the French but.......... ***** me*!!!
> >>>>
> >>>> Even with the exchange rate (it comes out to AUD$15,140.00) that is
> >>>> pathetic for the "supposed" #1 country in the world!!
> >>>>
> >>>> Our 23yo daughter is working for the State electricity Board. Just doing
> >>>> office work.
> >>>>
> >>>> She earns AUD$52,000.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> My advice.......... give the 'greatest country in the world' the flick
> >>>> and come to the "Lucky Country".
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> (Although they pay their ex-soldiers jack-shit........ it's just on 4
> >>>> times what TFM is making)
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> No wonder so many people in the US turn to crime.
> >>>>
> >>> I think you're getting a distorted or inaccurate impression of the US
> >>> society on the whole based on this family's unusual situation?
> >>>
> >>>
> >> I would have to agree. Each situation is so different in the US. The cost of
> >> living can differ from county to county, state to state, region to region.
> >> What we make in Northern California would be a fortune in Mississippi where
> >> we moved from. A cookie cutter house on a zero lot is still about the same
> >> price as a larger house on several acres in the area we transferred here
> >> from. It's so hard to make a judgement on a single person's experience.
> >> Though I have to agree, there is a huge gap in pay from job to job here in
> >> the U.S. Some fields pay an exorbitant amount for the job done, while those
> >> who are toiling every day in physical jobs make pennies.
> >>
> >> We learn to live with what we have though. Even if we do need a little help
> >> from outside sometimes. Being a single mom with a deadbeat ex was vary hard
> >> because I had to either work a job that my schedule met that of my children,
> >> or pay for childcare which saps a paycheck. Just saying, every situation is
> >> so different, it's like comparing apples and turnips.
> >
> > Exactly.
> >
> > This is the problem when folks outside the US, particularly those in
> > Europe look at any sort of blanket statistics for the US. They really
> > don't grasp how large and diverse the US is and how any given statistic
> > presents a very distorted appearance when you try to apply it to the
> > whole US.
> >
> > Some of their countries would fit into our larger states. If they were
> > to compare the US statistics to the same statistic applied to the whole
> > of Europe, including their problem areas, they would get a better
> > comparison. It just isn't really possible to get the true picture of the
> > US by looking at a statistic for the whole US.
> >
> > Looking state by state gives a more accurate picture. Even then, for the
> > larger US states you have to go by city since a large state may have one
> > really bad city that distorts the statistics, while the rest of the
> > state is great.
> >
> > Things like murder stats get really distorted since the stats may make a
> > state look dangerous when the reality is a 4 block area in one city in
> > that state accounts for most of the murders and the rest of the state
> > has virtually none.
> >
> > Recently one person from France was in Dallas, TX visiting and wanted to
> > visit Carlsbad Caverns just over the border into New Mexico... until he
> > was told that it was a 10 hour drive (and that's on 70-80 Mph highways).
> LOL! Reminds me of the New Yorker who stopped at a service station I
> worked at in Orange, Texas. After I filled up his car he asked if he
> could get to El Paso by lunch. You should have seen his jaw drop when I
> told him it was 830 miles to El Paso and he had better pack a lunch.
> This was in pre-interstate highway days and the route was old US Highway 90.
>
> It's not just people from outside the US, lots of folks in the eastern
> states have no idea how large some western states are.

Yep, though a New Yorker should have had some idea since NY is a rather
tall state and NYC to Buffalo isn't exactly a 5 minute drive.