How's the partial federal government shutdown affecting you?

[DopeyDame]

I’m confused by the assumption on this thread that the only two options seem to be:
1. “Fed has tons of savings and will happily miss paychecks indefinitely”
Or
2. “Fed will be destitute and homeless as of 1/12/19.”

Clearly, even people with savings to get through a few months find this unacceptable and stressful. The occupants of the white house just said the shutdown could last months or years. How would you feel if your boss told you that? Would you be comfortable planning your next Disney trip not knowing when they paychecks would arrive? How would you deal with college financial aid applications? Would you consider looking for another job?

 

[Hikergirl]

I’m confused by the assumption on this thread that the only two options seem to be:
1. “Fed has tons of savings and will happily miss paychecks indefinitely”
Or
2. “Fed will be destitute and homeless as of 1/12/19.”

Clearly, even people with savings to get through a few months find this unacceptable and stressful. The occupants of the white house just said the shutdown could last months or years. How would you feel if your boss told you that? Would you be comfortable planning your next Disney trip not knowing when they paychecks would arrive? How would you deal with college financial aid applications? Would you consider looking for another job?

LOL, so now people are believing what the occupants of the WH say.

I don't think anyone has suggested Federal workers aren't stressing about this.
Apparently here on the DIS if you don't believe that everyone effected is on the verge of being homeless without the next paycheck you aren't seeing the reality of the situation. And if you want to discuss those who may be in that situation due to their own financial irresponsibility you are a cold heartless monster who can't have compassion for those in the first group, who are struggling through no fault of their own.
But that is par for the course here, emotions usually dominate discussions.

 

[luvsJack]

LOL, so now people are believing what the occupants of the WH say.

I don't think anyone has suggested Federal workers aren't stressing about this.
Apparently here on the DIS if you don't believe that everyone effected is on the verge of being homeless without the next paycheck you aren't seeing the reality of the situation. And if you want to discuss those who may be in that situation due to their own financial irresponsibility you are a cold heartless monster who can't have compassion for those in the first group, who are struggling through no fault of their own.
But that is par for the course here, emotions usually dominate discussions.

Oh please, do not get it twisted.

There are people who make a comfortable amount of money, who have savings and who will be able to get through a time without their paycheck. They are still affected by this shut down. They are still in a state of concern and worry because they don’t know how long this will go.

There are people who are furloughed whose spouse makes enough to support them and mostly they will just take the time off and hope they get back pay but they will survive.

There are those who have a plan. They can take the time off and do other jobs to make up the pay and continue on but will be glad to get back to their regular job.

And there are those that will be hit the hardest. That do not have savings because they don’t make enough to have savings. Sadly these are the ones who are furloughed and aren’t likely to get back pay so yes, this shut down is going to hit them hard. Hopefully they can get other work but situations of their lives can make that hard too.

And somewhere in there are the ones that could have saved and didn’t. But you know what, those are the ones that aren’t likely to see the error of their ways. They will borrow money or use credit cards or whatever they do and come out smelling like a rose. So what exactly is the point of discussing them if not to try and make it seem that this is everyone’s situation?



It’s this thought that some (not saying you) seem to have that everyone should have the exact same situation that they do in their life that some of us have an objection to.


And besides ALL of these people are being affected by this ridiculous power struggle. And most in a very negative way.

Twice it has been said “no one has missed a paycheck yet”. Great! But a lot of these people are paid by the hour. Guess what? If they haven’t worked the hours, they are looking at the next pay period being, at best, incredibly short. And that is besides the fact that not all federal jobs are on the same pay schedule which has been said but ignored because it doesn’t fit the narrative of “everyone will be fine”.

And incidentally, since the one you laugh at believing is the one with the strongest pull in this tug of war and the other side isn’t likely to release their pull, why would you not believe that person? Besides I would imagine that if you were the one whose paycheck just went “poof” you would be concerned with what he said too. Hopeful he is wrong , but worried just the same.

 

[Starwind]

I kinda see a point in closing the parks since there will be no one there to collect the trash but I don't understand why government web pages that present static data are purposefully turned off during shutdowns. The only reason to do that is to try and make the shutdown more painful for the tax payers. Seems contrary to the government serving the citizens.

Web pages are run on servers, those servers use electricity and other technical, financial, and human resources which may not be available during the shutdown because they are not deemed essential, so they are shut down.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

United Way made an online game/tool to help people who are NOT normally in Life Situations realize WHYYYYYYY Life is So Hard In Poverty:

http://makethemonth.ca/

Yes it's Canadian based but take a look...

 

[LSUmiss]

LOL, so now people are believing what the occupants of the WH say.

I don't think anyone has suggested Federal workers aren't stressing about this.
Apparently here on the DIS if you don't believe that everyone effected is on the verge of being homeless without the next paycheck you aren't seeing the reality of the situation. And if you want to discuss those who may be in that situation due to their own financial irresponsibility you are a cold heartless monster who can't have compassion for those in the first group, who are struggling through no fault of their own.
But that is par for the course here, emotions usually dominate discussions.

I think the overwhelming responses on this thread are b/c ppl are sick of the “blaming the victim” phenomenon that has been happening more & more. Then ppl label this as “personal responsibility” so that makes it further insulting to the victim.
...if you’re the victim of natural disaster, well you shouldn’t live there
...if you’re the victim of a crime, well you should have been paying more attention
...if you’re furloughed or working without pay, well you should have expected it and/or have enough $ that it doesn’t bother you
...if you’re sexually assualted, you shouldn’t have been there or wearing that

Etc.

Like a pp said, even if you have savings, the uncertainty of not knowing when all this nonsense will end just sucks. And why is it that some ppl can’t just empathize & say that sucks without having to add the “but”.

 

[portocall]

It is affecting me because my husband works for an agency that is funded by an unfunded part of the government. Because there is no end in sight I have reduced spending on anything but essentials. We do have savings but most were depleted due to two hospital stays last year for two members of my family. 10K+ gone faster than snapping my fingers. (Both were just unfortunate events. Came out of nowhere) We are working on refunding it but that takes time and I am not sure how much time we have. Therefore, we are on a "we are poor" diet of beans and rice this week. I just refused several birthday party invitations because I don't want to buy a gift. I cut off all subscription services. (Bye Netflix and Hulu) Anything that can be put off, is. That said, we have some savings and we aren't close to poverty (even though we have paired down our lifestyle) but our local economy will feel our cutbacks when joined with others. I am fortunate to have a little notice to prepare. If we were already living barebones I would probably be even more anxious.

 

[Dancind]

Even if you are perfect and have saved money, don't work for the Government etc etc, this shutdown will affect you eventually in a negative way. It just will. For some families and local economies it will be devastating.

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

 

[Kitty 34]

Even if you are perfect and have saved money, don't work for the Government etc etc, this shutdown will affect you eventually in a negative way. It just will. For some families and local economies it will be devastating.

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

My son is an Air Traffic Controller......he doesn't have the option of calling in sick in "protest"; he just isn't scheduled to work period.

 

[skyblue17]

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

This seems a little premature. I keep an eye on the JFK security times and they don't seem abnormally long (5-20 minutes all day today, which seems reasonable given it's JFK). I think most would rather wait in a long security line than cancel travel?

I do hope they find some resolution to this in the next week though because air travel being slowed significantly and increasingly is not a going to be good for anyone or anything.

 

[dish rag]

Even if you are perfect and have saved money, don't work for the Government etc etc, this shutdown will affect you eventually in a negative way. It just will. For some families and local economies it will be devastating.

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

Last night they had twice the number working than I usually see. Many were standing around with nothing to do.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Even if you are perfect and have saved money, don't work for the Government etc etc, this shutdown will affect you eventually in a negative way. It just will. For some families and local economies it will be devastating

I agree it's going to indirectly affect a lot more people than just government employees. I'm already feeling bad for anyone who planned to visit the Smithsonian or Nat'l Zoo. (We were just there in April, and had such a great time!) And belt-tightening by any group affects the economy.

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

I wouldn't go so far as to cancel a trip, just leave more extra time than usual to get through the airport.

We actually flew on 12/22 and 12/30, for a trip that had been booked long before.

On the 22nd, we didn't notice any longer than a normal wait, but we did have a particularly grumpy TSA person complaining about "kids these days". I'm assuming there hadn't been that many kids through the line by 8:00 in the morning, and that they were really stressed about the shutdown instead.

On the 30th, we did have a brief delay because someone in front of us was having a problem with documents, but I don't know whether it was related to the shutdown or not. There was only one person working both sides of the podium, though, calling us up from alternate lines. (A little further on, however, I and about 3 others were sent through the regular old metal detector instead of the new super scanner, and I'm assuming that was to keep the line moving without too much back-up.)

Not getting into the politics of the situation, but how is the federal government shutdown personally affecting DIS'ers?

Other than the above, just that I'm waiting to go get DS a new passport, as I'm assuming they aren't processing them right now.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There was only one person working both sides of the podium, though, calling us up from alternate lines.

That's nothing abnormal at my home airport.

Presently the airport is broken up into multiple security checkpoints feeding directly in specific gates.

I don't know if it's still this way but I'll assume it is but last year or the year before they moved the TSA precheck to one gate area rather than have pre-check in the same lines as others. But when it was in the same lines as others it wasn't abnormal to see 1 person taking from TSA pre-check line then the next person from the regular line and so on. Ideally they would have two people.

I've seen this at other airports too and not just for pre-check vs non either.

That said it's still entirely possible they were double-tasking the TSA agents at your airport if they are experiences shorting in staff members.

 

[DisneyOma]

As I have said I understand exceptions but do not understand the lack of planning.

So, looking at your photo, two parents, two kids. Here's a scenario I'd like to know if you have planned for: Your spouse dies, you get laid off, and one of your kids gets diagnosed with cancer. Because you are laid off, you have no health insurance, and now the kid's cancer is a pre-existing condition.

Life insurance would probably cover a good chunk of expenses for a while, but it wouldn't last forever. So, what's the plan?

 

[mnrose]

Even if you are perfect and have saved money, don't work for the Government etc etc, this shutdown will affect you eventually in a negative way. It just will. For some families and local economies it will be devastating.

Cancel your travel if it's in the next few days. TSA and Air Traffic Controllers are calling in sick. I've seen some photos of security lines today and they are horrific.

That's where I'm likely to feel it first. Lines TODAY scare the crap out of me, and it is statistically the lowest travel season of the year. I can't imagine what those lines will be like when travel picks up. My friend returned from an overseas trip and the customs line was so long they just gave up and let everyone through without screening. Yes, that makes sense. I feel so much safer, don't you?

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

Just wanted to send for those affected. The last thing anyone needs in this situation is judgement as to how they might or might not run their lives. Hope this ends soon.

 

[skyblue17]

That's where I'm likely to feel it first. Lines TODAY scare the crap out of me, and it is statistically the lowest travel season of the year. I can't imagine what those lines will be like when travel picks up. My friend returned from an overseas trip and the customs line was so long they just gave up and let everyone through without screening. Yes, that makes sense. I feel so much safer, don't you?

Can you share which airport this happened at? Given how long customs lines can be, I'd think something like this would have made at least social media but there doesn't appear to be any kind of report on it.

 

[Dentam]

.

 

[mnrose]

Can you share which airport this happened at? Given how long customs lines can be, I'd think something like this would have made at least social media but there doesn't appear to be any kind of report on it.

Houston (IAH).

It was on social media because it happened to my friend. You can see it on the CBP website which reports details on wait times, which at one point rose to 193 minutes. Imagine that. 193 minutes is over 3 hours. That's absurd. As my friend reported, it was cleared by simply opening the gates and letting people through. After a long international flight, the last thing you want to do is wait 193 minutes to clear customs (after waiting in line at immigration). I can't share her photo because it is hers and set to private.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Houston (IAH).

It was on social media because it happened to my friend. You can see it on the CBP website which reports details on wait times, which at one point rose to 145 minutes. Imagine that. 145 minutes is nearly 2.5 hours. That's absurd. As my friend reported, it was cleared by simply opening the gates and letting people through. After a long international flight, the last thing you want to do is wait 145 minutes to clear customs (after waiting in line at immigration). I can't share her photo because it is hers and set to private.

I'm geniunely interested in this cuz that's crazy. I mean I know when we went through customs in orlando coming back from jamaica they were using facial recognition which took zero time at all. But letting everyone just go through? Crazy.

Do you happen to have some links regarding the incident so that I can look at it? I'm not finding anything but my searching skills may be lacking at the moment

What day was it? I looked on the website and they only had wait times that I could find up until 1/4/19 but I could have totally been looking in the wrong place.