My Friend Jack

The American dream has turned into a nightmare that we can't seem to wake up from.

24 million have gone from from 'thriving' to 'struggling.'

The aspirations that have defined the American dream — that those who work hard and play by the rules can get ahead, and that the next generation will have a better life than this one — have been battered by a devastating recession that shows few signs of having hit bottom.

More than 24 million Americans shifted in 2008 from lives that were "thriving" to ones that were "struggling," according to a massive study by Gallup and Healthways, a Tennessee health management company.

At the start of 2008, as the recession was beginning, slightly more people were "thriving" than "struggling." By the end of the year, after an economic meltdown that began with the subprime mortgage crisis, Americans by an overwhelming 20 percentage points were "struggling" rather than "thriving," 58%-38%.

The remaining 4% were "suffering," in more dire straits.

Among those showing the steepest drop were business owners, executives, African Americans and people who were 35-39 years old — a stage in life when many are building careers, expanding families and buying homes.

Among those with the smallest decline were seniors 65 and older, Hispanics and repair workers, whose skills suddenly may be more in demand as Americans try to make do with what they have.

Depressing for sure and in these times it's time to lean on your real friends.

I'm starting to think about inviting my friend Jack to stop by as he has always given myself and most people a shot of courage when they hang around with him.

Jack is from Tennessee but he has traveled and is well known known all around the world.

Depending on how you take him, some can become depressed, however I found he always made my world funnier and with him I'm a lot more relaxed.

Jack is one of those friends that can make you drown you sorrows, dance when you don't know how to, befriend complete strangers and for a short time take you away from all your troubles and stress.

One of the other great things about Jack is if you do something stupid you can always say you didn't know what you were doing. It was all Jack's fault.

I don't know about you, but it seems to me like this may be a good time to rekindle the old friendship with Jack.





Sometimes too much to drink isn't enough.