Unity in an economy that's falling apart....

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have posted ads on the "Strictly Platonic" section of craigslist to find new friends or other young parents to hang out with. I got like 6 emails, not including the pervs looking to get laid,  that's all that answered it. I've kept in touch with those few over text or emails but we never hang out or talk on the phone. It just seems like as much as we say we should hang out or do something, nothing ever happens. It's like running into that friend you haven't seen since high school and you both smile and hug and say "we should catch up one of these days" and you both agree but as you walk away you think "oh god why did I have to run into her"... 

Well a couple days ago I posted an ad looking to talk to other young couples that were going through economical problems, mainly looking for guys to talk to so I could get a guys perspective on things.

*I must mention my hubby has been out of work for a over 2 years and we've had to move in with family because we can't survive on my paycheck alone. We've had a lot of fighting and disagreements because of money and him trying to find work or do something productive with his time. Whenever I try and talk about the debt we are in or how we are going to make it to my next paycheck he just huffs and puffs like I just asked him to clean the entire house. He is not good at expressing himself, he gets tongue-tied, just shuts down or just gets mad. He for some reason can never work through an emotion or explain what he's feeling or thinking. So I thought maybe if I got another guys perspective I could maybe find a better way to approach the issue.

Well anyway within an hour I had 22 emails from all these people who wanted to help me! I will say 5 of them were just pervs saying they could make me feel better by doing something naughty to me but the rest were actual people saying they were going through something similar. There were maybe 3 women but all others were men and they varied from mid 20's to late 30's, married, dating, divorced, selling their house, living with family, has a kid or many kids, don't have kids etc...

It was amazing to see the response I got. Not only were there men out there willing to listen to a woman's problems but they were asking for the same. Many of the guys wanted someone to talk to about their problems too and the more I talked with them, the more I found our lives to be SO similar! In a world where the economy is falling apart and families are struggling to stay united, we find comfort in other people going through the same difficulties.

With the "happy-exciting" ad I posted looking for friends to go out and have fun I got maybe 10 emails in a week but with the "need someone to talk to" ad I had 22 emails in just one day! I must say I am amazed to find people gathering together with strangers in times of hardship rather than having fun with friends to get their mind off of things. In an economy where families are being broken apart because of  $$ we find comfort in knowing we aren't the only ones suffering. Somehow knowing there is someone else out there going through the same frustrations we are, make everything seem a bit easier to deal with. Plus the fact that people are willing to listen to strangers and offer help or advice is just amazing to me. Maybe the world isn't as cold-hearted as I thought...