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Carole grew up in a privileged and artistic home in Los Angeles, but her now-deceased parents didn't make the wisest investments. She has worked for long stretches selling real estate and as a secretary-receptionist. The first few years of her married life with Clark were spent digging out of a financial crater left by her mother's final (and protracted) illness.

"Even in the best of times, we never lived extravagantly," she said. "Extravagant to me was redecorating our bedroom in the apartment with linens and curtains from Stroud's."

Oh cry me a river! I'm so tired of hearing stories about these privileged kids getting a dose of the real world and thinking that they are some kind of martyrs.

What does it matter that her parents didn't make good investments? What does that have to do with her? My parents didn't have two nickels to rub together (and still don't) and I've never gotten a dime from them since the time I went in the Marines at age 17. I've never allowed that to be an excuse in my life.

Decorating with Stroud's. Whoopee doo. What's that, some kind of yuppie emporium? I've never heard of Stroud's in my life. When we need curtains, my wife goes to Wal-Mart or Sears and we never felt as though we were making sacrifices.

stroud's is a *discount* store for fancy pillows curtains, sheets etc.

remember its only OK to laugh at rich people who go broke, not factory workers etc who go broke.

Unless they were union, then screw 'em.

"Even in the best of times, we never lived extravagantly," ... Delinquent a payment on their $2,300-a-month rent ...

$2300 a month isn't living extravagently? Most of my life I never made that much in a month. I'm not a class-warfare kind of guy - but these people are spoiled brats (as well as not existing) and I have no sympathy at all.

Actually, in this couples defense, the article did state:

The first few years of her married life with Clark were spent digging out of a financial crater left by her mother's final (and protracted) illness.

So, it's not about the parents leaving the daughter nothing, but the parents not planning properly for themselves and forcing the kids to pay doctors bills, operations, etc.

Strouds is a discount linen store. Her point was that she wasn't living extravagantly.

I live in Silicon Valley, and we know of a lot of people that are having lots of hard times right now.

We know quite a few that retired (in their 60s) and had to go back to work because they lost money on their investments. They've sold their homes and moved away.

We know a lot of people that have lost jobs. It's a very scary time. We're in our 40s and we don't know the young dot-com types. The people we are talking about have lived out here for at least 15 years, and have worked very hard during those years.