I went bowling the other night. Why? Because I'm middle class and its all I can afford.

I went to the movies just last night and 'There Will Be Blood' should have been called 'There Will Be Too Much Talking', but I caught myself downsizing my popcorn combo purchase, just $8.25. Total cost to produce and serve, 85 cents. I figured it out. Why? Because I'm middle class.

I just lost my second job. We all have one nowadays, and we brag about it. We're proud to say we work two jobs. It's the norm, because we are middle class. The job is not always a legal tax-paying job, but it is a fruit of my labor and I need it to make it from week to week. And now it's gone. A lot of us are without our second income and the one we have doesn't allow us the diversions we had before, without guilt or sacrifice.

"If we do this, we cannot do that" way of living is inherently middle class. We are giving up things faster than we are getting them

I have a hard time keeping my eye on the road anymore because I am fixed on the ever so quickly plunging gas needle. Do they move faster these days? I wonder. I know I seem to be stopping more often for gas than I used to, but that's because I don't put as much in as before when I stopped at the gas station. Why? Because I am middle class.

I will buy a lottery ticket each time I stop, but I have toŠ.you know why!

I used to be worth something. I had value. I would see my tires wearing thin and wouldn't think twice about getting them rotated or buying new ones. Now I watch them slowly wearing down and wonder to myself what I will have to give up so I can replace them. What do I have to lose to put this problem to rest? The unexpected is heartbreaking, and not just to me, but to all those that rely on me. And all because I'm middle class. My worth is growing smaller and I haven't changed a thing. I am still middle class.

My once flamboyant, spree shopping with no limits has come to a quick stop and I can hear the metal on metal heartbreak that means it's going to cost me.

It's all because I am middle class!

And, oh yeah, they closed my Value City. Shame on you!!

I am so very middle class.