Centurion

Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Features

over the stocks. That was the
first time I realized there was
really a problem."
Although times were hard,
McGuire explained that
everyone worked together to
get through it. "You didn't
seem poor because everyone
else was in the same boat. If a
neighbor had a loaf of bread,
they would give us half."
One of the clear differences
between then and now,
McGuire said, is the amount
of things people have. "We
weren't used to having as
much. We had to put cardboard
in our shoes when the
soles wore down. We were
lucky if we had a radio.
Maybe now children will
learn they can't have everything
they want."
McGuire's father did lose
his job early in the depression
and she thinks it was his
small pension from the
Spanish-American War that
pulled them through. "There
was no such thing as dessert,
but my mom always had food
on the table."
In the 1930s, there were no
trillion dollar bailouts like the
one Congress recently passed
in an attempt to resuscitate
the economy. Americans are
concerned with the amount of
debt left to future generations,
and McGuire is no different.
"What I really worry
about is the debt we'll be
leaving for our grandchildren.
That makes me heartsick."
She said that despite the
concern, the Depression and
the recession can have a positive
effect on people. "I saw it
then and I see it now. People
become very willing to help
others. It's nice to see."

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