[Kimberly]

To a certain extent, I get where McNally is coming from. My mother had eleven brothers and sisters. One of them died from lead poisoning as a young kid. They suffered in poverty, had to share clothing to the point where the boys couldn't go to school every day because they didn't have enough boys shoes to go around, and the list goes on, including severe beatings and emotional torture at the hands of my grandfather. They were in New York so, of course, they couldn't have had it as bad as McNally's family. (McNally, you can't distill suffering down to any objective financial measure and tell people what they have a right to feel.)

Coming from a family like this can leave you with some emotional baggage. Hearing the stories of any survivors, you being the next generation who's supposed to make the struggle somewhat worthwhile, can be heavy. Really, I wonder what kinds of stories were being passed down to McNally that he is so affected by the struggles of the people before him. Maybe they were passed down to him in an inappropriate way. "After Sesame Street, Mommy's gonna strap you down and tell you all about how she fought her way tooth and nail out of abject poverty just for YOU!" I'm being kind of an asshole here, but I'm also serious. McNally needs to examine how and why he feels so intensely about this.

My family doesn't try to guilt trip me about their horrific past. Still, I sometimes feel guilty about addressing my own problems handed me by own life, because I know how bad it can be for people. And I know that even my family didn't have it as bad as it can be. Still, we've got people in and out of jail, homelessness, decades of drug and alcohol abuse, and mental illness as constant reminders of the shit they suffered. And that lays a nice layer of fucked up for the next generation to muddle around in.

Kyle's words are very wise! He may be making it seem slightly more simple than it is, but ultimately we have no choice but to own ourselves. We can't take on responsibility for other people's lives, or pasts that had ZERO to do with us. I hope McNally takes that shit seriously!

Regarding the whole 1% thing, I think Kyle's kind of on to something. We're not all struggling as much as Kyle, but we all do have to struggle. Unless we are really lucky, we can't just stop moving. A few days of that, for a lot of us, and we end up on the street or unfairly taking from the strained resources of people nice enough to pick up our slack.

I am better off than Kyle because I have a job with benefits, and paid leave and that kind of shit. But, for that you gotta settle for a life of slow brain death (office work). You can take days off to try and ease the depression of the waste of life that is the day to day, but take too many and you're at risk of being out on your ass. We all HAVE to keep grinding on. There are ways to free ourselves a little, but in the end we gotta eat, have shelter, pay for water and electricity and all of the fucking bills and debt we accumulated before we were adults and knew better (student loans-kill me), plus any extras that we may need to keep moving (I need therapy to keep my shit in order).

Mental gymnastics can free us from some of our seeming burdens. We could do with less stuff, and buy ourselves more freedom a bit that way. Some burdens are part of lifestyle. They seem necessary, but are choices. But some are unavoidable. I can't think my way out of the massive debt I accidentally landed in when my head was still soft.

Poverty is an entirely different ballgame, but we all can relate to struggle to keep our lives afloat, and to limitations to our choices since true free choice is reserved for a very privileged few.

McNally, the only reasonable response to what your family endured is sympathy. I think you'd be a lot less miserable if you allowed people to relate to you and stop isolating yourself in what you think is one of a kind experience.

Also, you're incredibly fucking lucky. Use your mom's money for therapy. That's not meant in a mean way.

We need to start a Kyle's Reuben Sandwich fund.

In the end, GREAT SHOW!

I yelled at McNally while sitting at my desk at work. Yes, I'm that weirdo. This thing was intense! You people are amazing at this show business!

WHERE'S PART 2?!