----- Original Message ----- From: "Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 3:19 AM Subject: RE: Profit RE: World Attitude (was: Re: Down Under Attitude)
> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- > > Van: dendriite [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Verzonden: Thursday, September 27, 2001 12:44 AM > > Aan: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Onderwerp: Re: Profit RE: World Attitude (was: Re: Down Under Attitude) > > > > > It costs me money to to work. What I bring home above the cost of > > > > work (or even staying alive and having a home) could be fairly > > > > considered profit. > > > > > > What if for some reason you spend more than you earn? > > > > Like perhaps a serious medical condition arises or you are involved in > > an accident? > > Actually, I was thinking about people who have a problem with budgetting, > and tend to spend more money than they earn, thus getting themselves deeper > into debt every month. IOW, situations where overspending is structural, not > incidental. In such cases you would have to suffer from your own mistakes. > > High expenses due to medical conditions are usually not a problem in The > Netherlands, because most of those expenses are covered by Health Insurance. > If the insurance does not cover it, and you have to pay a certain amount > (several thousands of Guilders) yourself, those expenses are tax-deductible > (IIRC, something like the first NLG 4,000 are your problem, the rest is > tax-deductible). > > > > > Would you call that "suffering a loss"? > > > > A co-worker is facing surgery to deal with a cancer that is wrapped > > around his spine. He is going to miss several months of work, and that > > is exactly how he views it. > > How does he suffer a loss? Being a worker in the construction trade, if he does not work, he does not get paid. We get no paid vacation or paid sick leave. Since he is still technicly employed, he gets no unemployment benefits and is not eligable for much in the way of government aid. >If you have to go on sick leave for several > months, do US employers not continue to pay you your salary? Some employers undoubtably do, but this practice is far from universal. >Or does your > co-worker have to pay his medical bills himself because he does not have > adequate Health Insurance? > Actually our insurance is pretty good. But it only pays 80% after the deductable. And many of his medications are not covered because they are considered to be experimental. To make matters worse, the guy is suffering from the onset of Parkinsons disease. His medicine is starting to become ineffective. He is told the Parkinsons will become full blown in 5 years or so, so he wont be able to work after that. After seeing Muhammed Ali on TV last friday night, it pains me to think that my friend will suffer this fate, and be unable to support his family. Count your blessings. xponent rob
