This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
My wife is a National Science Foundation researcher, and her funds have essentially been frozen (she can't access them) since the shutdown began. So for her research project (i.e. her job) she has been unable to pay her assistants, purchase materials, or receive payments for her own work/time. Fortunately, we're not living paycheck to paycheck, but the shutdown has prohibited her from being paid for nearly a month now.
Particularly in the sciences, the day-to-day grind as some may think of it, is comprised of a great deal of preparation and planning that is executed during a specific and short field season during the year. So, if preparation and planning is frozen because the funds aren't there to pay people to do their work, then the quality of the work conducted during the field season is hurt (potentially greatly).
However, at least the scientists I know, are very dedicated to what they do for a living -- it's their vocation and they spend most of their time thinking about their work whether they're at the "office" or not -- so the shutdown hasn't stopped them from working; what it has done is complicate their lives by preventing them from paying their assistants (who usually do not share the same dedication/vocation and are unwilling to work for free), and forcing them to work longer/harder hours all the while not receiving their paycheck.
Imagine the added stress from the increased workload coupled with the stress of family life: mortgage payments, car payments, utilities, groceries, etc. etc. Again, fortunately, we're not in the paycheck-to-paycheck category, but I think I recently heard that 4 out of 10 Americans are... A lot of people are suffering an incredible hardship due to this shutdown thanks to the caprice of our POTUS.
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