Jack's Debt

[fairplay28]

is $15,000 just about an average year's salary at the time.

How Much things cost in 1976

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 5.75%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 1004
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.25%
Average Cost of new house $43,400.00
Average Income per year $16,000.00
Average Monthly Rent $220.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 59 cents
Plymouth Arrow$3,175.00

[jwinks]

Sadly, the cost of a hosptial stay today has far exceeded the inflation rate

Jack's injuries would now bring a bill of well over 100K

[kathygrady]

I remember in 1974 I was making $2 per hour and hubby was making 3$ per hour. That comes to $200 per week ....$10,400 per year. A few years later-1981 we bought a gas station for $35,000. So 15 K was a pretty good sum back then.Now it wouldn't buy most new cars except for a really cheap economy car.
15K would have bought 2 brand new Corvettes!!!!

[seasonedrefinement]

What I find interesting is the fact that not one, not two, but THREE individuals have offered to cover the bill for Jack and Mary (with the realization that a total balance due hasn't even been disclosed yet). Wow...how many people can say that?

[forte]

Hey, what about Jack staying in the Faith Appreciation Hospital Garden Apartment (AKA the basement dungeon decorated by Kenneth)? The hospital couldn't charge him for a room since they apparently didn't know / can't remember that this area even exits, he would have the privacy and space that he requires, and best of all, no Ryans. Mary could meet him and provide PT services (she took a class or two and is highly competent to provide PT services - just ask any Ryan!), Pat could meet him and provide pain management medication (thank goodness the Medication Room / Physician Social Club Headquarters is upstairs and unlocked at any hour of any day), and Ryan's Bar is just a hop skip and a jump (sorry, Jack, poor choice of words) across the street for meals. Let's see, with this plan, Jack would only be responsible for paying for his medication, PT would be free, I'm pretty sure Pat wouldn't charge him for his medical care but if he did I'm sure Jack would get a discount, and the Ryan's wouldn't expect payment for his meals or a tip for delivery. Jack gets what he needs in a manner that he can accept, Mary gets to tell Jack what to do (as a PT) which she enjoys, Johnny and Jack get to avoid each other, Maeve gets a captive audience for her cooking, and Pat gets an excuse to hide from Dee in the basement without feeling guilty.

Next problem.

[bethp0201]

The best solution to the problem I've ever heard!LOL How much do you charge?

[forte]

All you have to do is put up with me and my verbal musings. )

[destclev]

Perhaps this has been covered in another thread, but I'm always stunned when Johnny takes it upon himself to turn down Seneca's generous offer. Excuse me, but who appointed him head of the Jack Fenelli-Mary Ryan family?

Then later, Mary turns down Bucky without talking to Jack. And when she does so, she cites Johnny's opposition to accepting help from "outsiders," not Jack's -- since, of course, she hasn't bothered to discuss the matter with Jack.

Really, does Mary have the maturity to be married at all? Wait a second, we already know the answer to that one, don't we?

[fairplay28]

I don't agree at all. The Ryans,and Fenelli too, are people who do not take money from others. That used to be the sign of good, upstanding character. I doubt Paw would have taken the money either back on The Prairie. They had the same mantra: You're an _______; you can do anything you set your mind to.

[raggedycheryl512]

Jul 4, 2011 15:04:41 GMT -8 @destclev said:

Perhaps this has been covered in another thread, but I'm always stunned when Johnny takes it upon himself to turn down Seneca's generous offer. Excuse me, but who appointed him head of the Jack Fenelli-Mary Ryan family?

Then later, Mary turns down Bucky without talking to Jack. And when she does so, she cites Johnny's opposition to accepting help from "outsiders," not Jack's -- since, of course, she hasn't bothered to discuss the matter with Jack.

Really, does Mary have the maturity to be married at all? Wait a second, we already know the answer to that one, don't we?

Let's face it: it's very clear that Mary is still Mary RYAN and even when she has her child, the child's name is RYAN. Jack really doesn't get a say in anything. Johnny the Bulldozer sees to that.

[destclev]

Jul 4, 2011 15:40:45 GMT -8 fairplay28 said:

I don't agree at all. The Ryans,and Fenelli too, are people who do not take money from others. That used to be the sign of good, upstanding character. I doubt Paw would have taken the money either back on The Prairie. They had the same mantra: You're an _______; you can do anything you set your mind to.

I don't think Johnny Ryan had an ounce of business making that decision for Mary, much less Jack. I don't seem to recall the Collearys refusing to take (borrow) money from Johnny, so apparently they didn't see it as a sign of weakness of character. Jack could've offered to repay Seneca, but Johnny forestalled that option. The point is that it was not Johnny's decision to make on behalf of Mary and Jack, nor Mary's to make on behalf of Jack.

We don't agree, no.

[fairplay28]

Johnny iand Maeve are family to the Collearys.

[Echo]

I thought that Jack could have paid either Seneca or Bucky back, in payments.
No one even thought to ask him.

-Echo-

[destclev]

Jul 5, 2011 1:56:35 GMT -8 fairplay28 said:

Johnny iand Maeve are family to the Collearys.

Was Nick Szabo family when Johnny borrowed money from Nick and let Nick cosign for a loan?

No matter; that's not the crucial point anyway. The crucial point is that the decision -- accept the offer, suggest that it take the form of a loan, or tell Seneca no -- was rightly Jack's, not Johnny's. Johnny is NOT Jack's patriarch, yet he acted as if he were. If pride and a stiff neck were going to land Jack and Mary in grave financial peril, it should've been their, or Jack's, pride and stiff neck, not Johnny Ryan's.

Sometimes it's very easy to see where Mary gets her arrogance.

[Echo]

I see Mary as a female Johnny Ryan:
All personality traits are the same,
from the good to the....ah.... not so good

-Echo-

[destclev]

Jul 5, 2011 21:34:21 GMT -8 Echo said:

I see Mary as a female Johnny Ryan: all personality traits are the same, from the good to the, ah, not so good.

-Echo-

I see what you mean. I don't think Mary is as volatile as Johnny, but that's the only real difference that comes quickly to mind. She does fly off the handle sometimes, as she did with Delia the other day, but I never get the sense that she can't control herself and her outbursts, just that she doesn't see a reason to.

I must say, for all of Mary's hubris right now, she is

spoiler

about to be brought very, very low in a way that's painful to watch no matter how irritating one finds her. I'll be honest, I'm dreading it. How much of it will I FF through? An awful lot, I expect.