I am replying to an Op-Ed in my local paper Friday 18, July 2008 - Kathleen Parker??maybe?? She was lamenting the age of do-it-yourself-ism. "Whine and cry""cry and whine" - come down off your high horse and join the real world of 90% of us Americans in fly over country. Those of us born and raised in the heartland of middle America - without our noses and/or our pinkies up in the air, have always had to do most everything for ourselves. Yes, this does include auto repair, not just pumping gas, or oil changes. Home repairs such as plumbing, electrical, and carpentry. We know how to fix a leaky water faucet, change an electrical switch or receptacle, patch a hole in the drywall, and do our own painting and wallpapering. Perhaps it is really a matter of self perception, or an inflated ego. Out here, very few of us ever consider ourselves too good to perform the menial tasks in our own homes towards our own behalf and betterment. Out here, $65K per year just might be the richest 1%, but with years and years of The Liberals Tax policies, bringing home $650 from $1250 does not leave enough to be paying every Tom,Dick, and Harry $50-$60 per hour for professional services - 40% of which they pay as taxes again. Maybe it should be required somewhere that all East and West coast snobby, elitist liberal democrats, must live one year in St. Louis, or Tulsa, etc, within that areas median income and housing levels, before they be allowed to blather and blabber about how tough life is for them in their ivory towers.