>Yup. Very soon now the (whole) "middle class" here will be trying to make a living by selling used goods from WalMart on eBay. But I guess there will still be 1 sector of "real" jobs - delivering those goods from seller to buyer.

One of the remaining cultural shocks that hit me happened last year, when I was moving my daughter and son-in-law. There was an urgent call of nature, and the nearest place was a McDonalds, and it was a Friday, somewhere around 19:00. I drove the U-haul truck around the parking twice, as slowly as I could, while they went in and out. So I had the time to observe and take the details in (for otherwise Mc and I exist in separate universes - last time I went into one was in the previous century, and that was only to get coffee, for they were the only available source of it in the building).

The place was packed. Families with kids. Dressed up. I didn't understand, then my son-in-law explained that that's their weekly "taking the family out for dinner". I couldn't imagine that a mcDinner would ever count as "dinner out" and that anyone would dress up for it. Live and learn.