As an unemployed professional in his 50s, I found it difficult to sympathize with the caterwauling of our discontented state employee and recent college graduate over being furloughed for five days, when I've been furloughed for four months and counting ("O'Malley balances budget on the backs of state workers," Readers respond, Jan. 25). Unless you happen to work on Wall Street, you've most likely seen your real wages plummet throughout your entire career. In welcoming the writer to the real world, I'd like to suggest that he thank his lucky stars he has a job at all.

Doug Ebbert, Bel Air

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