Getting ready to be sandwiched

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My recently widowed Dad moves in this Friday. We’ve prepared the house: Chris has put in safety bars in the bathrooms and a bannister on the stoop. Right now he’s installing a new sink with an easy-to-use faucet. We’ve cleared out the downstairs playroom and moved in a bed, a comfy reading chair, a smoke alarm. We’re stocked up on Campbell’s tomato soup and Kellogg’s cornflakes.

We’re prepared. But I’m not prepared. I’m not prepared.

Like many American workers—10 million of us, according to the Pew Research Center—I find myself the smoked turkey in a big ol’ hoagie sandwich between an elderly parent and children. In recent years, employers have extended benefits aimed at helping us, like counseling and emergency caretakers. But I’m wondering what the current financial crisis is going to do to those generous benefits. More importantly, I’m worried that workers like me are going to be considered a liability—or, at least, simply not dedicated enough to cut it in this new, post-Lehman world.

Share your sandwich stories. Because I think I’m not scared enough.