marion has about 16,000 people. carbondale, about 23,000. every other city has like 1,000 or less. so there isn't much opportunity. and when people do find a job, they dont leave it. the only time there are job openings is right before school starts because kids come back and they get very busy. and some during summer when their student workers go home. but for the most part its barren. we had to wait 3 weeks before we found jobs down here. and the only reason i found one was cause ive worked at papa johns for over 2 years and they didn't even have a spot for me but didn't want an experienced manager to not be hired. same thing with my boyfriend at wendy's. the local economy is dying.

not to mention wal-mart is shutting down so many mom and pop places that people are losing jobs. sure, wal-mart gives some people jobs. but then families are losing their entire businesses. a factory that makes tractor parts for farm equipment around here has laid off, i think, around 40 people so far. its one of those places where the town survives off the business... and now thats business is going out of business. it really is pitiful down here.