So many of us grew up during the hard years of the '70s and '80s. There's a reason why the Church cut back the length of missionary service to just 18 months. We were all struggling financially.

I did the best I could to save for my mission, but jobs were very scarce and the wages very, very low. At one point I was earning $2.00/hour. Gas cost $1.20/gallon. My car got 18mpg. My job was in Provo, and I lived in Highland. I literally worked a few hours a day just to pay for gas to get to work.

My father was a school teacher by day and a musician by night to earn enough to feed and house us. We had a huge garden. Eating at a restaurant was a rare event. I could count the number of times our family ate at McDonald's or similar on two hands during the first 15 years of my life. To splurge on fries along with the burger was a red letter day!

But I wouldn't trade those days of budgets, thrift and hard work for anything. It helped make me who I am today. Vast political differences aside, I think a lot of us CBers share similar stories of growing up. Maybe that's why we're all so scrappy in an argument. It's natural to us.