I used to look at these last minute shutdown saves fairly cynically. It seems very much just a bunch of political theatrics and ways to skirt stuff in under pressure. I'm sure that's very much part of it, but there's a lot more impact then I realized and I now am happy to see these events averted.<p>Three years ago I moved to Annapolis (near DC) and almost every third family I met had someone working in a Fed job of some sort. They follow these sorts of things with a lot more rigor because if a shutdown happens, they are temporarily out of work and a paycheck. Most of the folks I know are a little older and this isn't too big a deal, but they explain how hard it is for younger coworkers who haven't yet factored shutdowns into "part of the job" and often need bridge loans to make it through the downtime.<p>I don't know why I never really thought of it with that perspective before.