To the Editor:

Re “Dear A.I.G., I Quit!” (Op-Ed, March 25):

Jake DeSantis, the injured A.I.G. executive vice president who exercised his right of quitting his job with a dramatic e-mail message to his ungrateful boss, still does not get it. Millions, just as virtuous and hard-working as Mr. DeSantis, did not have the luxury of quitting; they were fired like dogs.

I am happy that the DeSantis family was not a victim of the A.I.G. malfeasance and has kept its home. Across America, in scenes worthy of “The Grapes of Wrath,” people must squeeze their possessions into their cars or  if they can afford them  into storage units, under the eyes of their children because, unlike Mr. DeSantis, they have also lost their homes.

Michel Dedina

Imperial Beach, Calif., March 25, 2009

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To the Editor:

Like Jake DeSantis, I come from a solidly working-class background. I am a professional for whom a 10-plus-hour day away from my family is not unusual. Unlike Mr. DeSantis, I earn in the mid-$40s.

The $742,000 “retention payment” Mr. DeSantis received for one year’s work is more than I have earned in my working life. I also worked hard during the economic boom. Somehow, I cannot afford to write a showy resignation like his; I must keep working.