It's not there for the GOOD days...

August 18, 2014 5:23 PM

There's a pithy one-liner, almost a saying or slogan, about how it's easy to complain about or take something for granted when you don't need it, but it's super important when you do need it. I'm pretty sure that this one-liner originally applied to one specific thing (maybe the police, maybe a labour union, maybe socialized health care), but the sentiment could easily be generalized to a whole set of special purpose institutions. This whole goddamn saying is right on the tip of my tongue. Help me out?
posted by 256 to Writing & Language (12 answers total)

"You never miss the water until the well runs dry"
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:30 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have."
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:35 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.
posted by Hermione Granger at 5:38 PM on August 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

"There's never a cop around when you need one."
posted by DrGail at 5:40 PM on August 18, 2014

Cops are like pennies: Never there when you want one, always there when you don't.
posted by janey47 at 5:41 PM on August 18, 2014

"Nobody likes lawyers until they need one."
posted by xingcat at 5:44 PM on August 18, 2014 [6 favorites]

Ah! The exact wording eludes me but maybe,

"The only people who say say money can't buy happiness have never been without [money]."

Or something like that...
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:53 PM on August 18, 2014

"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries."
posted by Lorin at 6:05 PM on August 18, 2014 [6 favorites]

"Sex is like air. It's not important unless you're not getting any."
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:30 PM on August 18, 2014

How about something involving the qualifier "fair-weather"... examples of its use I'm coming across in a casual search include "fair-weather friend" and "fair-weather fan" (for a sports fan who only acknowledges their favored team when that team is recently successful) and I've also heard "fair-weather patriot".
posted by XMLicious at 9:19 PM on August 18, 2014

"Rather be caught with than without."
posted by Smallpox at 7:18 AM on August 19, 2014

You can get through times of no money with dope a lot better than you can get through times of no dope with money.
posted by ptm at 12:27 AM on August 21, 2014