Eventually, people start calling in sick as a matter of protest and others start looking for work elsewhere because they've go bills to pay.

If you think about a normal biweekly pay schedule, though, this takes a long time.

When the shutdown begins, there's a paycheck already processing and then another one coming for the pay period that got interrupted.

That's between two and four weeks of normal pay during the shutdown.

Then, add to that whatever accommodations banks and others are willing to make for a customer with guaranteed backpay on the way.