Saturday, February 13, 2010
People need leaders to do the obvious.
5:24 PM | 
Posted by
Angel
Why?
Please leave some comments if you are reading this. I stand firm in the conviction that I am asking an honest question and if you are an honest reader you'd know that this pertains to you as well.
Please leave some comments if you are reading this. I stand firm in the conviction that I am asking an honest question and if you are an honest reader you'd know that this pertains to you as well.
The Recession hits even the best from among us
This entry comes from "Sweets", a recent college graduate from Dominican University who majored in History and American Studies because he loved America so much. Here's what he got in return.
“Hey, college boy! Go break down the load and get your shit in order.”
Ah, the familiar instructions coming from my fellow co-worker never cease to make me smile. He is an interesting if not peculiar character - a former white supremacist and high school dropout with serious anger control issues who gets to work with sharp knives all day. My angry friend compliments my other associates: the ex-convict turned amateur internet poker star, the movie set worker who one day decided to leave sunny California and live in Chicago, the culinary arts graduate who is addicted to “having a good time” and me.
You may be wondering how someone nicknamed college boy found himself working with such a strange group of people. Perhaps I could blame this Great Recession and it’s effects on the job market? It is true that businesses have cut their workforce substantially leaving millions underemployed or unemployed. YES! The recession feasted on my dreams and left me licking the plate for crumbs! But how do I explain the millions of my fellow citizens who have found great jobs during this recession? It must be something else.
Maybe the politicians deserve to be held responsible for my predicament? After all, it was Congress, the state legislatures, and the Presidents who failed to heed the warnings of various economic agencies and analysts. Who can forget NAFTA, the tax incentives, and other policies which made American-based businesses move overseas to increase their profit margins? Yah-boo sucks to you, Joe American! Pedro in Honduras or Li in Chinacan do it cheaper and with less regulation! Those criminals in Congress tied the noose, stood me up, kicked the barrel, and left me to suffocate on my ambitions. However, is it fair to blame a group of people with the combined IQ of a comatose amoeba for simply creating the opportunity but not acting on the opportunity?
At last! That leaves only those base bankers, brokers, and businesses diabolically dealing demise through derivatives and predatory lending. Why not place the blame at the feet of those directly responsible for our current economic disaster? Well, despite how vilified these bumbling blokes are portrayed in the media, it is not entirely their fault. Just like that respectable guy who visits Las Vegas only to leave 3 months later thousands of dollars in debt, married to a silicone leaking stripper named Fifi, and wearing a soiled suit, the people of Wall Street were living in the moment and needed someone to pull them back into reality. Too bad the government regulation agencies are monitored by our comatose amoeba better known as Congress.
So who is to blame for my seemingly eternal residence in the Hell known to the world as the service industry? Last week the answer hit me harder than a brick being thrown by a rather portly Bavarian fellow wearing lederhosen.
“College boy! What the hell are you doing? Your stupid ass needs to get in gear because you are just floating around like an idiot.”
Just like that my belligerent co-worker opened my eyes to who is most to blame - me. Yes, I do have a college degree. Yes, I did graduate in the upper third of my class. Yes, I have volunteer hours and community service. In fact, I have a lot of the desirable traits many employers seek including the uncanny ability to present information in front of large groups without wetting myself from fear. My biggest problem is that I was too occupied in trying to live life that I forgot to be flexible and take what comes along. I’ve been holding onto this idea of what the good life, what living a life, is supposed to be and I’ve been blind to the reality. Maybe all those annoying bills, the crazy ex-girlfriends, the diets, and the beer - oh God the beer - are indications that I missed the bus on life and am now doomed to be stuck in the tortuous service industry where my soul will slowly rot away.
I need to jumpstart my life with a new battery but where can I find it? Will I once again be too rigid in my quest to find that new spark that I will miss it when it is in front of my face?
“Dammit college boy, stop staring into space and steak that fish for that customer.”
“Hey, college boy! Go break down the load and get your shit in order.”
Ah, the familiar instructions coming from my fellow co-worker never cease to make me smile. He is an interesting if not peculiar character - a former white supremacist and high school dropout with serious anger control issues who gets to work with sharp knives all day. My angry friend compliments my other associates: the ex-convict turned amateur internet poker star, the movie set worker who one day decided to leave sunny California and live in Chicago, the culinary arts graduate who is addicted to “having a good time” and me.
You may be wondering how someone nicknamed college boy found himself working with such a strange group of people. Perhaps I could blame this Great Recession and it’s effects on the job market? It is true that businesses have cut their workforce substantially leaving millions underemployed or unemployed. YES! The recession feasted on my dreams and left me licking the plate for crumbs! But how do I explain the millions of my fellow citizens who have found great jobs during this recession? It must be something else.
Maybe the politicians deserve to be held responsible for my predicament? After all, it was Congress, the state legislatures, and the Presidents who failed to heed the warnings of various economic agencies and analysts. Who can forget NAFTA, the tax incentives, and other policies which made American-based businesses move overseas to increase their profit margins? Yah-boo sucks to you, Joe American! Pedro in Honduras or Li in Chinacan do it cheaper and with less regulation! Those criminals in Congress tied the noose, stood me up, kicked the barrel, and left me to suffocate on my ambitions. However, is it fair to blame a group of people with the combined IQ of a comatose amoeba for simply creating the opportunity but not acting on the opportunity?
At last! That leaves only those base bankers, brokers, and businesses diabolically dealing demise through derivatives and predatory lending. Why not place the blame at the feet of those directly responsible for our current economic disaster? Well, despite how vilified these bumbling blokes are portrayed in the media, it is not entirely their fault. Just like that respectable guy who visits Las Vegas only to leave 3 months later thousands of dollars in debt, married to a silicone leaking stripper named Fifi, and wearing a soiled suit, the people of Wall Street were living in the moment and needed someone to pull them back into reality. Too bad the government regulation agencies are monitored by our comatose amoeba better known as Congress.
So who is to blame for my seemingly eternal residence in the Hell known to the world as the service industry? Last week the answer hit me harder than a brick being thrown by a rather portly Bavarian fellow wearing lederhosen.
“College boy! What the hell are you doing? Your stupid ass needs to get in gear because you are just floating around like an idiot.”
Just like that my belligerent co-worker opened my eyes to who is most to blame - me. Yes, I do have a college degree. Yes, I did graduate in the upper third of my class. Yes, I have volunteer hours and community service. In fact, I have a lot of the desirable traits many employers seek including the uncanny ability to present information in front of large groups without wetting myself from fear. My biggest problem is that I was too occupied in trying to live life that I forgot to be flexible and take what comes along. I’ve been holding onto this idea of what the good life, what living a life, is supposed to be and I’ve been blind to the reality. Maybe all those annoying bills, the crazy ex-girlfriends, the diets, and the beer - oh God the beer - are indications that I missed the bus on life and am now doomed to be stuck in the tortuous service industry where my soul will slowly rot away.
I need to jumpstart my life with a new battery but where can I find it? Will I once again be too rigid in my quest to find that new spark that I will miss it when it is in front of my face?
“Dammit college boy, stop staring into space and steak that fish for that customer.”
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