Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Broadcast News Vs. Thank You For Smoking


* = Yum, that Righteous Indignation tastes DELICIOUS!

“I swear to God dude, it’s like the whole world is against us…”

We learned today that the place that pays us five days a week is ending it’s insurance. In reality that is not a big deal to me personally, since I don’t have insurance. I can’t afford it and still own a home. That is the dilemma of the modern ‘middle class’. It does affect me in the way that Cassandra and I were trying to have kids. She DID have insurance through work; hell she might be pregnant right now. This really puts us over the proverbial barrel.

I know things are tight, hell my industry keeps taking it on the chin year after year. We don’t have a union, we don’t serve a group with a strong lobby presence, our clients are a silent minority who generally don’t vote and have no money. Politicians don’t care about the disabled, and they care less about those of us that serve them. It was all good when I worked non-profit since they are trying desperately to burn through that money, so you know they are going to A) pay you & B) going to make sure you have good benefits. The last two jobs in my chosen field have been in the ‘for profit’ section. I’ve steadily watched my wage stagnate as my workload and responsibility has increased exponentially. I’ve seen my benefits go from decent to awful to awful & unaffordable.

And now they, being our newly elected Democratic Governor & the Republican led state congress, are going to smack Human Services again. On top of that indignity now the folks that I work for are doing away with their paltry insurance all together. I understand the fiscal prudence part of it. Even though I rarely agree with how it’s done here, I understand the need to tighten belts and cut costs drastically. What I don’t understand is the veil of silence and the proclamation of edicts with no preface, explanation, or prior warning. Not only that, but for the love of Pete have the common decency to hold a friggin’ meeting and tell us. Sending it via mass e-mail is the worst sort of leadership. I KNOW you don’t care, but at least lie to me.

So this weekend I’ll be looking for a new job, closer to home that way I’m not paying $3.79 a gallon to drive 26 miles one way per day to get there. Cassandra will be as well. It’s sad since we both like what we do, and for all their faults we can live with the folks we work for.

When is enough ‘enough’? How much money does an oil company, one who is already getting millions of dollars in government subsidies, need? What profit margin will be enough? Somehow certain politicians and pundits have managed to deify the dollar to such a degree that big business, Wall Street, the ‘To Big To Fail’ Banks, and their ilk, you know the folks who brought us this economic ‘down turn’ & housing crisis that is systematically eliminating the Middle Class have bamboozled people, mainly on the political ‘Right’, into believing that Middle Class folks are the enemy. The most vehement idiots spouting this ideological socio-economic hate speech are themselves Middle Class. See I’m trying to understand this. What motivates a small business owner who is scraping by on 60K a year to hate on a teacher in WI making 33K a year? What makes a person making 80K a year with a kid with Asperger’s Syndrome not give two shits about a family living on 29K a year with a Autistic kid in a group home who are barely surviving? What about the executive making 100K whose depressed and can barely get through his day who is all for the cutting of Mental Illness assistance for those folks out there who have depression and other serious persistent mental illness who can NOT just get by? Is it the ‘moral’ issues? Is it because they aren’t all white, upper middle class, straight, Christians? I know that’s what a lot aspire to be, but what of us that don’t? Land of the free, home of the brave? Maybe, but only if you have the cash.

See today has finally nailed it home for me. It doesn’t matter that I do that right thing. It doesn’t matter that I care about my fellow man, that I’ll help a little old lady, that I’ll hold open a door, that I’ll use common courtesy, use a turn signal, that I don’t live beyond my means, that I pay my bills, that I go to work, that I’m on time, that I’m responsible, that I treat other regardless of their beliefs or background like I would like to be treated. None of that really matters. All that matters are my ‘liquid assets’. All that matters is what’s in my bank account. I now understand why people kill, steal, commit adultery, and so on and so forth, because the ‘rules’ don’t fucking matter. Decency doesn’t really matter, not if we drop the entire pretense. No matter how hard I work, how smart I am, or how good I am at whatever it is I do in the end it doesn’t matter.

In the end I’m still fucked because I’m middle class. I’m still fucked because I want to do the right thing. I’m fucked because I still think it’s a ‘good’ thing to be nice.

And that is a horrible realization…

I need a palate cleanser now…

RANDOM CRAP!

- I could really use either a drink or some loud music right now. Or maybe a burrito.
- Two blogs in one day Heidi, HAHAHAHAHAHA!
- Neil Gaiman explains Doctor Who better than I ever could;
“People are intimidated,” Gaiman explained. “They think that there’s 47 years worth of stuff they need to know before they can enjoy anything. And what you want to say to them is no. There’s a blue box. It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It can go anywhere in time and space, sometimes even where it’s meant to go. When it turns up, there’s this bloke in it called the Doctor. And there will be stuff wrong and he will do his best to sort it out and he will probably succeed because he’s awesome. That’s all. Now sit down, shut up and watch ‘Blink.’ ”

It’s time to get out of here…

“Bitte Respekt meinen Wunsch (Please respect my wish)
Ich bin ein Wissenschaftler (I am a scientist)
Ich tu was ich kann (I do what I can)
Ich bin nicht verrükt (I'm not a madman)

Unterbreche dieses nicht (Don't interrupt this)
Es ist viel zu delikat (It's much too delicate)
Es ist Versicherungsleistung (It's for the benefit)
Für alle Menschheit (I'm not a madman)

Dieses ist Unverschämtheit (This is an outrage!)
Wohin nehmt ihr mich? (Where are you taking me?)

Ihr macht ein grossen Fehler (You're making a big mistake)
Ihr kommt mit diesen nicht weg (You won't get away with this)
Wo ist meine Schreibarbeit? (Where's my paperwork?)
Verlaßt mich sofort (Leave me immediately!)

Dieses ist Unverschämtheit (This is an outrage!)
Wohin nehmt ihr mich? (Where are you taking me?)

This is an outrage
Where are you taking me?”



* = At least Doctor Who get's me...

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