Will Work For Food

"But of course most of today's young are not relatively affluent. Even the college-educated minority face a punishing economic environment. If they don't expect to be "on track for a rewarding career until much later than their parents were," that diminished expectation should tell us less about them than it does about their country.
If anybody cared. Or more exactly, if anybody cared who wielded any political clout."


The above is a quote from a recent article from CNN written by David Frum. Though the beginning of his article has a vast number of points I could agree with, my consent falters when he begins speaking of this issue as though it were only a political one. The excerpts he pulls from the New York Times magazine are used as his sources for rebuttal. I myself am a 20-something, and sad to say, I have to agree with the author of said article, for though Mr. Frum has some excellent points, I feel he is wrong in assigning all the blame for today's economic woes on politics alone.


I fear we have fallen apathetic. Lazy. Gluttonous. And worst of all entitled.


There it is. I said it.


Not only has the subject become that of recent media scrutiny but has also arose in conversations amongst my own circle of friends. We spoke frankly about unemployment and welfare. Were they political issues? Cultural? Racial?


From state to state we recognized that the general populous who chooses to take advantage of the system's generosity does indeed change.


So, not a racial issue.


We all also agreed that there should be a safety net for those who find themselves suddenly unemployed. However, as much as I believe people should be able to put food on their tables, I believe it is up to the state to set limits. Perhaps, we thought, a time-table applied affording citizens the right to assistance based on their region's unemployment rate.


And though I do not feel the government has done all it can to drive new jobs, I feel both parties are to blame here. I will say, however, that it is very difficult to create new jobs out of thin air. When one side not only decides to cut off so much government spending that it sends thousands of federal and state workers into the private sector - when there are already not enough jobs - and then also denies us any means to investigate technologies that could lead to a new job sector, both seem to me to be ill-conceived notions. I also believe that it will take a new wave of education, leading to technology, building to manufacturing that will save our country. That takes investing in our people so our people can later invest in us. It doesn't mean cutting budgets. It doesn't mean taking away every single extra-curricular activity in school so you completely limit a child's means to nurture their skills and explore new things. Leaving them in their 20's with a very limited understanding of what the world has to offer and what they themselves have to offer the world. But on to other things.


So, then, it is not just a political issue either.


We are left with one. A cultural issue. And by that, we did not mean the small variations between white, black, Hispanic, Asian, native-American, Jewish, Muslim, or any other of the many I haven't the room to list. This is an American issue. A conundrum of our culture, that of perspective and an error in mentality.


Whether it be that one is too good for a certain job, or better yet that the job isn't good enough for them. Too often people complain that they do too much and get paid too little. Sure we all feel this way. But there are way too many people that say that who do not deserve more than they make, and probably don't deserve what they do make half the time. I'm not to say we should let others take advantage of us, but how many times have you heard "I'm sorry, that's not a part of my job description." Really? You can not expect to get anywhere with that attitude. It's like your son asking why he should have to clean up the mess he didn't make. What's your general attitude toward that question? Just do it!


Then I had a thought. Women. Ahem. Ahh, Ladies...May I have your attention? Because unlike the New York Times article which placed much of the lazy factor blame on men, I also must pass some of this torch off to the women. We fought and fought for equality and to be allowed into the work place to not only join our male counter-parts but to supersede them. Yet we still want to be treated like "ladies" and are, I must say, some of the worst at using the previous line, "Ummm, that's not part of my job description."


Again, not to say that there are not women out there taking the bull by the horns and doing what it takes to get by. However, I still fear for the women of my generation. Even on the home front we allow ourselves to fall victim to our own lady-like fragility. How many of you ladies will mow your lawn or fix the leaky faucet? If you haven't, go let your husband show you what a primer pump is and a wrench because you're going to need it. You want to take control of your lives and your homes, then by God take control!


I remember being a young girl and my dad stayed home with me while my mother worked. An only child, my father treated me like I was neither all girl nor all boy, but played and showed me how to work in a way that didn't differentiate any activity or job in nature or relation to sex.
I can still see him laughing at me the first time I was handed a machete and told to cut down nearly half an acre of brush practically by hand. Weed-eaters were for rich folk.


"Grab a hold of the thing! It's not gonna bite you!" He'd hollered from the porch as I tried to wrangle the blade.


Indeed, the small snake I later discovered made me rest assured something would. Still I worked then and continued to be hauled around to job sites like a boy.


Though today I don't do construction or manual labor for a living, I can start a lawn mower by myself, build home-made bookshelves with the best of them, and in general I like to say I ain't afraid of a little work.


The work ethic is there and has not just landed me good jobs, but jobs that were lasting and led to good referrals. I was able to maintain a very good job in a male industry and in fact got the job because I told them under no uncertain terms that I was not afraid of hard work, nor was I afraid to learn new things. I interviewed in a dress for a job that kept me smeared in grease for a good part of the time, but while there I was without argument one of the best employees, and in fact outworked most of my male counterparts.


Today, I do my work in a different way. Raising my children and tending my home and land for my husband, so he can be at his best to provide for us. I still work. Oh yeah, I work, and I put in way more than 40 hours.


On one such day however, I didn't work. I took my girlfriend and went out for a day of shopping and bad fast-food. Upon pulling out of the restaurant, I have my windows down and air-conditioner blowing, and my engine roaring over my radio in my big diesel truck. And just as I'm about to take my first bite out of my big fat American cheeseburger, I look over to see a homeless man with a sign that says, "Will Work For Food."


I slammed on my brakes and jumped out of the truck. I hadn't worked for my food that day. And although I didn't have any work for him, atleast he was willing.


"Will Work For Food."


So I gave him my food.


Unemployment can not be summed up neatly into any one issue, but I think it would be wrong of us to accept that it is our legislators alone who can fix the problem. It is not my job to judge how or why the homeless man came to be on the streets, but I did what I could at the time to help him. And it is not a problem of the government alone that keeps people unemployed. Change for the greater good happens one step at a time, just as individual progress often takes baby steps. It is the nature of man to fall, but it is how we rise that is the true testament of our strength.


Neither is it all about doing things that are not in your nature to do. Whether you're good with tools or better behind a computer does not define how well you will do in life. It is about not being afraid to try new things and putting yourself to the test. About drive and self-motivation. About doing something for no other reason than to prove to yourself you can. It's about having purpose in your life and in every step you take. About being willing to do the work to get there.

It would be tragic of us to waste the will we have been given to not just dream, but to act.

Stand up

will you stand up?
for what you believe
will you stand up?
for those found in need

or will you silent, the words in your heart
afraid of the trend, the ripple you start.

will you stand up?
when others may fall
hold out a hand
to those a little less tall
will you stand up?
and try to make them see
that together we are stronger
than alone we can ever be.

and if love and compassion
are what we all strive for
in the lessons we teach
in our tales and our lore

will you stand up?
for what is the best
if it means standing alone
outside of the rest

will you stand up?
for what is right?
even if what that means
is standing to fight

will you stand up?

and stand beside me?



-EMarie83-

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My God

My God

My God is not a man.
But he is Heaven,
And she is Earth.
And yes I use the two,
To speak of my divine,
Because I believe all
Are both masculine,
And feminine.
I believe the touch
Of love's first kiss,
Is the real kind
Of divine bliss.
It's wrapped in gentleness,
Warmth and loyalty.
And in it truth
That can set us free.
My God is not
Just in all of us,
But lives in each thing,
Every rock and bee we cuss.
My God is not just good,
But knows evil too.
For without one,
We know not what we do.
I believe my God
Stands for us all.
And gives us a choice,
But will be there when we fall.
The guidance is there,
Steadfast in harmony.
If we hold onto,
What is our humanity.
I believe that my God
Is the energy to my soul.
The thing that connects us all,
Making us whole.
I know that my God,
Can see what I do.
Because in my own heart,
Let thy self be true.
And in the end when
I answer for what my life has found,
I know the circle
Will keep going 'round.
Be it another level, life or less,
I will know first,
If I passed the test.
And that is the final lesson learned.
My God won't let
Our souls be burned.
Vengeance is not
A part of morality.
Compassion is the gift
That sets us free.
My God knows this best,
And does not wish for blood
To be lost at his behest.
I believe in the power
Of what you call prayer.
Though I may not practice
It in the same name.
Positive and negative energy abound,
What you put out,
Is what will be found.
I know my God knows
And loves all man-kind.
Because my God flows
Through your blood
And mine.
My body is the temple,
Where my soul resides.
And my God is like an armor,
Keeping me strong inside.
My God is both faith
As well as physics too.
In all things we find compromise,
Where there's one, there's two.
Have you ever felt that hum,
Of the sand beneath your feet,
And the crashing waves at your toes?
That moment when you can say,
You truly are not alone.
Listen to the wind,
The rain above your ears.
Listen to the waves,
Or the music of your younger years.
Listen to it all.
Look for God if you must.
Be it Buddha, Jesus or Allah,
In my God,
I trust.


-EMarie83-

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad