What the heck is going on in Arizona. Immigration is not just the issue but possibly an issue in general for people to be different. Being completely clear, I don’t think people should come here illegally what ever your shade or background. The word illegal itself states that something less than correct has been done. While I can’t remember a time when I have gotten away with doing something I wasn’t supposed to, I still can’t see supporting a law that enables simply looking at a person to be the jump start for the are you legal question. Lets just be honest for a second, making a law that allows local law enforcement to have authority to ask such questions is going to lead to unfair scrutinizing of certain people. We all know that this law is aimed at those who don’t satisfy the blend quotient. You know for those whose presence creates a level of concern and angst. Governor Brewer knows exactly what she is doing, just keeping it honest. Sorry governor, your plan stinks. What is the answer for immigration, who knows, but simply suspecting that a person isn’t legal by sight just isn’t going to cut it. But wait, that’s not enough for Arizona and good old governor Brewer, they are really on the ball out there aren’t they. Now not only if I look at you and think you might not belong will you have an issue but the fact that you may dare to learn about your heritage is also cause to throw up a big red flag. How dare you! Who do you think you are? According to the governor’s spokesman “the governor believes public school students should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people.” Truly laughable excuse. I guess the history lessons are next. You might as well not even worry about the few who are taking an ethnic studies course if the true concern is about potential resentment or hate for groups of people because of what might be learned in a classroom. Again I’ll just say, there go the history lessons or at least the accurate ones. I guess the governor doesn’t want anyone to think about the times when groups of people have been oppressed, mistreated and devalued or maybe just doesn‘t want anyone to learn about it. After all she wouldn’t want anyone to get upset. Too bad governor Brewer isn’t enlightened enough to want to open up dialogue about various aspects of a cultures history instead of trying to stifle it. Why shouldn’t it be a lesson in of itself that even if things were once a certain way that was inequitable to a particular group or groups that as a people, an American culture and forward moving and thinking country despite those inequities there is room for growth, development and conversation. Long story short, I think most people can agree that as a nation, especially at this time of concern for American safety, there needs be some serious oversight of immigration into the country. But as governor Brewer contemplates what she feels may be deemed as anti-white it seems that in no uncertain terms she has declared herself anti-, I’ll just say other.
If You Blend, You’re In
May 18th, 2010Funny Pages
May 11th, 2010So I read this article that came to me via twitter from yahoo buzz that discussed the “arrogance” of our current President. “Americans reject arrogance in our leadership” read the tweet. I too reject this so I opened the article to see what it was all about only to find a comic strip of opinion about how this President is so much more “arrogant” than others. As I read on I realized that I had in fact stumbled upon a joke, the funny pages if you will. It always cracks me up when people reference health care reform as a negative, Rush Limbaugh as a positive and say that Sarah Palin is “unpretentious” and a “leader“. I could hardly contain my laughter. Since everyone gets to share their opinions I guess I’ll throw mine in there. Generally I believe myself to be a pretty objective person. I am willing to listen to various perspectives and ways of thinking if only to try to understand others better. The desire for everyone to have adequate health coverage, the ability to take ownership of and acknowledge previous errors and the quest to move forward in a more enlightened way just doesn’t strike me as being a bad thing. Yet these ideas seem to be such a thorn in the side to many people and I can’t help but wonder why. Is it the idea itself that gives them pause or the person presenting it? We all have room for improvement. Yes this includes President Obama. But I haven’t personally heard of one law that satisfies every person or addresses every potential issue that falls under its umbrella. As annoying as it may be, the fact of the matter is it just happens to be life. No matter how much it may suck in a particular situation. The sooner we know that on a personal level the quicker it can translate to our society at large. Because I’ve never read this particular comic before after I was done and reflecting on its message, I try to do that no matter how ridiculous at first glance a statement seems, I couldn’t help but wonder if the writer felt the same kind of outrage and contempt for the behavior of those in opposition to the new health care bill. Disagreement is one thing. Violence and absurd behavior is another. And since she liked to reference teachers and scolding I can only hope that somewhere she had the words to scold those whose behavior was reprehensible. Somehow I can’t help but doubt it, she seems to be just that well, lets just say funny. Now I want to note that those words that appear in quotes don’t belong to me. I haven’t said where you can find them yourself because I chose to protect the teller of these jokes. We don’t want too many people knowing just how ridiculous, strike that I totally meant funny, she truly is.
I’m The Man
March 3rd, 2010Is it just me or does anyone else have a problem with Sen. Bunning getting a “deal” to agree to allow an extension for unemployment benefits. I guess he has come up with a commodity other than money to help people pay bills and maintain a sense of normalcy within their lives. No, that didn’t happen? Oh for Sen. Bunning I guess it is acceptable to exist while holding your breath waiting for your life’s bubble to burst. I’m trying to figure out why he has been given so much power. Okay so politics requires tit for tat, we all know that, but what a blatant example of peacocking at the expense of others. I agree there is an extreme amount of debt piling up without knowing what the long-term outcome will be, but when did the basic standard of living get to be an acceptable sacrifice? When I see someone think somehow its cool for everyone else to do without and be okay, I can’t help but wonder what they would, scratch that, have given up as they dictate and decide what everyone else should be able to do without. So Sen. Bunning as you take your grand stand, I just have a few questions. Are you in jeopardy of falling behind on your mortgage and if not are you willing to downsize, probably at a loss, to cut your expenses? How many vacations have you skipped? Have you and your family forgone shopping? Have you parked your car? What exactly have you done other than say other people have been receiving too much money and it needs to stop. Did you forgo your salary or benefit package in the order to offset spending? Probably not. It’s really easy to sit in the only chair in the room and tell others to make themselves comfortable. Cutting off peoples unemployment benefits without offering another options highlights your humanity and true concern for your brethren. After all who cares if they have four walls if you Sen. Bunning, don’t get an extra vote.
Mechanic Needed
February 23rd, 2010I just had a wonderful experience, as wonderful as dealing with a car repair can be. The auto shop that I sent my car to for a diagnostic test actually left me with good feelings despite the fact they told me I needed a new engine. So when I initially contacted the shop they told me the test would be over a hundred dollars. What was I charged? A cool 52 bucks with a written assessment of what was needed. If you are like me, you probably don’t have much faith in auto repair shops. But anytime you can walk away with an assessment, not be sweated about making an immediate decision and can even leave the car for over a week without it being the end of the world, well that is an auto shop I can learn to love. Thanks Chicago Import Services for renewing my faith in mechanics.
Spectacle Please
February 16th, 2010So posting new information is not the only thing that I‘m behind on, both of the dvrs are 95% full, my father knows more about YouTube than I do and I’m constantly asked by family and friends if I’m on Facebook yet. Okay, okay, I’m getting around to all of it. There is absolutely no way that my father can be more up on things than me. So while I’ve been catching up on Oprah and The View, a couple of stories struck me. One of my favorite is about a guest who was on The View, Dave Carroll, who has gotten to corporate America in my new favorite way. Can anyone say Spectacle! Much applause to you Dave Carroll, thanks for showing us the way. While the question that must still be raised is why most companies require “spectacle” in order to do the right thing, if that’s what gets it done I am certainly on board with creating a three ring circus at their front door. Mr. Carroll your performance was one of the best showcases of musical talent combined with spectacle. I loved it. By the way spectacle is one of my new favorite words and trust me that will certainly be my angle when I encounter future insurmountable and or unforgivable levels of denial, unconcern, and irresponsibility from any company. My heart attack days are over and I’m going to release all the drama that talking to customer service can offer. Again Dave Carroll, bravo on calling American Airlines out in such a truly interesting and charismatic way. I wish I would have thought of it myself. Now personally I don’t think that it should have to come to that, but congrats on demanding accountability from a ridiculous situation. American Airlines and all other companies who need it, the circus can always be open to your business.
Sick and Tired!
February 9th, 2010There is nothing worse than being sick. I take that back. There’s nothing worse than having a sick kid. Well I kind of take that back. There’s nothing worse than having a sick kid and feeling like you can’t take them to the doctor because you don’t have insurance or can’t afford to create a new bill. Honestly I am not sure whether or not universal healthcare is the answer, but I do know in a country where we fund so many things I wonder why there is such a problem with deciding to fund this. One thing I know for sure is healthcare should not be tied to a job. Having a job should not be the key to health and not having one should not mean your health is irrelevant. Particularly at this time when employers are cutting so many workers either to part time which means no benefits or coverage so limited that it might as well be considered no benefits, or all together, something has got to be done. For those who oppose everybody having healthcare my question to you is why are you opposed? Is it due to feeling that people just aren’t worth the expense of everyone having coverage? Or does it have more to do with politics and not wanting to see the President be successful? Is it perhaps because somehow “others” shouldn’t be entitled to benefits that the elite are privileged too (um Congress, I might be talking to you). Irrespective of politics and hey even money, where is the humanity? Most people can’t walk by a sick animal and not want to help, but the underprivileged, unemployed or underinsured, well I guess that’s another story.
Guess Who!
January 31st, 2010Okay, so I’ve been absent for a while. Trust me it’s not due to my lack of passion, actually the opposite is true. I’ve been struggling with my personal issues. Yes, like pretty much everyone, I have them. I admit it. Everything I do lately has been with the desire to stick it to someone to prove that they underestimated me and messed with the wrong person. While that might work somehow, somewhere, as a life focus not so much. I have found myself consumed with things that I deem turning points in the vision that I had for myself and sadly, find myself regularly picturing those who I hold responsible in my personal and financial downfall. Though I have been trying to channel myself in positive ways, tae-bo just isn’t enough. Maybe I just don’t do it frequently enough, something I have vowed to correct in this upcoming year. No, I’m not going to call it a resolution we all know those don’t usually go so well. Yeah, okay it’s kind of a resolution but again, I’m not going to call it that because of the way “resolutions” work out. I know you understand. So anyway, I guess my intention is to use this blog to along with imparting my wisdom that I know undoubtedly you will come to know and love, to hopefully help myself by removing anger from the decision process with the objective of ultimately reaping more success. I kind of sound like Oprah don’t I. Really the truth is I am ready to get back on the track with the plans that I had for myself before all of the outside intervention, we’ll just call it, that impacted the direction I have gone. That “intervention” is an unfortunate reality in my life and with my husband technically laid off and no insurance, this is all the therapy I can afford but we’ll save that for another day, another time. So I guess what I’m saying is “I’m baack”!
The Jobs That Pay
September 16th, 2009There was an article on Yahoo.com discussing 10 fields where it was surprising that people were only making minimum wage. Hmm, I’m going to see if I can guess the jobs. Let me ask, are any of those jobs dependent on your speed, agility and ability to hold onto or launch a ball? No? Perhaps it might involve a ball being dunked, dribbled or maybe being swung at by a bat interspersed with lots of spitting? No? Do any of them require meticulous outward appearances, interpretations of scripts and are shown on television or in theaters? No? What about the job where you sing and at the same time you create a new dance step? No? None of those jobs pay minimal wage? Okay, then is it one of those gigs where you get paid just because you are you? Yeah I know, who am I kidding, I know there are those “fabulous” ones who are lucky enough to make a cushy living on that one. Minimum wage, yeah right. Well let’s see what jobs actually made the underpaid and underappreciated list. EMTs and lifeguards, wow, they can breathe life into our bodies but not necessarily into their own pockets. Preschool teachers and nannies, evidently the formative years don’t pay. CNAs, guess that’s the problem with the nursing home smells, they don’t earn enough to clean, well pretty much anything. Rounding off the list were tax preparers, automobile mechanics, line cooks, amusement park ride operators and pharmacy techs. While I appreciate the talent that individuals in sports, entertainment and the fabulous ones have, I think we also need to appreciate the things that people contribute every day as well. It may not be on the grand scale or platform that some professions offer, but important and respectable none the less. Irrespective of a person’s field of choice, shouldn’t people in general be able to live without their daily necessities balancing in the wind? I don’t think that athletes, entertainers, the “fabulous” and only those at the top of a company ladder should have that aspect of life on lock as they say. But hey, only a select few think I’m fabulous, so I guess I don’t carry much weight!
Not Cool
September 15th, 2009Because there is big business associated with entertainers, because they are people, because we all deserve respect and consideration no matter our station in life, I have to say Kanye West, not cool. I had written earlier about the need to have “Consideration and Respect Training”, sorry Taylor Swift, Kanye West has not yet attended the class. While I’m not personally familiar with Ms. Swift’s music, I like so many others, feel that she didn’t deserve what happened at the VMA’S but kudos to her for maintaining her dignity in an awkward situation. To Kanye West, COME ON!
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
September 11th, 2009That’s what we are missing as a society. People are so quick to be consumed with their own self importance that they forget consideration for others. We are a society of inconsiderate people, organizations and groups. Be it banks, mortgages companies, employers, service providers, government agencies, politicians; I’ll stop now because the list can go on and on. The bottom line is even on an individual level there is too often a lack of respect and consideration shown towards our fellow citizen. We should not feel in order to be successful, turn a profit, or be at the top of our game that we must make others feel insignificant, unimportant or nonexistent. Why don’t we try treating others the way we would want to be treated, I thought I heard that somewhere before but apparently it’s a novel idea. Maybe what we need is to require “Consideration and Respect Training” country wide, you know like maybe when you renew your drivers’ license. I’m sure eyes are rolling because I suggested one more requirement, but hey I’m going to benefit from this one, so keep the rumbling to a minimum please. So since I just put that on my ‘to do’ list, while I work on my manual I will outline a few key points. 1. Treat others the way you want to be treated, I learned that at home and even in kindergarten 2. Do not interrupt the person who has the floor, Rep. Joe Wilson, I hope you’re paying attention. 3. Tone is important when you are communicating with others, email shouters take note. Though these are lessons that I’m sure most of us know, banks, employers, mortgage companies, politicians, service providers and hey everyone and anyone, are you paying attention, a periodic refresher is apparently needed.