So, James inspired me to start a blog. That and the fact that I work 8 hours a day answering phones in a cubicle, in front of a computer with high speed internet. At home we only have dial-up. It’s the stone age.
I guess I have to come up with some stuff to write about. Which is hard because I basically have no life. I came to Richmond two years ago to visit home for a couple of months. I’m still here. Despite having worked at at least 5 different places and taking classes at VCU I know pretty much no one. I have no friends. If I was stranded in town somewhere or I needed a favor, I’d only have my mother or sisters to call. I guess this says something pretty big about me as a person. I don’t know, I’ve just never been terribly outgoing, or the type to impose myself on people. It’s not that I dislike people, it’s just that it doesn’t always occur to me to try to include them in my life if I don’t know them already. This ensures a sufficiently small social circle and the ability to feel lonely and moderately sorry for myself on any given day. It’s not that I love people either. I find most people to be disappointing in one way or another. And by that I mean totally unlike myself, and generally subscribing to the whole mainstream selfish consumer driven life-style. The kind of people who have nothing to talk about except what they thought about last night’s American Idol and which chain restaurant they’ll be drinking at tonight; about how they have no money, but when they get some they are definitely buying an iphone or a flat screen tv. But when I do find a kindred spirit I do my best to keep in touch. A good sense of humor and at least a basic awareness of current events is imperative. I’m a snob, but not really. It’s not that I think I’m better than any of these people, just utterly unrelated to them.
I might find people I could relate to better if I didn’t keep selling myself short and taking any menial, hourly job that comes my way.
This is really turning into a self-pitying “dear diary” entry here…
What the whole 9-5 cubicle experience is teaching me though, is that it’s really not set up for you to get ahead. Fewer and fewer companies, even the government, are offering benefits these days. Wages are going down, hours are being cut and the length of employment is usually limited such that you have to reapply for a “temporary” position to keep your job. All so that they can get out of having you on the benefits role, and having to give you labor and mediation rights. Once you’ve finished your 8 hours a day and commute and paid your bills you have practically no time or money to do anything else. I got along better waitressing part time, I still didn’t have benefits but there was more going into my pockets, I got to be on my feet doing something different everyday, and could take time off whenever I wanted. And I got free food.
I read an interesting article recently about the death of the “American Dream.” http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/generationdebt/88236
The article itself was alright, it made some good points, but what was really interesting was the response to the article. There were over 300 comments posted - some in high praise of the article, but a lot of them tearing it down and insisting that our generation just doesn’t know how to work hard, or balance their budgets. As a soon to be single mother working three jobs, with no credit cards or debt, I have to disagree. The fact is the baby boomers did have a better deal. At the same time, most of our generation does live beyond their means and have a certain sense of entitlement. I blame predatory lending and advertising. The other thing that amazed me was the response that by implying that there were other things of value than working and money and consumer goods, aka free time and quality of life, the author was clearly a hippie , a dirty liberal , and further a communist/ socialist. When she observed that more people were living closer to the city and riding their bikes – and that this may actually be enjoyable, or a good thing – people responded that she was “catering to liberals who want us all to have to live close to the dirty, crime ridden city, have to ride bikes, and have the government tell us where to work, where to live and how to live our lives…” I still don’t understand the correlation between bike riding and a hostile socialist takeover… I don’t think people understand what socializing something really means. After all, education, some healthcare, fire fighters, police, and EMS are all socialized services, and the only thing dictating my lifestyle to me is the evils of capitalism and the greed of corporations.
Several of these types of articles suggest that the way to stay ahead is to invest your money in stocks. That is - if you can’t learn how to operate in today’s American economy and have a financial investment plan than you deserve to work to death and live in the gutter. But have you read the news lately? Not only do I have no desire to contribute to most of the huge, greedy, corrupt and immoral companies, who shift jobs to other countries, pay slave wages and destroy the environment, while lobbying our government for corporate welfare, but I have no desire to make a profit off of the disenfranchisement of other people or be forced into funding these companies just to get by. Even if I did, recent news has done quite the smash job on investor confidence levels. My money is as likely to be lost as it is increased.
That’s something a hippie liberal would say.
