One month ago I lost my job.
As I like to tell it, I was "quired," meaning I was half-fired/half-quit. I had worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car for 4 1/2 years, and enjoyed three and half of those years. A combination of a long commute (to Front Royal), my own apathy towards the job, an inability to meet my numbers, and much of the company changing from when I came on, it no longer worked. I learned from my area manager that we were going to a meeting with my regional manager to "talk about my performance." I knew what that meant, so I went home and told my wife what was happening and decided to email my two week notice before they could fire me. I had no back-up plan, I have a wife who makes $40k, and bills to pay.
What I did next might separate me from many of the folks my age out on the streets right now. I sat down in front of my computer, got onto DCJobs and CareerBuilder and put my resume up. I got my LinkedIN going. I reached out and called friends and former co-workers who went through what I did. I made appointments and met with recruiters around the area (at least three separate ones). I took interviews, I answered every email, I set up phoners and in person interviews. In a sense, I got to work. My wife held me together and made me send her daily reports. Two weeks later, I was hired. The job I took is an inside business-to-business sales job, completely different from what I knew and was used too. Its phone sales and its selling internet bandwidth. I know jackshit about it. But guess what, I'm learning. I had a lot of help in many different ways from many different people. Nobody can do it alone, but the fact is I got on it immediately.
So when I see these people on the streets demanding money from "the corperations," and the rich people it makes me want to vomit. It actually angers me. When I lost my job, I didn't blame rich people, I didn't banks or corporations. I put my head down and looked for one. And don't get me wrong, I understand the anger. I don't have much college debt, but my wife does. I know it seems unfair. But what made this country great is the ability to make your own luck.
What is happening deeply troubles me. I see a generation (my generation) trained by their parents to expect everything without working for, and if you don't get it expect the government to give you money until you get it. My generation expects that they should be getting high five figure salaries as soon as the exit college. My generation looks down on blue collar work, thinking everyone should get a quick-rick IT job and retire at 40 and live off of social security. Its selfish and un-American. Its not the way my parents raised me. Nobody has every worked harder than my father, and guess what? He's been successful. That's the lesson I learned growing up. You work hard, you make sacrifices, you take chances, you be honest, and you will make it. That formula worked for my dad. Its a formula I believe in. And sadly, my generation was told by our parents we can have it all, but never trained on the sacrifices needed to make that happen.
But now it goes deeper than just the evolution of America from what made it great into a generation of angry, lazy, and entitled citizens unwilling to truly sacrifice now for happiness later. It goes to our political system and is epitomized by the President of the United States. When I see this rabble in the streets, I see the culimation of our Community Organizer-in-Chief. This is how Barack Obama came to be . . . he agitated, felt entitled, and was given much based on race, guilt, and connections that cut him to the front of the line. Barack Obama never worked or sacriiced the way someone like . . . oh say . . . Bill Clinton did. Bill Clinton had to pull his step-father off his mother when he was attacking her. Say what you will, but Bill Clinton brought himself up by his bootstraps. This notion of entitlement knows no party, but it does know the current president.
When I see these occupiers, I look at the President and his hot rhetoric. The man who talks about "fairness," "the rich," "paying your fair share." It angers me. What is fair? Too me, fairness means giving me the chance to make a name for myself, to provide for my family, and to live my life with liberty and happiness. "Fairness" isn't insisting someone who has more money than me giving me some just because I lost my job. Fairness isn't punishing the rich to please others. But the President is now using the prestige of his office to entrench the cultural movement that defined him, the movement of redistribution and entitlement from government. Its sad because we are slowly becoming two countries so long as this mess of an economy continues. But I think back to my grandparents generation . . . who yes, did have the New Deal but much of the New Deal wasn't just handing out checks. Much of it was putting people to work. Its worth is debatable, but our grandparents never forgot that blinding poverty and yet, despite growing up in near poverty nationwide, the sons of the dust bowl and the ethnic inner-city and the rural South went to Europe and saved the world.
The Presiden now has his army. They are in New York and Austin and all over the country now. They are beingr reinforced by Unions and others looking for their "fair share." To me, this coming election isn't simply about political issues any more Its about what we want for America. While the Tea Party is reviled among many, their rallies are planned and organized. Their rallies don't threaten and attack people. They read the Constitution, they speak of reviving and restoring America to its greatness. The President and his Army wish to punish the achievers so everything can be "fair." I didn't ask for anyone to give me money, I just asked for help. This President and his Occupiers want to turn our country into . . . I don't know what. But its not the one that our greatness was built upon.
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