Nothing Special

Hello all!
This part of the Whateverlution...is all about me. Call it an ongoing ever changing 'about the author' Dane Cook once said...A suicide note written by someone who is not suicidal is called an autobiography.

So what gives me the ability to speak out about the world? Why should anyone listen when I tell them about fitness, gaming, intellectual pursuits, the sociological ramifications of current world politics, and gummy worms?

Well that's something you're going to have to learn as you go. However if you want credentials, allow me to fill in a bit of my resume.

At 34 I have collected paychecks from over 30 different employers. I have built million dollar homes, I have driven a front end loader through mountains of trash, I've been to basic training and enjoyed some peace time national guard time, I've worked for restaurants, retail chains, and convenient stores and been a substitute teacher. However I have also spent over five years as a guard at a county jail AND 30 days as an inmate at a different county jail. (For CIVIL CONTEMPT-I couldn't afford to pay ALIMONY, and was subsequently put in jail, which caused me to lose my job with the Sheriff's Department)

My education involves an Associates degree, and 90 credits towards a BS in Mental Health and Human services, as well as a healthy interest in reference literature. School and I have never gotten along, I find it too rigid and constraining, I can learn more on my own.

The only things I know for sure...I've been pretty good at just about every job I've ever had. The closest to a job I actually liked was as a guard. I'm a people watcher and psychological dynamics fascinate me, plus I'm an adrenaline junkie and at the time thrived amidst the crazy fights, hangings, cut-ups etc etc. That being said I now have to pursue a different career, and this blog circle is part of it. It's a social and personal experiment. I know that everywhere I've gone, people tend to remember me. However despite being a quick learner, and intelligent and well-spoken, something seems to be holding me back. So I am now hoping to work from that into something here, maybe a job, maybe a career, maybe pocket money, time will tell.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

10 degrees outside (draft read thru once)



Dear American
If heat is something you have to save up for…
You are poor.
You are not ‘struggling middleclass’
You are not ‘going through a hard time’
You are in fact poor.
Even speaking the words my mind wants to rebel.
I won’t admit it.  America, the land of upward mobility, where we can do everything!
I find myself rationing propane, and bringing home as much pallet dunnage from work as I can.  My car isn’t registered, there’s 35% propane in the tank.  I know I can go through 6+% a week if it gets cold.  The woodstove at night takes the edge off, actually makes it hot in the house…then slowly burns down.  I have some spare cash, I could buy a few bundles of wood.  I get paid in 2 days, I can finish paying for the propane that’s in the tank now…I had the minimum delivery and paid over two payments.  I also have to pay the electric bill and buy food and gas.  I don't have the money for a cord of wood, or another propane delivery for 2 weeks.
This sounds like complaining…right?
It Isn’t.
How many people out there are saying…
‘You think you’re the only one with problems?’  How many can rattle off how hard they have it…
Do any of you consider yourselves poor?
You don’t do you?
THAT…
Is the point.
Welcome to the working poor.
We as Americans are bred to believe we are the best and can do anything.
However a lot of us cannot easily afford basic necessities…A roof, Heat, electricity, and food.
I also understand that in other countries even these are luxuries, but I’m not talking third world, the US is a civilized nation, if you don’t have these things you are homeless, and that’s a different conversation.
I’m talking to the people sitting home on their day off, checking Facebook, counting the meals in the fridge til’ payday, and saving up for heat before they run out.
If you don’t think you’re poor, then you tell me what a poor person looks like.

Then ask yourself…is this the American Dream we were raised on?  Is this where we thought we’d end up?  We work…hard, we’re intelligent, personable, and most of us work in some sort of service industry, so we have to be socially competent.  What sets us apart from the customers we service (nothing sexual there, it’s a play on customer service workers)…I firmly believe that I’m better than what I am…
I have found limited success and sufficient aptitude in manual labor, service industries, and County level Corrections.  I bought a house at 22.  Have had a 750 credit score.  I've never had more than 2 weeks of security.  I've never been able to blindly fill my oil or propane tank, because it's winter and that's what you do.  finding a way to pay for heat is a measuring stick for me.  If it is something you have to think about or struggle with we are poor.  Now I have a 475 credit score, no checking account, drive an unregistered vehicle, and plan my bills one to three weeks in advance to make sure there's money for them.  This means my fridge and vehicle both run low and only the first one to run out gets fed.

It’s cold.  I knew it would be.  I’m living as minimalistic as I ever have…I’m studying my prey.  A hunter, looking to blend.  Where the fuck is this upward mobility and how do I keep fucking it up.
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