Tick Tock

Tick tock the game is locked and nobody else can play; for if they do, we'll take their shoe, and keep it for a year or two. Hickory, Dickory Dock the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck one and down he run Hickory Dickery Dock. Time, where does it take us; towards death, and then what? Time is of the essence. The hands of time move as the world turns. There’s the timely death, time robbers, Time Barons, Time magazine, time to call it a day. His time was up .It’s Time to come home to papa, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (no wait that doesn’t belong here).
I sit and watch the clock go, while I wait for calls about my resume. Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick. The program 60 minutes has nothing on my wait. That stop watch ran out a long time ago. I ran out of time to wait. Yet it still marches on and there’s not much else I can do. You see after a certain age and certain amount of education, time is not on your side when looking for a job, because the game is locked. Good jobs are only for those who have them. And it can take a year or two to luck into something. I thought more education would make it easier to progress. I thought I could get a better job. But, I’m too old now. My experience isn’t in a good job area. So, I’m over qualified or under qualified, or have no experience. I’m no longer picked by either captain. I’m not last, I just can’t play anymore. Or so it seems.
So I watch the time go by. I have a lot of resumes to send every day. But as I’ve mentioned before, the phone just doesn’t ring. When it does its an insurance company wanting me to sell for them. I don’t want to sell insurance. Insurance is another game people can’t play, they can only pay. If you do play or don’t pay enough then you’re locked out and they keep your shoe…the money you spent with them they are investing and making more money than you’ll ever see with.
I watch my 1 year old and his biggest concern is who is watching him now. What can he get away with next? Where is his security blanket? Where is mine. Unemployment rots a marriage, because not only do you have no self confidence any more, but no one else in the family has confidence in you. Well the one year old does as long as you keep his pants changed. But it isn’t long before he will think you can’t possibly know anything. I’ve learned how to let them think that. It makes the teens feel better. I don’t have anything to prove anymore. I did my time in school and have a GPA to be proud of, but I can’t get a job because I don’t have “experience.”
Interesting thing about experience, you can learn tasks anywhere on any job, but you can’t learn that certain wisdom that comes with putting your time in. I don’t really care what position it is you had, as long as you had it, and learned from it. True there are some things that must be learned before you do them, but for most jobs you can learn that on the job and pretty quickly. How you survive in a job though, that is what experience brings you. That takes time. I’ve had plenty of time in positions of all kinds. But the game is locked. I’m not the best candidate because I didn’t do this or that or don’t know a certain program. The fact programs are easy to pick up and this or that is too has no bearing on the decision, but it is the measure.
I’d give up if I didn’t have to feed the family. The one year old is someone else’s major responsibility, but they’re playing in the game. So I get to watch him while their off playing. Me I’m watching the hour hand go around. Typing up my complaints for no one to read or care about, and waiting for my time to be up. I’m waiting for someone else to determine my fate. I can only look and network and apply. Someone else gets to decide.

A Chilling Tale

I get in my email…nearly daily now…someone having a fit over illegal immigration. I am not for illegal anything, but immigration is of course not only a hot topic, a fad topic, and a very difficult and hard to resolve topic, but it is becoming something of a hate issue. I get things in the mail saying there are so many illegal aliens in our prisons, so many have violent history, only so many really pick the crops (not as much as you would think), but then there are no sources, or just a general source saying such and such a newspaper has these facts. No one is going to check those unless they are involved in some way in the policymaking. Therefore, I can only hope they are somewhat accurate. Of course, the other word that always accompanies such emails is “chilling.”
This will chill you to the bones. If this is not chilling information, I do not know what is. These chilling facts are going to open your eyes. Send this email to all your friends and relatives so they can learn these chilling facts. I almost feel like its Eskimos who are doing the illegal immigration, and they are bringing chilly weather with them. The truth is of course they are coming from the other direction; the south instead of the north, so there is not much chilly about them…perhaps chili is what we are all supposed to feel. However, that gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling, so I doubt that is the context.
No the real context is bigotry I am afraid. As much as the loud mouths want to make it, otherwise they really just hate Latinos. I have many friends and acquaintances from south of the border and quite honestly find them a lot better people than some of the white folk I know, who can’t stand the thought of someone else trying to better themselves. Now I am not here to endorse illegal immigration, far from it, but it is a reality and until wiser folks than I can figure out how to stop it, I am not going to participate in the bashing. It is a serious problem and it needs immediate attention.
I for one would like to see companies stop providing services in Spanish, and the Government needs to lead the way. I understand there is a need in some respects for some forms to be in Spanish, but if a company in the United States has to provide Spanish language services, and then they are not doing the country a favor. Should we expect people to learn English? Yes. Should we expect them to follow the law when coming to this country? Yes. However, until we have the national will to enforce such actions, we will continue to have the problem. I think the will is there among the electorate, but not with the politicians who have to cater to the Latino vote. Congress is where the backbone is weakest, and needs some type of brace to sure it up. However, bashing illegal immigrants and painting them as the villains of our time, is not the way to go about this. Instead of sending your bigoted emails to me, send them to your Congressperson. Let them sort out the will of the country. The problem is you are going to have to be rational and credible. So far, you are not showing that to me, and I do not even matter!
We are all children of the same God and we should treat each other with the type of respect that deserves. Helping them stay home and providing for their families is probably the best resolution. How that is accomplished, I do not know. We need to calm down our bigotry and bigots or we are going to see something akin to the 1960s riots or worse, a civil war.