I will admit that I don't follow everything that is going on in the world, am I proud of this? Not really, but hey, I am lazy. There is one thing that try as I may, I have not been able to avoid, and that is all of this hoopla about the 99%. I understand, for the most part, the reasoning behind what is going on. I actually agree with the protests. This is the reason why I thought I would say my peace on this matter.
I am by no means rich, loaded, well to do, the 1%, I am however, better off than most. I come from a middle class family. My dad worked his ass off at the same job for more than 30+ years. He got up every day at 5 in the morning and sometimes didn't return home until 7, 8 or even 9 at night. Worked weekends. Holidays. Everyday for 30 years, and I never once heard him complain about it. Until the day that his job folded because there was no need for it anymore (this was after the economy tanked, not before). Now my dad is pushing 60, making a little above minimum wage as a janitor and waking up at 3 a.m. to go to work. He still doesn't complain, he should. It doesn't bother him but it does me. I feel bad for my dad as I watch him struggle to pay his bills. Every bill he has continues to go up, yet his wage goes down. His property taxes have more than doubled in the last few years, yet his house has lost a significant amount of the value. He pays his bills on time every month. This is getting harder for him to do.
My mom has worked for as long as I can remember as well. I don't think she has ever gotten out of work at the time she was supposed to. She too has busted her ass for many, many years. She hasn't taken a pay cut or anything like that, but I have watched over the years as more and more of her pension has been taken back. Her job is in danger all of the time. She complains about all of this stuff. I understand. It pisses me off too. She has looked forward to retirement for many years. In the past couple of years it has come a reality to her that retirement is a myth for her. She may be able to "retire" from the job she has now, but will truly never leave the work force. Both of my parents will most likely die while working. This isn't a joke.
I feel that my parents did a great job raising me. My parents worked hard so we could go to a hotel the next town over to stay at a hotel. They never lived beyond their means. I never saw them buy a brand new car. They never bought all of the toys. I think my dad got a CD player with in the past 5 years and the only reason he has a DVD player is because someone gave it to him for free. The worked hard so that they could give me the things that I needed or wanted. I didn't get all of those things, and I have come to terms with that. My parents only bought things out of necessity when I was younger. My parents started to enjoy themselves a little more as I got older and started working and earning a steady paycheck. I have watched over the past couple of years as this has slowed down. I have seen the first signs of aging in my parents. Maybe it was always there and I just never noticed it. Maybe it was caused by all of the above stuff. I really don't know. I hate that my parents killed themselves for so long to have a better life, but because of the greed of others, they may never reap these rewards. And they aren't the only ones. There are plenty of people out there going through the same thing, some even worse things. People who spent years working hard. People who are now paying for the "mistakes" that others have made. At least they have social security to look forward to. That was a joke. Kind of. They may actually get some of that.
Now onto me. As I said, I think my parents did a good job raising me. They helped me out a lot financially, and I am very grateful for this. I learned a lot from the example that they set. I have never bought a brand new car, I don't live outside of my means. My wife and I don't have any kids, we want to, but it scares me. We don't buy new things. We don't have iPhones, fancy cars, own any designer clothing, etc... We use coupons, but generic products, watch movies at home, things like that. We are both college grads. We both have full time jobs. Yet we find it harder and harder to make it month to month. Why? I was saddened when the came in and laid off half of the people that I work with. Sad for them, secretly glad that I didn't meet the same fate. For that reason I kept my mouth closed when my work load doubled to make up for the short staff. I kept quiet when I didn't get a raise for 3 straight years. I kept quiet when Christmas bonuses become a four letter word. I kept quiet when my insurance costs more than doubled. I kept quiet when I realized that I made more money 7 years ago (at the same job), than I do today. Property taxes more than doubling, owing more on a house that I will ever get in return for it, etc.. When do I get to speak up? How long do the others like me have to keep quiet? I did everything "right" yet suffer every day for it, as do many others. I didn't lose all of money in the stock market because I didn't put any in there (I did lose all of my 401k, but hey, I am young, maybe I will make some of it back). I didn't buy a house that was way more than I could afford. I have tried to save as much as I could. Why is that the people who did everything the "right" way, are losing their asses?
I don't even know what I am saying here, does this make sense? Does anyone even care?
No comments:
Post a Comment