"Mrs O'Malley, may I call you Nita? I understand that you stayed in school, studied hard, didn't act like a slut, didn't get pregnant, and worked your way to college. You took a couple of jobs waiting tables and saved your pennies. When your girlfriends were off in Vegas partying it up with the guys, you stayed home, ate Ramen Noodles, and banked your money because you had a dream.
When you graduated with your degrees in HRT and Accounting, you took a job running a restaurant and baked pies -- and, you know how I love me some pie -- at night to sell to various restaurants and cafes. On the weekends, you cleaned houses and offices, scrubbing other people's vomit and excrement off of their toilets. You never complained. I admire that.
I get that there came a day when you passed a 'For Sale" sign on a building that had a nice storefront with a flat overhead. Yes, you went down to the bank, and because you didn't qualify for any Federal loan assistance programme, you took out a mortgage with a slightly higher interest rate. You dreamed of opening a restaurant and bakery.
You celebrated the day that the bank handed you the keys and you opened the door to the dusty, rank, "has charm" building that you hoped would one day house your dream business, but you knew that there would need to be a lot of changes made. So, you asked around for some names of contractors and carpenters.
One day, John showed up raring to go. Before you could even ask about his previous work experience, your restaurant was already taking shape, as if he could read your mind....and, he could. It turns out that John came from a long line of contractors. He had also tried his hand at the restaurant business. He was a great chef, but a not-so-great manager.
Along with the long line of plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, deliverymen, etc., hordes of "inspectors" and other government "lookie-louies" descended upon the new meat on the block. With right hand extend to shake, their left hands were extended to shakedown. I understand that there is a lot of "waste, fraud and abuse" in government and, as I promised in my 2008 campaign, eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" will be my #1 priority in my second term.
Just keep in mind, that public officials do an indispensable job, make less than workers in the private sector, and have suffered the most in George Bush's Great Recession and Recovery Summer That Never Seems To Arrive -- ya know, just like his FEMA teams after Katrina...now, I'm not saying that because George Bush hates black people or anything...it's just the facts...all economists of every ideological stripe agree with me -- so, try to help them out with a little cash. In my hometown of Chicago, we have such a system and have noticed a definite decrease in wait times when residents cooperate.
Anyway, along the way, you and John fell in love and decided to get married. As a wedding gift, John took over the mortgage in his own name prior to the ceremony and gave you title to the building and restaurant. When the restaurant was finished, you guys invited your families and friends and threw a wedding. It was a fantastic day, a great test run of the kitchen, staff, menu, and fabulous way to get early feedback.
Instead of taking a honeymoon, you two went upstairs to your flat for a couple of days. Enjoyed. Recovered. Then, put the "Open" sign on the door.
The first year was tough. You paid your workers and hardly ever saw a penny for yourselves. You both laid in bed at night and wondered if this was going to end in disaster. Nita, you started baking and selling pies to other restaurants and cafes again. John even picked up some construction work on the side. But, you both persevered.
The next year got a better. The traffic increased, as did the size of your family. Although you provided health insurance for your employees, you couldn't afford it for yourselves. So, you borrowed money from your families to pay the hospital bills and brought Jonathan home from the hospital -- free and clear.
In your third year, the restaurant where all of the politicos used to have their 3 martini lunches was raided for gambling and dealing drugs. The mayor, Chief of Police, and half of the City Council were indicted. Decent people, who did not want to be thought to associate with such a place and those kind of people, stumbled upon your restaurant and reservations became hard to come by.
So successful did your restaurant become, you began hiring more and more people although I don't understand what you meant by "People Unlike Us Need Not Apply." I might need to have Eric Holder look into that because it sounds racist to me.
Mrs O'Malley, you claim that you want people that are hard workers, who are willing to sacrifice the good times in the short run for the greater times in the long run, who believe that people make their own destinies, and who believe that life is about choices and choices have consequences. You claim that is what you mean by "People Unlike Us Need Not Apply," but, Nita, you have to understand that signs like that have a different meaning to our people.
What would your grandmother have thought had she seen that sign? You have to remember all of the oppression and insults. As my spiritual mentor of 20 years taught me, "white folks' greed rules a world in need." So, just between you and me, girl, you be careful about that cracker husband of yours and all of those white people that smile and say "May I have some more water, please?" As my friend Maureen Dowd would tell you, "Girlfriend, you have to listen for the "girl" at the end of that...even if it isn't said." It's true. It really, really is and don't go listening to that libertarian nut that writes about "Dowderisation." Joe Miller really did say "You lie, boy!" I was there. Who are you going to believe? My lying, Dumbo ears or my lying "George, it is NOT a tax" mouth?
You consider yourself a "winner" in life, but you are not. You put up a sign that, basically, says "Winners Only, Losers Need Not Apply." Who are you to decide who is a winner and who is a loser? Just because you are successful? Just because you didn't get "punished with a baby" when you were a teenager? Just because you had to work your way through college instead of getting Pell Grants? Just because you'd rather grow your own food out of coffee cans than look sexy by getting food stamps through SNAP? You are a loser. You just don't know it. What's more is that you are a snobby loser. You think that you arrived at your successful loserdom all on your lonesome. Well, you. did. not.
Look this is the deal, I know that you worked hard and became successful, Nita, but you didn't get here on your own. You've got a wonderful, thriving business, but you didn't build it. Neither did that cracker husband of yours -- as an aside, do you think that John can give me some pointers with the white, blue collar vote? Man, my numbers with them are lower than Jimmy Carter's!
Anyhoo, Nita, you and John didn't get here on your own. Somebody else made it all happen. In fact, in your case, several people made it happen and I want to introduce you to some of the kind of people that did it. Below are photographs of some of them.
Nita, there are only few true winners in life and I'm one of them. Very soon, a light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come
down upon you, you will experience an epiphany ... and you will
suddenly realise that you must go to the polls and vote for me, Barack Obama, because I am the one you have been waiting for."
- President Barack Obama, Friday the 13th, 2012
1 comment:
OUTSTANDING!
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