Saying Goodbye To President Bush
Published September 04, 2003
More than anything else, I AM LUCKY. Because there are people who don't have food to give their children, or money to pay for a car so they can find a job, or buy the basic necessities of life. I have family and friends who have been kind enough to help me through my families tough times, but now EVERYONE is having a tough time, and charity is a tough pill to swallow.
For every time I have to explain my health insurance situation, no one ever bothers to say, "Oh dear, you must have lost your job due to the failing economy and poor management decisions at your previous employer, and because you care about your children and unborn, you understand the importance of adequate healthcare and will take whatever help you are offered." No, what they do is look at you and make assumptions about the type of person you are without the slightest clue that you were once a valuable and highly respected employee at a nationally known company.
The humiliation is my burden to bear, not my children's. But it is painful either way. I do find only small comfort in knowing that many of my former co-workers must share my fate and do their best to get by.
Back in '78 when my parents were preparing for divorce, my dad lost his job at the Kaiser Aluminum factory, a job that provided an adequate living for a small rural family. My mom grew up poor so she learned many skills to make ends meet. She could sew, can her own food and make gifts from scratch. I only wish I had half her talent for such things. Even though that Christmas felt out of place with our homemade gifts, there was a sense of community as we worked together during emotional and financial hardship to make our last Christmas together at least "feel" special.
I have neither my mom's strength or her talent, so I fear this Christmas and the pressure to "give" will be just one more burden I can't bear. But I will attempt to sew, cook on a limited budget, learn to knit and craft things from scratch. Hopefully those receiving the gifts will see the love that went into them, not the mistakes and poor skills.
I am sorry President Bush, I don't want to turn my back on you, but you aren't doing the whole job.
I am leaning towards Howard Dean and thank you Shannon for providing me the impetuous to control at least one thing in my life. Go here for more info.
Dawn Olsen is a veteran blogger who proudly supports the guy who publishes this awesome site. She's also an avid reader of high quality tabloid fare, enjoys gardening and scatological skywriting.
- Saying Goodbye To President Bush
- Published: September 04, 2003
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- Section: Culture
- Writer: Dawn Olsen
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Sorry, I can't resist this one. One of the main arguements against the war was that the U.S. could not afford both to "liberate" Iraq and to provide its people with basic needs like healthcare and a functioning infrastructure (see here).
Well, now that the cost of Iraq is exploding beyond all expectations, that arguement is truer than ever. We can't build schools and hospitals in the U.S. because we're building them in Iraq. We can't provide heath insurance for Americans because we're up to our necks providing it for Iraqis. Do the math.
As the French and the Germans say: you made this bed, you lie in it. The chickens have come home to roost.
Mr. Larkin, your misanthropy is noted. However, stopping bad guys from killing and raping rates as a more critical function for government than providing free stuff to everybody. Dawn might be struggling financially, but at least she's not getting killed by terrorists.
Of course, you're working on the premise that the costs of our defense are somehow the cause of our economic troubles, which is nonsense. Dubya inherited a recession, and then we got hit with 9/11.
Note also that those events screwed up not just our emotions but our economy far more than any financial cost of fighting and rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq.
On the other hand, at least you get to gloat.
True dat Al, the company I worked for USED the 9/11 tragedy as an excuse for filing bankruptcy.
Mike, I know we are supposed to be all civil to one another, but go hump a camel. Truly and sincerely.
true, we did get 9/11...but then we got a long slow buildup to the invasion of iraq...that was the straw that broke the back of the camel that dawn wishes mike would hump...so to speak.
well put Mark
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As a one income family, I can appreciate the struggles, I don't know quite what to do about it politically yet, but being thoughtful never hurts.
One thing we did this year is announce early that instead of buying Christmas gifts we were going to do other things, like take cool pictures of the grandkids and give those as presents.