Occupy America

This appears on another of my blogs today as part of Taking a Stand.

The end was closing in; the signs were all there. She'd seen this all play out so many times. The rally of energy, the smiles, the jokes and the way things appeared to be getting better. She recognized the signs. The end was close.

She'd worked all her life. She didn't know any other way. Parochial school didn't prepare a girl for much back then.  There was the convent or the marriage. Neither suited her. She entered the world blind and naive. So many mistakes but few regrets and never thinking of giving up. Not until now. Now she was tired and beaten and again unprepared.

She paid her taxes and invested in her plan to retire. Then it all blew up. The bankers and investment gurus stole everything, got richer, stayed richer and ridiculed those from whom they stole. When their own bags began to split, off to the politicians they ran telling them they must convince the victims to bail them out and pay their bills. Make the victims take care of the thieves  families in the way they had become accustomed.  It was one of the few times the politicians agreed. There were no party lines, only blatant greed.

 For the first time in her life there were no jobs In loosely disguised words, they said she was too old. "Too experienced" they called it. The fat politicians told the world the jobs were there but she was too lazy to work and too greedy to take less. They called their job fair a success. Thirty companies came with a total of 1100 hundred jobs to fill. The jobs were pretty basic. The young, old and lazy were surprised to learn there were 3 to 30 applicants for each opening. Few really were hired but the media lauded the success of the fair.

Time went on and the old lazy woman ran out of benefits. She took early retirement. The politicians criticized her. How dare she ask for the money she paid into this program meant to help in her later years. She took the money anyway. It was barely enough to exist -- a little over $600 per month to cover everything.  She kept smiling and she kept looking.

After three years (and three months) she found a part time job. She celebrated by crying. She started to figure how to turn the gas back on for winter were only a few weeks off.

Then it all fell apart again. No one seemed to know who withdrew the money or why no one could trace it. But there it was $179 to some cyber crook. The rent bounced. The fees mounted.  Now she found herself with a job, a small retirement check and no place to live.

Living longer was no blessing and she knew the politicians, the same ones who kept getting fatter while she starved, were doing all they could to shorten her life span. She was very cold and very tired and very hungry. Sleep would be the true blessing. Finally, she gave up.