Thursday, October 13, 2011



The Occupy Wall St. movement is sweeping the country. People are gathering in hundreds of major cities all around the country to protest....................something.

The problem with these "protests" is that no one can give a truly cohesive answer as to why my city parks are clogged with hippies and dying veterans. I've spent the last week listening to both sides of the argument. I understand the frustration of the American people. I really do, but I don't think that jumping up and down in the streets is going to fix it.





When I was unemployed, the last thing I thought about doing was grabbing some poster board and hitting the streets. I went to the library, booted up a computer and spent the next eight months slinging coffee while applying for jobs around the country. I told people I was willing to move (and I did......twice). I took four part time jobs when full time was not available, and I learned to use public transportation. I know being unemployed sucks. I know being in debt up to your neck is annoying, but guess what guys? Nobody, especially the federal government, is going to fix all that for you. As Americans, we have a responsibility to make it work; to keep trying and working and falling down and trying again.

The words on the statue of Liberty say it best, I think:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The point of being an American is not that everything is handed to you simply because you think you need it. The point, my friends, is that here in America, you have the chance to earn it. You have the opportunity to scrape yourself off the pavement and try again. We have the chance to succeed and we have the chance to fail. That is how we learn responsibility. That is how we learn perseverance and determination.

That is how we become better.

On the lighter side of the issue:

If you have no shame and are amused by the idea of thousands of people coming together for no coherent reason, check out this strip. Also, twitter made my week with their own spin on the situation in the big apple.