I have debated since my return home tonight about writing my post. I am upset about things I heard tonight. I, personally, have not been injured, but I am tired of hearing the same lines while I see what I see. I promised on my home page to stay out of politics, and, for the most part, this is not political. It is my thoughts and if I do not write them down, I will not sleep
I had talk radio on while driving home. The top of the hour news came on. The announcer was running through the incidents of the day – a lot of talk about the storm that hit the east. Then, as we have heard for almost a year now and will continue to hear for the next nine months, talk of the current candidates followed by sound bites. I heard the same rhetoric that we have heard since each candidate announced. I will make America great. It is time for a change. I will make things better. I am the one to lead this country into a better day. The comments came from both sides of the aisle. Like I said, nothing new, so why did I get upset?
As all of the above was being played, I pulled into a parking spot in front of the dry cleaner. I am former military and to be honest, I actually love ironing my own shirts. I don’t think anybody gets my folds crisper. My sergeant taught me well. However, since it took a few hours each Sunday, my wife convinced me to spend the dollar and change to get my shirts done. So now, tonight, I was pulling in to pick up the latest batch of shirts so I would have something to wear tomorrow, and I saw her.
Inside the store sat the owner. I could see her through the windows. She was working sewing some garment by hand. As I listened to these people who have no idea what it is like to be a common person, I saw that person. I saw the person, or one of the people, who makes this country great. She is there from morning to night, working. A small business owner working hard. She put her children through school and brought them up to be just as hard-working as she is.
As the radio moaned on, I thought about our offices. I left after six. I was not last. Inside the offices were still a good number of people toiling away to make education work for our students. These people put in 11 to 12 hour days to make sure this happens. The same happens at all of the schools. Teachers are either in their classroom late at night or working at home grading and planning. They do it because they want to see their students succeed in school and beyond.
My thoughts started flashing to other people I know. A friend who owns her own winery. She is up at dawn and works late. Another small business owner risking it all to make a dream come true and build up the economy. I think of the mother/wife who has survived cancer and worked hard to gain a certification to start a new job. She is one of the happiest people I have ever met. I have never heard a single complaint. She smiles through the day. She makes this country.
I then thought of so many of my former students’ parents and families I met while working with Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters. I knew so many who worked two or three jobs to make a better life for their children. Some were single parents, others were parents who worked multiple jobs so their spouse could be home with the children. I think of these parents who come home tired, no exhausted, with time enough to rest before starting again the next morning. These people are the backbone of this country.
Each and every day, common people like me, you and the people I have mentioned are what make this country. It is the people who sit through traffic each and every day. The people who work early in the morning until late at night.
The greatest thing is that these people are people from both sides of the political lines and those not on either side. They do not get up in the morning thinking about which party they support or which candidate should win. They think about making the most of the day. They worry about how their children will do in school. They wonder if they will pay the bills with what is left of their paychecks. All of the people mentioned are great because they do not give in. They continue.
These candidates speak but they do not know. They say cliché after cliché and hope that we get something out of it. They want to win no differently than a quarterback in the Super Bowl. They will do anything to make it happen. The thing is that while they all talk about making us great, the greatness is in the eye of the beholder. When you talk about WWII, other countries looked up to us. As a matter of fact, when I moved about Europe, I often had free drinks when older visitors realized I was part of the American forces. However, if you look at our history, we had great things happen, and we had events occur that made us anything but great. We treated our own poorly and still do. How about making us a nation that works hard and takes care of its own. We are working toward that, but we are not there yet.
I think at this point it is time to stop listening to the radio and news. Perhaps I will listen to the classic radio show station. I can no longer listen to these politicians talk about this nation as if they know it. I no longer want to hear them talk about how they, they who do not know the struggles, know how to make us great. Perhaps if they talked to or listened to the regular American, they could find out what great means.
Sorry for the rant. Thank you if you meandered with me this far.