WHY I WILL NOT VOTE THIS YEAR

Myself -- | 4/6/2004 | migjagger

[Migjagger]

The following e-mail was sent to a friend who's an expert on certain political issues and editorializes (as I have) for many renowned newspapers--including The Wall Street Journal.

Dear friends:

Had a talk with a Chilean best friend this morning regarding Bush, etc. She believes that he won't get reelected because the economy (which the administration refuses to discuss) is in dire straights. They say that 350,000 jobs were added to the economy but over three million have been lost. This is insane! People I know are literally going crazy with worry.

I have to tell you that I've just about had it trying to survive from month to month. My saving grace is that I have a big house (although it's mortgaged) and rent the guest house out back and have a roommate. Not the most desirable situation, but there you have it. I need to work and find myself constantly looking for a job without ever finding anything that pays barely above minimum wage--like retail. Had to quit my retail job because being on my feet all day on upscale pumps and slides to comply with their dress code was killing me and my knee swelled up so much I couldn't put my foot down. I have reapplied to UCLA Law School in hopes that I can get some kind of job after I graduate--assuming I get accepted there because apparently everyone else has the same idea and UCLA has a huge and excellent pool of applicants. In the meantime I am trying like heck to get decent work. Looking for work and is depressing because since it's mostly done electronically, it's impersonal. Therefore, I never hear back from anything or anyone. It seems, you need contacts to get a job at McDonalds these days.

To illustrate my point, here's a note I got from someone from whom I was seeking some assistance in her large company's Human Resources Department.

"As I explained when we met I don’t have a local contact for hiring. I had suggested to you that you go on the internet and see what jobs are open. I did forward your resume to External Affairs, if they have and opening and exhaust internal applicants they will call you. Mine is a large organization and there is no local H.R. person that I can refer you to. But I thought I could send your resume off and you may get lucky. Try the website and see what they have open and good luck."

I tried the website and never heard back. You need a contact from within the company--any company--and this woman who wrote me back is not someone I know well at all--so that's the way it all goes.

Frankie lost his job at Disney a year ago and has been struggling by with free-lance and living off credit cards ever since. First time since age 14 that he's been out of work. This is the pits. With our academic and professional background (and related credentials) we should be able to at least get employment. Why is this happening?

Love --

Mig

[laotzu]

On this political web-site, you have announced that you are not voting for Bush.(I may not either)

Like many others, I am curious what your reasons are.

If I may; you are obligated to explain these reasons.

[Poohbah]

The retail job I had has now instituted a "contract" that you have to sign. It tells you that if you don't sell a certain amount per week, you're out. This is abusive!

Oh, my goodness! The Evil Capitalist Oppressors actually expect you to do something more than stand around for eight hours and collect a paycheck!

Being expected to produce results is "abusive?" Get over yourself!

[EternalVigilance]

I have a suggestion:

Sell every 'I' in the post for five bucks, and you can retire.

Problem solved!

[Cuttnhorse]

I hate to get "personal" since this is apparently off-limits, but I'm sitting in my office in the high Andes of Chile right now and I'll tell you Bush will be re-elected. So now you have to make a decision, who are you going to believe, Me or your lying eyes??

Quit whining and get a job.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The CEO of monster.com was on Cavuto's show last week, and he said there are thousands and thousands of jobs waiting to be filled across the country in about a dozen job sectors, including the manufacturing sector which the Democrats and unions have been demonizing with their magical 3 million jobs lost pap.

[InvisibleChurch]

so what kerry is saying is that he's going to 'fix' the economy so 3,000,000 people will need 10,000,000 jobs to survive? is that right?

[BigSkyFreeper]

Kerry plans to fix the economy by raising our taxes. Typical Liberalism.

[MEGoody]

"She believes that he won't get reelected because the economy (which the administration refuses to discuss) is in dire straights."

Does this Chilean best friend still live in Chile? She must, because she has missed an awful lot of pertinent information.

For example, there has been no 3 million jobs lost. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when Bush took office 01/01, there were 137,790,000 civilian sector jobs. In 03/04, htere were 138,298,000. Again, no loss of 3 million jobs.

I could go on, but suffice it to say, I am glad this individual is not planning to vote in the upcoming election. He/she hasn't bothered to educate him/herself on the facts.

[onedoug]

Got any skills?

Try a temp agency. A lot of companies like to retain good employees. Once they're demonstrated good.

[Solson]

We're bitter?? You are the one who posted some assinine comment about not voting because you can't find a job. And then you use some conversation with a Chilean friend to reinforce this???

HA! Quit your pissing and moaning and doing so in a somewhat public forum. We're not bitter. We're angry because stupid people like you whine too damn much.

P.S. - This wasn't an attack...just a personal statement.

[bonfire]

LOL! I was just about to get a cup of coffee....glad I waited!

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

are there even 10,000,000 unemployed people out there?

That want jobs???? I doubt it.

[El Gran Salseron]

"Had to quit my retail job because being on my feet all day on upscale pumps and slides to comply with their dress code was killing me and my knee swelled up so much I couldn't put my foot down."

I've had three heart attacks and two open-heart surgeries. I can't walk from here to the corner without suffering chest pains.

When I awake in the morning my knees are already swollen and throbbing because the swelling and throbbing has not had a chance to subside overnight. The swelling and throbbing get worse as the day progresses. By the time I am ready for sleep at night my knees are screaming at me.

My hips are slowly but surely catching up with my knees.

My back is starting to give me problems although only minor problems right now.

I wake up, shower, have coffee, sometimes breakfast and GO TO WORK!

Now, please refresh my memory. Why is it you said you left your retail job?

Freaking crybaby!

Wannabe lawyer! GOTTA LOVE IT!

[EternalVigilance]

;-)

[q_an_a]

while this e-mail is touching it begs the questions, about her status in life 1.enrolling in college again? 2.we have a big house with a guest house we rent out. 3.Husband out of work too? 4.was she a stay at home mom until now? A career selling cosmetics can pay very well, so is her standing a new problem or old one? Is she in sales on the retail floor and can't find a job in the LA area? not likely.

Her message sounds bad until you read her thought pattern and realize that a few people who rode an easy path for years suddenly are faced with reality of having to produce. She can't make her ideas clear enough to know what help to offer.

[Arrowhead1952]

So why aren't you voting for Bush?

Probably been listening to ABS, CBS, NBS and CNN too much, just like all the dumbocRATs do.

[Prime Choice]

The only way the leader of one's nation can be responsible for one's job prospects is if one lives in a completely state-controlled nation. The United States of America is not such a nation.

I was laid off in July of 2001. Sure, I could have sat on my butt and blamed Bush for my trials and tribulations, but that would have been the fool's way out. Instead, I applied myself and soon had another full-time job.

Clinton didn't score me the job I was offered in 1999, so it's ridiculous to think Bush took it away in 2001.

Bottom line: there's a reason why it's called *EARNING* a living! If you want what's out there, you have to go out and take it. Ain't nobody gonna hand it to you.

Your opting out of this upcoming election is little more than a tacit vote for Kerry. Hope that warms the cockles of your heart...

[Diddle E. Squat]

but I'm sitting in my office in the high Andes of Chile right now

Mmmm, nice country. Would love to buy a house down around Vina del Mar. Was glancing through some real estate ads, and saw 3 bedroom houses a few miles north of there with pools and views of the Pacific for 250-300,000 US$. Wow, California weather without Cali prices. Yet.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

It seems you haven't exhausted all of your options. Because you lay the blame at Bush's feet, I suggest you contact the HR department at the White House and see if they have an opening for you, there. Caution: display a cheerful disposition, it helps spread the goodwill.

[marron]

The economy is a bit strange right now, it has been particularly since the war began. At one level, that shouldn't be surprising, look at the wartime economy in the forties, when everything was rationed, and by comparison this economy doesn't look so bad.

I spent several months out of work myself, so I sympathise. I managed to find some work doing something that essentially had nothing to do with my skills, it was not something I wanted to do forever, but consequently I enjoyed it, it was a lark. It was a break from a routine I was getting tired of before.

I'm back in my chosen profession, at a better rate (thank you Lord) and much more appreciative of it than I was before. Things are still pretty nip-and-tuck in my business, but I'll hang in.

Its odd, though, I note that steel prices are spiking upward. So even though my business is slow, someone's business is obviously doing very well. Someone is building something out there. And I notice that houses are selling very well, which means that people are making money out there. The restaurants are jammed where I live, so again, someone is making money.

I agree with the poster that recommended, if you are planning to go back to school, consider nursing, rather than law. Nurses do pretty well, and the demand is still pretty strong.

You may have to consider moving. If industry is leaving your area, you may have to go where the jobs are. I've done it several times. Its a problem once you are a home-owner, but I am prepared to do it again if it comes to it.

Life is too short to wait for it to come to you.