so i'm in the driveway with daniel and a neighbor walks up. she makes christmas cookies every year and she was bringing this years batch over (delicious). as we are standing there chatting the conversation goes from my car to cars to daniel and his job and layoffs to recession to...of course politics. we know we don't agree on politics (they had a mccain/palin sign and we had our obama pumpkins). that doesn't mean we're not good neighbors, quite the opposite. we have a football pool, we exchange cookies and beer and well i can't speak for how they feel about us but i see them as a very loving, well-put-together, modern american family. just because we aren't members of the same political party doen't mean we cant get on with one another. but i was still nervous having never really talked government with them before. it starts off really well. we all hate the recession so we're on common ground here. then she asked if we had heard obama saying there would be all these new jobs but not til 2011* (no i didn't hear it, the hours i've worked lately have not proved conducive to lounging, doing nothing or watching tv )she was telling me how her kids (a boy and a girl in their late teens, she has a 9mo old) were getting their hours cut at their respective jobs. i remarked how that was awful since the daughter has a new baby to take care of (she works and goes to school) and asked about the tn cover kids programme. my neighbor then told me about all the rigmarole and paperwork and hours the daughter would have to work for the state to get a measly $132 a month. i will inject here that while we were talking her husband started walking over. well i agreed that she was going to have to do way much to get too little. and (this is where it gets awkward). she says how its because the illegal immigrants are getting free health care and its taxing on the legal working citizens. you know what? yep that was her argument.i really don't know how to respond to this.how do you call someone out on such glaring inaccuracies? (and still be a good neighbor) and then it got awkward. even more so later on when i state that companies, big or small, should be held accountable for hiring employees without work-visas. and........he giggled. he giggled, he giggled!!!!!! she returns the conversation with how they are held accountable but there are just to many to keep up with. EXCUSE ME where did this conversation go wrong? this kills me, i mean absolutely kills me. this should not be a red/blue issue. this should not be a capitalist/socialist issue this is common fucking sense. those in positions of power must be monitored to make sure they play by the rules. companies no matter how large or small should be held accountable for the working of illegal immigrants(hey i'm all about coming to America to get a better life but we all have to play by the rules). they are the ones making the illegal immigration appealing. and by fuck you can NOT ,for all the fuck tea in china, convince me that there is not a way of monitoring this. if we can go to space we can monitor illegal day laborers. if scientists can build a hadron collider we can make certificates of citizenship/social security cards/or any forms of identification solid and counterfeit proof. but we all really know (except my neighbors) that immigration is just a red herring. hell i'll show you where the unchecked day laborers get picked up by in the mornings to be driven to a work site. big lines waiting to be picked up by contracting companies. this isn't a secret, there not underground, it happens in broad daylight. fuck you it's not about a fucking fence.bottom line companies should be held accountable, fined, given charges and repeat offenders get their business/contractors license taken away. boom there's a huge fraction of this 'problem' solved. but he fucking giggled. like i was some ignorant little girl. yeah, i've had no education. i didn't study political structures from other cultures. i didn't take time to learn about cultural differences and how to accept them and work cohesively. oh wait i fucking did! and he just laughed like i was asking for world peace,puppies and a rainbow in a jar.
* just as a side note. i still haven't watched/heard/read what obama said but i would like to interject and point out how instant gratification our culture is. yes it would be wonderful hundreds of thousands of jobs became available tomorrow but well a recession is kind of cyclical in its own sick way. everybody's broke so no one is shopping, economy goes down, people lose jobs, people still broke, still not shopping, more people lose their jobs. BUT. having a strong and stable future often requires sacrifices in the present. so lets keep a stiff upper lip and bring some strength and dignity back to our collective conscious. a good way to start is by not using any of the language i used in the above rant.
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