What Time Is It?

Constantly Eight Years Later I am asking this question because I do not own a good watch. I've had watches, of course, but they have been cheaply made and simply do not last. Knowing the time is imperative in this day and age as our society moves along at a quicker pace. And while we can purchase any old cheap watch anywhere, why not own something so important that is stylish, well made and downright gorgeous? Or buy a watch for a friend or family member.

Ok, sure, I know what you're thinking. "A watch? I can't imagine a more boring gift than a watch. I don't think so." You, obviously, have not seen a good watch, then.

Look at this watch, for example, from the movado series 800:

Is that not gorgeous? Can you imagine receiving this as a gift or, better yet, gifting this to someone? This would be a beautiful way to tell your mother, sister, wife, fiance or even daughter just how you feel about them on their birthday or after they have accomplished a milestone they've worked so hard for.

Imagine your daughter after working, tirelessly, for years, to get that masters degree. She has forgone food, good apartments, a social life, etc. Night after night she has studied and worked herself exhausted. She does this for her own future but also to make you proud. Finally, after what seems like endless years, she graduates. You could not be more delighted. There you are, a generally stoic father, never letting her know along the way your apprehensions, your anxieties, your nervousness for her success. You have been the rock, always telling her she can do it but never showing her any emotions.

Now, imagine her, on graduation day after walking across the podium and receiving her diploma, tearing open the packaging to find this elegant, stunning watch in her hands? This says, "love" and "appreciation" and "respect" all over it! She would not only know how important she is to you, but also how proud you are of her for her accomplishments.

As per the product description, this watch includes Silver Mother of Pearl dial with luminous hands and diamond hour markers and 50 Genuine diamonds that accent the dial and face, (diamonds are a girl's best friend, ya know). It is scratch resistant and comes with a 12 month limited warranty.

Instead of gifting something like apartment warming gifts as they venture in to their new lives, consider a fabulous watch such as this. You will not go wrong with a watch like this. It's impossible.

Check out all the watches offered from the above link, they have them for men, as well.

You Are Not Special

"You look great!"

"Did you do something to your hair?"

"Let's do lunch! I'll call you."

"You're not fat!"

It's amazing the lies we tell each other every day. Everyone wants to feel good. We read self help books that tell us it's not our fault that bad things happen to us. We go to psychologists who help us find our voice inside of us to blame the world for everything. People feed us all kinds of bullshit to boost our egos. No one wants to face reality. The reality is, you are not special. You are just as mundane, run of the mill, average and dull as everyone else.

These lies typically begin in childhood when our parents tell us how wonderful and special we are. That's your parents' job, to build your self esteem. "Come here, honey, look at yourself in the mirror. Look at your eyes, they are so pretty. And your face, it's oval shaped, all the models want an oval shaped face. Look at your beautiful hair. See how long and shiny it is? How about that smile? What a wonderful smile you have. You light up the whole room with that smile. And sweetie, your laugh? It is so contagious, it's like jasminlive music."

They're supposed to tell you those things so that you grow up and move out of their house. You're not supposed to be living in their basement well in to your 30s, get! Out! Some s are so pathetic that some parents resort to extreme lies. "Of course you're talented, honey! You dance and sing really well, you should try out for Broadway. Go! Go to New York! Get an apartment out there and audition! Get out of our hair. Leave us be! You've been exhausting us for 18 years! Go!"

Yes, they are supposed to boost your self esteem but there is a line. When a parent crosses over that line they've moved from "helping" to "hindering". I fear that this will only get worse with newer generations. Now we've got parents naming their s all kinds of weird shit in an attempt to show the world how special their s are. These parents are living in denial because they haven't learned yet either. Parents, your s, nor you, are special. Your is just as annoying, loud, obnoxious and sticky as any other . Giving your child a different name is only going to bring hell on to that child. Oh I'm sure you think that by doing this your child will feel the uniqueness and grow up to pick up where you left off in your failures but the fact is, your is just as bland as every other .

No they cannot sing, dance or act. That drawing is not a sign of a future Picasso, that drawing is horrid and I can't believe you would pin it up on your cubicle wall for everyone to see. Instead of trying to ride on the coattails of your , hoping that they'll be somebody when they grow up so you can hear people gush about what a wonderful mother or father you've been, let them know, right from the start, that they are the same as every other . "You don't know your ABCs, you can't color inside the lines, your finger painting is atrocious and your jokes are stupid. Now apply yourself and do better, ." If you don't do this, you're going to end up on a talk show with your teenager who has dyed their hair black, is wearing black clothing, black make up and talking about how much life sucks total and complete ass while you throw your hands in the air exclaiming you have no idea how this all started, please Mr. Talk Show Host, won't you send my child off to boot camp?

You are harming your s by lying to them. These days everyone wins because everyone is special! "Bobby, I know you couldn't hit a baseball if we gave you a sheet of plywood to swing at it with but we still want you on the team because you have talent, son!"

Remember when we were s, trying out for the team? It was mortifying to be picked last. God, how embarrassing that was! "Please don't pick me last, please don't pick me last, please don't...got damnit! I got picked last again!"

Sometimes you wouldn't make the team at all. I remember trying out for cheerleading, year after year after year. Hey, according to my mom, I had pretty, shiny hair and a good face and my teachers said I was loud, of course I could be a cheerleader. Why not? I'd rehearse over and over again and get my routine down pat. I'd go to tryouts nervous but sure I could make it this time. I'd put my all in to it and I'd get the same response: "Thank you, no." The reason I never made it was because I wasn't popular. I was not special.

And you know what? We learned to deal with that. We learned to live through the shame and humiliation and move the on. "Fine. I don't need to be a stupid ass cheerleader. They look like a bunch of fat whores anyway. I'll find something else that I am good at and get on with my life."

These days all the s get to make the team and even if their team is the worst ever in the recorded history of man, it doesn't matter because they will still get a trophy and be carted off to McDonald's to celebrate the end of the season. Their coach will tell them they did brilliantly. Sure they lost every last game they ever played, but that's not the point. "The point is that you tried and that's all you can do." ("You failed miserably and I'm not sure why I just wasted the last 3 months of my life, but hey, you tried.") What horseshit. You didn't try hard enough or you just plain suck and should never have been on that team in the first place. But we can't tarnish the delicate sensibilities of chaturbate friends! Let's tell them that they're all special and unique and talented so they can live in a bubble inside of a dream world.

And while we're at it, let's do away with red marks indicating wrong answers on their tests. The red scares them. The red tells them they were wrong! The red is angry! We'll mark their papers in a more soothing purple. Look at the purple marks all over their paper! The purple does not intimidate. The purple tells them it's no big deal that they didn't learn anything. They are still special and unique.

When they grow up, that bubble will burst and psychologists and counselors everywhere will reap the rewards as these now grown s ask, "What's wrong with me? Where did everything go wrong? I used to be a star!"

It's called "reality", sunshine, and you best just suck it up and deal with it. The real world will smack the shit out of you and put you in your place.

Coddled Adult: "Hello World! I'm here! I've come to conquer you!"

"I don't know who the hell you are but you ain't nuthin'. Now sit down and shut the up, we're going for a ride."

The point is not that you tried. The point is to realize that very few people out there actually have any talent, charisma, charm or intelligence. The people who do have talent are being rewarded. We buy their things and we gush over them. The people who have charisma and charm are what we laymen call, "bullshit artists" who have weaseled their way to the top by kissing ass and batting their baby blues at the people in power. The only exceptions to these rules are the ones who were born in to it. These people, without all their money and the glamour behind the name would also be nothing if it weren't for past generations of family members. So don't be envious of them. They suck just as hard as you do.

The point is, you are no more extraordinary than the next guy. Remember when you would travel around on family vacations, looking at the neighborhoods, people in the mall or amusement parks? Remember looking at your own family and thinking, "God these people are boring. I hope I'm never like them." You would daydream about life as an adult and how you were going to be better than that. "It's going to be great. I'm going to be rich and famous and have millions of adoring fans. I have talent! I'm unique! "

No, you aren't and you won't. If you have not already realized this, your time will come. And when it comes, it's going to hurt. And that hurt will spin you out of control in to a period of great confusion and sadness. "What happened? What has become of my life?" You will look for people to blame. Why didn't they support you? Why didn't they help you become that great thing that you are? How dare they tarnish your shining star!

Some of you have discovered this and are currently wallowing in self pity. And any time anybody or anything shows you an ounce of attention you grab on to it to relive those glory days in your mind. When that attention gets taken away, you will crash back down and look around, bewildered. "What is wrong with people? Can't they see who I am!?" You will repeat this process over and over again until you wake up one day and face reality. You are but one of billions. You do not stand out in a crowd. You blend in to the background of life. You are an extra in everyone else's personal movie.

I've realized that I'm not special. And I'm still currently sucking that up and dealing with it. I simply do not have it in me to help another on a constant and daily basis but I am willing to help you out this one time. What you do with this is on you. The next time you come crashing back down to earth, don't blame me. It's not my fault you're a loser.

You start your day by getting up and going to work. On the way to work you are treated like shit. People cut you off, blare their horn at you for no reason, ride your ass.if the freeway doesn't illustrate just how unimportant you are, nothing will.

When you finally make it in to work, you have to deal with your co-workers. Do you actually believe that your co-workers care about you? They do not. That chipper one who always says, "Goodmorninghihowareyouhowwasyourweekendokgottagobyebye!!", doesn't really care about you. You can tell by the way she doesn't even bother to wait for an answer to her questions about how you are and how your weekend was. She doesn't give a shit about you, your feelings or your weekend, she only cares that she is viewed as the chipper and cheerful one at work so that she doesn't get the axe.

Your other co-workers don't care about you either. They talk to you because you're there and there's no one else to talk to, not because they actually care about your private life and what goes on in it. Other co-workers are merely using you for their gain. They are using you as either a) a punching bag to relieve themselves of their own self pity or b) using you to climb that corporate ladder. They don't give a shit about you. They're kissing your ass to get what they want.

The www.jasminelive.online customers don't care about you. All they want is for you to give them what they want. They don't care if it's hard for you, if it's not your job, if you have only been there one week and don't know everything yet, you better figure it out and give them what they want. And if you don't give them what they want they'll make sure to make your life even harder by reporting you to your boss and if they're successful, you'll be out of a job. And you can stand in the unemployment line where a whole new batch of people won't give a flying hornet's ass about you and your problems.

When it's time for lunch, you drive to a nearby restaurant. Do you think that waiter actually gives a shit about you? No. All they want is for you to hurry up, order, eat and get the out while leaving them a substantial tip. They will pretend as if they care about you and if you are enjoying your meal and if you have everything you need because they want you to tip them. The second you have paid your bill and left, they won't even remember you. Because you are not special or unique and you do not stand out. Unless you don't tip them, they'll remember you then but it won't be fondly. And you might not want to go back to that restaurant because they aren't as impressed with yourself as you are.

Finally the day is over and you return home. You've been treated poorly all day long. You are not in a good mood. You were told you were special and wonderful and gifted but no one seems to notice. You cannot believe how badly you've been treated. At least your pets love you and think you're wonderful.

"Well at least my pets like me", you say, as you open the door to your home. They don't give a shit about you either. When you go to the dog park, does your dog stay by you? No, the first thing your dog does is take off and start talking to other dogs. They discuss the shitty foods you make them eat and your stupid rules. They laugh at you and mock you. Then they forget about you and splash around in the water and tear around the acres of park land with their new found friends. All your pets care about is that they have food, water, clean litter boxes in the case of cats and shelter. If you left a giant bag of food, a pool of water and the door open all day long, they wouldn't give a crap if you showed up again or not, except to replace the food and water when it ran out.

"That's bullshit! My dog comes up and licks my face every day when I get home!" That's because your dog is bored. That's because she's been inside all day with no interaction. Your cat just wants a free massage and will stoop so low as to climb up on your lap, purr and look at you to get what they want. They don't give a shit if it's you or someone else just as long as they get what they want.

Think I don't know what I'm talking about? Try it, then. Go for a walk with someone and bring your dog along. As you are walking, hand the keys to your dog over to your walking companion. After awhile, just stop walking while the two of them continue on. See how long it takes your dog to notice that you're gone. Oh sure, eventually your dog will stop and look back at you. But at first, that's all they'll do: look at you. They're working things out in their mind.

"Oh thank GOD I'm away from them! Finally I am free. Except.I'm still attached to this damn leash which means I'm not truly free and life could actually be worse with this person than that person standing way back there. At least with her I know I have food and water and get to come out every day. What if this person here doesn't do that? You know, I'd better stick with what I know." Only then will your dog pull at the leash to come back to you. Not because they care about you but because they care about themselves and their survival.

Think your cat gives a shit about you? Think again. How many times have you said, 'Fluffy! Damnit! Get off the counter! Fluffy, stop scratching my couch! Fluffy, be quiet, I'm trying to sleep!" Fluffy stops what they are doing only to get to you to shut the hell up, not because they actually like and respect what you ask. Look in to their eyes the next time you tell them to do or not do something. See that, " you" look?

Don't believe me? Put up a video camera the next time you leave the house. Watch Fluffy do everything you told them not to do the second you walk out the door. They don't give a shit about your wishes. They will do whatever they damn well please and only stop when they hear you return. It's not about you, it's about them and their survival.

The same goes for birds, rats, hamsters, mice, gerbils, snakes, etc. They only tolerate you for the food, water, shelter and the hopes that maybe today you'll leave the got damn cage open, , and let us run or fly around!

Maybe you think you're special because you think you have a closer connection to God than other people. Wrong. What makes you think you are God's favorite bunny over that person over there? Because you go to church every Sunday? The fact is, many of those who go to church still act like tools the rest of the week. And some of you religious folks really need to get a grip. How egotistical do you have to be to think you committed the worst sin that's going to make God sit up and take notice of you? God has more important matters to deal with than you right now. And please stop praying for stupid shit. "God, please make my pimple go away before Prom this weekend. Please God. Please." "God, please let me live through this hangover, please stop the retching and dry heaves. I promise I'll never drink again, God." God's not listening to you because you are not unique and special, you're pathetic.

As the night settles in around you, you decide to get online. You open up your MySpace or Twitter or Facebook account. Whee, look at all your friends and followers! You ARE special! This is just another ruse, another lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better about the fact that we are giant losers.

"I have 1000 friends!" No, you don't. You have 1000 people who want you to follow them so that they can say, "I have 1000 friends!" Would any of those 1000 people actually do anything for you if you needed it? No. Because you are not special. They take only what they want from you, in this case, a link to their page to get higher numbers and then they are done with you. Do you think they actually read your page or your twitters?

When you are finished gloating over your 1000 fake friends on Twitter, you go to your blog and open the publishing tool. You have opinions! The world needs to hear them! They are very unique and special opinions!

Very few blogs are actually widely read. Those bloggers were either in on the whole thing early on or they are some of the rare that actually talk about things they know about that other people do not but do find interesting. Most of the bloggers out there have dismal followings because they either can't write, can't spell, put too much froo froo shit on their sites to distract the viewer from the fact that they can't write or spell or simply regurgitate shit they found on other blogs. In other words, most bloggers are not special. In fact, there are still millions of Americans who have no damn idea what the hell a blog is.

You started a blog so that you would have people listen to your opinions that you think are unique and simply must be heard. The world must hear what you have to say, it would be a travesty otherwise. No one is reading your site and no one is commenting on your site because your opinion isn't special at all. You do not have anything important to say. You are not funny, you are not insightful, you are not witty or charming and most people find you to be a bore. They may visit as a feeling of reluctant obligation but only so that you will read their site. You think you have a unique view on the world but you don't.

Now it's time for bed. As you lay there, staring in to the dark, you think about all the people you've seen today. You base impressions of yourself on what you see other people doing or having. You saw people driving around in nice cars. Why can't you have a nice car? You saw really nice homes and wonder why they get to have a nice home and you don't, aren't you special? You decide that you're going to have these things, as well. Ten years later you have a nice house, nice car, nice things and a nice credit card debt! You can't afford these things. Your car gets repossessed. How's that foreclosure going? Bought those nice things and you're still not anything.

You think about all the people you saw, blabbering away on their cell phones. How important they are! They have so many friends! Why don't you have a constant ringing cell phone, damnit, you're special too! We are assuming that there's someone on the other end of the line that those people are talking to. Who's to say they aren't talking to themselves just to appear important? We are also assuming they are talking about something worthwhile. Most people's phones ring off the hook because their text messages go like this:

Coddled Adult: Hi!

LaLa Land Resident: Hi!

CA: How R U?

LLLR: Gud

CA: Wut R U Doing?

LLLR: Nada

CA: Wut did U eat 4 lunch?

LLLR: nada

CA: I'm bored.

LLLR: Me 2.

CA: Wut R U doing?

LLLR: nada.

And so on and so forth. Real special there.

Seriously, there is no need to talk on our cell phones that much. We never talked on the phone like this in the past. But now we have this need to feel important because we know we are not. And we feel the need to have others think we are important. It's a lie. We lie to others and we lie to ourselves because we cannot handle that we are nothing special.

Finally, right before you drift off to sleep, you think about something you saw on the internet. It was a page illustrating the amount of money that dead people make. You think about how much money you make. You think about how special and unique you are and how hard you work for recognition of your talents and assets. It dawns on you that you've been lied to your entire life because there are dead people making more money than you, getting more recognition and praise than you. You're alive, they are dead and they are still more special than you are.

And you start to wake up to some realizations. But stop thinking its' all about you. It's not about you. The way people treat you doesn't have much at all to do with you, personally. More it has to do with themselves. You aren't even special enough for them to think about ways to get you. You are not unique. You are a loser. You are nothing but a faceless number on this earth.

Your head has been filled with total lies. Why don't we just get down to telling people the truth. That truth is, no, you look rather terrible today, did you do something to your hair because it looks unkempt, let's do lunch.never and yes, those jeans do make your ass look huge."

Now suck it up, princess and welcome to the real world. Your life will be much better now. And you will now be special and unique because you will be one of the few in this world who gets it. There is no meaning. We just are.

Riled

Ok, my friend Kristine just emailed me and told me that, apparently, all over Facebook, people are placing the following on their "status" page:

"No one

should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one

should go broke because they get sick." If you agree, please post

this as your status for the next 24 hours."

Whenever I see, hear or read anything anymore, I always ask, "Who benefits from this?" Ask yourselves, s, who might benefit from claiming that the swine flu is dangerous enough to declare a civil emergency and that all s should be vaccinated with a vaccine that has not been thoroughly tested and is made by a company with such charges against it. Just who might benefit here?

And isn't it interesting that the makers of the vaccine are reported to be saying that they will not take it and are urging their family and friends not to take it. But they'll use it on the public. Nice.

Oh and speaking of quarantine, why don't you chomp on this for awhile:

MA Pandemic Bill allows Police to enter homes, Detain Without warrant.

If you do not know your rights, I suggest you brush up on them now and quick. It is against your rights for the police to enter your home without a warrant. And to detain you after doing so? Oh hell no.

Please tell me you comprehended what you read. Please tell me you are outraged and disgusted that our government would try to do that to us. They work for us, we do not work for them. Oh, and your pets aren't safe in that bill either. Why yes, you probably should read the whole thing.

Now. Let's put all of this together with what I was saying earlier about why I do not want national healthcare. We don't even have national healthcare at this time but states are already acting in the manner of which I spoke. Or wrote, whatever.

So maybe I'm not too far off the mark here. Do you really want to give the government the control over your life? Do you really want them to smash through your door, taking you away, conducting tests on you, your family, your family pets, placing you in to quarantine or, if you resist, throwing you in jail and fining you all because they THINK you might have something?

Remember Salem? Witches? Ever had a dispute with a neighbor or co-worker? They used the government then to rid themselves of people they didn't like....is all I'm saying. The government should not have this kind of control.

And giving untested vaccines to friends? Good God. Who does that sound like? Think back. It wasn't too long ago. I'll give you a few hints: Hitler, Germany, experiments.

Where would some of those quarantine sites be held? Oh, I don't know...Florida....Iowa.

Orders (link to .pdf in site)

Look, I really don't like conspiracy theorists any more than the next person. I would like to be proven wrong but damnit, MA is trying to pass a bill through the House to allow them to barge in and take you away under the guise of "pandemic response". What the am I expected to think here? The Governor in Maine has the audacity to declare a civil emergency over the mother flu!

The flu, people.

Here's how you prevent yourself from getting the flu:

WASH YOUR HANDS!

And if you have the damn flu, here's how to STOP spreading it around:

Stop coughing and sneezing and hacking all over every body. Use some damn common sense and decency. Get a Kleenex, cover your mouth, stay the home if you are sick and WASH YOUR HANDS!

Have I made this clear to anyone, here, why I do not want government run health care? Is anyone out there confused? And if you are....seriously? REALLY? You don't understand? If that is the case, my advice to you is scroll back to the top of this page and start all over.

And if you make it all the way to the end again and still don't understand, then hop on over to this site:

Flu.gov Yes, that's right. Flu. Dot. GOV. It's your " One-stop access to U.S. Government H1N1, avian and pandemic flu information."

Do you get it now?

I know what some of you are going to say: "But Serenity, there's always been mandatory vaccinations and there's always been an act that allows states and federal government to quarantine those they fear are spreading diseases."

I understand that. (For those who don't, you can read this: CRS Report For Congress) Typically those were put in place to help prevent diseases from foreign countries...sure, we don't need another Black Plague on our hands, I get that. But for the flu? The fricken flu? Some people are calling the swine flu a pandemic. Since when is 8842 people, (as of August 2009), a pandemic? There have been 555 deaths. (Please note, this includes the US, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa, NOT just the United States.) Currently there are 307,370,662 people in the United States, let alone the population in those other countries. Also please note, this is for flu like illnesses, not necessarily JUST the "swine flu". And finally, please note that the numbers are lower for 2008-09 than they were in 2007-08. But Maine wants to declare a civil emergency and MA wants to push through a "pandemic response" bill. All of a sudden.

You know, when a certain dictator is trying to push through his national health care plan.

Pscht! No reason to wonder or worry at all. As one person said in comments on the Maine story:

"It's only a shower". ~ Concentration Camp Guard

Why Yes I Do Go There

You know how it is, you hear people talk a lot of shit, boasting and what not, "Oh, if I ever encountered that person, I'd say...." or some other crap that you know damn good and well they would never say nor do.

Or you see written on blog sites open letters to some company and the writer gets a good laugh from their audience but you know that they wouldn't dare do that for real. They're just talking smack.

I don't like people who say they would do or say one thing but when it comes time to act, say nothing, do nothing or just wimp out.

Recently, I came across a website that sells merchandise for pets. The stuff is cool. The photos are adorable. But the products are insanely overpriced. Example, they have a cat scratcher for sale. It's the same concept as those $5 cat scratchers that come in a box filled with corrugated cardboard. When kitty has destroyed the cardboard, you buy more cardboard and put it in the box. It's a big hit with cats everywhere.

This particular company has made the box out of faux leather and has upped the price to about $299. And when kitty has destroyed the cardboard and it's time to refill? Why, you can get that cardboard from this company for $60. That's not a typo.

I continued to look around and had to stop because of typos and mistakes. So, I decided to write a letter.

Being Poor Makes You Stronger

It's unbelievable to me how many people talk about how poor they are while they are listening to their iPods, diving in to their McD's drive thru lunch, stepping out of their car and/or lighting their $8 scented candle. It's unbelievable to me that in my life, I've had people ask to bum a smoke from me, telling me they can't afford them as their cell phone rings again. It's unbelievable to me that someone will ask me for money as they leave from work, on payday, check in their hand because they say that all of the check goes to bills and they have nothing left. It's unbelievable to me that someone who doesn't have to pay rent, sewage, garbage, water or electricity, who has a job, talks about how they don't have enough money to eat, that they are barely scraping by this week and ask me for a hand out and sympathy knowing full well that the reason they don't have money is because they don't show up to work half the week. It's unbelievable to me just how many people in this country do not understand what it is like to actually, truly, really be poor.

I've been poor. I've bored you with the story many times. I have been homeless, without a bed, with no food. I've been without a car, no phone, no cable, no cell phone, no internet, no washer/dryer, no video games, no take out, no drive thru, no money for the movies, no pop, no hair cuts, etc. I just love it when people try to lecture me about what it's like to be poor and how I have no idea what it is like because America is such a rich country. They look foolish when they say that. I do know what it's like. (And yet I still am against hand outs, welfare and national healthcare...go figure!)

And when they do steal that money that was for your rent, you have to go and sell clothes and any CDs you've accumulated over the years but are so out of date, worn out and tattered that no store will buy them from you. Since the "friend" won't admit to stealing, you have to go get another job to try to make up that rent money before it's too late.

This is the one that gets me every time. I have worked my ever loving ass off my entire adult life. I've had three jobs at a time which meant that Mon, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun I got only four hours of sleep. Tue and Wed seemed like vacations when I actually got to go home after an 8 hour work day. But I kept going. And I really get annoyed when those who don't know what it's like make the implication that poor people are that way because they are lazy. These are some of the most insensitive people I've ever known and these people have absolutely zero understanding of what life is like for many people. I am not lazy, have never been lazy and continue to work hard. Some people, no matter how hard they try, just can't get ahead. And some of us served our country and went to college to get an education and something happened along the way to rip that out of our hands. Show some compassion instead of so much hatred. Not everything works as it should.

Being poor is knowing that your life would have been so, so much different if you had $500 at the time you really, really needed it.

Being poor is being reminded, daily, that a matter of $500 is what drastically changed your life.

Being poor is knowing that those who could have helped you just didn't want to.

Being poor is not having a family or friends to help you out because they either don't have themselves or they think you don't deserve it.

Being poor is not having the money to fight the insurance company who totally screwed you over; and they know they did simply because you were poor.

Being poor is feeling completely and utterly alone.

Being poor is putting yourself in potentially dangerous situations because you are so desperate for help.

Being poor is also scraping the inside of the toothpaste tube, shampoo bottle or lotion bottle trying to get every last bit out of it because you don't have the money to get more.

Being poor is washing your clothes in the bathtub with generic shampoo because you can't afford the luxury of the laundromat, are too embarrassed to haul your dirty laundry on the bus to get to the laundromat even if you could and don't have enough money to get actual clothes washing detergent.

Being poor is knowing the difference in how socks feel when they've been tumble dried and how socks feel when they've been hung in up your bathroom to dry.

Being poor is stressing out about how you're going to get to work when the bus fare goes up 10 cents.

Being poor is rolling up your long sleeved shirts to the elbows so no one will see that the cuffs are tearing off.

Being poor is having people call you "white trash" or "ghetto trash" even though you know you're not trash.

Being poor is writing in for free samples and when they arrive in the mail, it feels like Christmas.

Being poor is not being able to participate in office pot lucks because you can't afford to bring anything.

Being poor is being told you are too poor to receive government assistance and the humiliation that takes place when the "guy in the next room" won't even come out to look at you.

Being poor is stealing toilet paper rolls from work.

Being poor is partaking in medical studies at the local university hospital that wreak havoc on your body because after one year there's $100 in it for you.

Being poor is knowing just how expensive it is to be poor.

Being poor is literally not having any money when you say, "I don't have any money."

Being poor is listening to others talk about reusing tea bags because they are so poor and wishing you could afford tea.

Being poor is doing an intensive search inside your friend's car for change, any change that can be found in hopes that you'll find enough to put gas in her car to get you home.

Being poor is having to go to Planned Parenthood for all of your check ups and still not being able to donate any money when you're done.

Being poor is eyeballing the left over breakfast on a room service tray and seriously contemplating eating it.

Being poor is losing out on so many jobs because you have no way to get there and that includes public transportation.

Being poor is having your landlord pay your rent for you one month out of total and complete pity for you because he knows how hard you are trying. You pay him back after going to a few charities but you never stop feeling embarrassed about it.

Being poor is splurging and buying Kool-Aid. As time goes on and the level of juice lowers, you keep refilling the Kool-Aid pitcher with water, over and over again until the color finally fades leaving you with only slightly tinged drinking water.

Being poor is thinking that maybe strippers aren't so dumb afterall.

Being poor is accepting a hand out from a homeless man begging for change. (Yes, this actually happened.)

Being poor is taking the fast food job up the street because it offers 25 cents more per hour and you don't have to sit 4 hours on a bus to get to and from there. Besides, you might get some free food.

Being poor is not having enough money in your bank account to do a minimum withdrawal from the ATM.

Being poor is getting new clothes from the "exchange table" in the laundry room of your apartment building.

Being poor is using blankets for window coverings.

Being poor is meeting people elsewhere because you don't want them to know where you actually live.

Being poor is becoming friends with the bus driver so that on the days you just don't have the money, at least you can get to work. How you get home is another story.

Being poor is trying to pay for food at the store with a big bag of change and the grocer won't accept the money.

Being poor is asking a stranger on the street what time it is and the lady looks at you with wide eyed fear and she grabs her handbag closer to her and her husband whisks her away from you.

Being poor is having a gang member lock their door when they see you cross the street in front of their car.

Being poor is realizing you'll never be able to afford to finish your college education no matter how badly you want to finish.

Being poor is having the heat so low in your apartment in the winter that the zippers on your boots break.

Being poor is counting out your change and realizing that if you buy a pop from the pop machine just once this week, you will not have enough money to get the bus home on Friday.

Being poor is swallowing your pride and letting others know you are poor because you have lost 30 pounds in one month from starvation and you need food.

Being poor is doing things you never thought you would do just so that you can get ahead.

Being poor is only telling one person about those things you've done because the rest of the world has told you that you should be ashamed of your current situation.

Being poor is understanding that most people will never fully grasp what it means to be poor.

Actually, this is "and finally..."

Being poor doesn't mean you give up hope. Being poor just means it takes you a little longer to get there. But if and when you do get there, it will be very, very tasty to teach those who shoved you to the side when you were down, how to treat a human being.

Being poor is learning that you can survive almost anything.

Being poor is learning compassion and forgiveness even for those who put you down for being poor, saying you are/were lazy and/or stupid, for one day, they may need your help.

Being poor is knowing that you may be poor financially, but inside you are far wealthier than most of those around you.

Be Careful When Choosing A Freight Company To Move Your Stuff

Lesson learned and while they may, apparently, not be obligated under law to pay for damaged household items, it is dishonest.

R&L Carriers is a company I will never do business with again. When I first called, I went over every item I had for moving and was told only that I had to put the boxes and furniture on pallets on the curb.

I called later to confirm arrangements and it was at this time that someone finally informed me that I had to "shrink wrap" everything. Went and got the wrap, we tried to wrap it up but it seemed odd. Called back, got another person, told them we didn't understand. This 3rd call was the first time anyone said to shrink wrap the items TO the pallet. (I've never used freight before, I'm just supposed to know this? I asked all kinds of questions in the initial call and even asked, "Is there anything I should know about using a freight company?" This and another issue was never discussed.)

I also asked for a guarantee time, (I called well in advance), I was promised a guarantee time but I did not get my guarantee time. They came three hours late so while it did really screw some things up, at least they came and got it. That is, AFTER I was called several times to tell me that my address was wrong, it did not exist. We verified that they had the correct address, they did, I am standing AT that address as we speak on the phone so CLEARLY it exists. I had even given specific instructions on how to get there but they still insisted it did not exist.

They weren't even going to come out that day because they were convinced that I didn't know my own dang address. I told them, AGAIN, how to get there and a driver finally showed up, three hours later, at the address they claimed did not exist.

Stuff was delivered to the other side and one item had been crushed beyond repair. It was destroyed.

What happens when you use freight is that they will pick up your stuff and the stuff of other people along the way. Which means, your stuff can be slammed in to when they are loading other stuff, as was the case with my things. Boxes were ripped, items were dented, the one item was demolished.

Photos were taken, I provided receipt of the item that I had purchased, how much it cost, proof of everything and sent it in. The cost of the item was $340.

They wrote back stating they would pay $7 for the item they damaged. See, they only have to reimburse 10 cents on the dollar even if they destroy your things.

It is totally dishonest and they know it. The items were placed on their trucks in good faith that it would show up on the receiving end in the same condition as it was when put on the truck. They are the ones who destroyed it, they are the ones who need to reimburse.

But they do not care.

R&L Carriers will break your stuff and they do not care one bit about it. So, if you want your things to be tossed around and slammed in to during the transport, go ahead and use R&L. If you want your items delivered how you sent them, use someone else.