Not a day goes by that I don't hear talk about this economy. "It's tough to find a job in this economy." "I can't sell my house in this economy." "How can anyone save money in this economy?"Yeah, this economy sucks. I have to believe it will get better. The U.S. economy has ALWAYS gotten bigger and better after a hit. Call me Little Mary Sunshine, but if you've read the blog for any length of time, you know I like to look for the silver lining. I love the song "Tomorrow" from "Annie." Tomorrow's only a day away.
But as I read a couple of pop culture magazines and surfed a few websites recently, I had to shake my head. It was a moment where I wanted to just grab someone and scream, "Get a freaking clue!"
And in no particular order, here are the victims of my wrath:
~ Stars in general who blow money on drugs and then whine about jail or rehab. Okay, first do you not know it's illegal? And do you not know that illegal activities come with a price? Maybe we need to bring back the old show "Baretta" with it's "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" theme song.
Ask the senior citizen who can't afford his or her blood pressure meds or the cancer victim who can't afford chemotherapy if they feel sorry for the star who sniffed cocaine and had to wear an ankle bracelet and you won't get a lot of sympathy.
~ Kids barely old enough to drive tooling around in quarter-million-dollar cars. I have a friend whose son works "seventeen part-time jobs" as she puts it and drives a clunker someone gave him. She gets calls at least two or three times a week because the car won't start and he has to get to one of his jobs. As him to feel sorry because some kid's Ferrari had the fender bumped. You won't get much sympathy.
~ And the one that absolutely frosts my cookies is the reality show TV mom who is whining because her show has been cancelled. "And my kids," she was quoted as saying. "How will they handle this?" I guess maybe they can handle it like millions of other kids whose parents have lost jobs. Have you thought about that, Miss Whiny Pants?
"People think we made gazillions of dollars and we didn't." Let me whip out my trust calculator and multiply $25000 per episode times at least 110 episodes and that comes to -- oh my, $2,750,000. Sure, it's not a gazillion, but it's almost THREE million. It probably IS three mil when you factor in the DVDs, books, speaking engagements, endorsements and free trips. According to U.S. Census data, it would takethe average Alabama family of 7+ members over 65 years to earn that much money. You used that money to fund a lavish lifestyle, which won't earn you much sympathy from the single mother who's living in a homeless shelter because her no-good ex-husband won't pay his alimony and child support.
Granted, this
And ya wanna know the real kicker? She was photographed recently driving her new car -- a $50,000 car that will hold less than half of her children. And she had just taken the car to the carwash. Another tip, darlin' -- wash the car yourself. Or get the kids to help. Eighteen hands can make quick work of a dirty car. And you can also have a little cheap fun with the garden hose. Want to make bathtime easy? Buy a couple cans of cheap shaving cream and let the kids have a shaving cream fight. Fun and clean all at once!
I'm through whining now. Now it's your turn. What's stuck in your craw lately?
* I borrowed this phrase from friend-of-the-Playground Rhonda Nelson.
8 comments:
Smart phones. I have nothing against anyone having one, as long as they aren't whining about making ends meet. I know some people who whine, whine, whine and everybody in the family has a smart phone.
People have trouble distinguishing the difference between want and need. You don't need a smartphone or cable or high speed DSL. You want it. You need food and electricity and a roof over your head. We're an entire society of entitlements with kids who've always gotten everything they wanted, whether their parents could afford it or not (hence the credit and foreclosure crisis). I grew up poor and it wasn't fun, but it made me more appreciative because I know how much further down a lifestyle can fall from cable and smart phones. Until you hit government cheese and dry bean poor, I don't want to hear it.
My own whine... my day job workload has exploded. 2-3 meetings a day, briefings to assemble, accounts to establish, customers to appease, deliverables to generate, documents to review, schedules and budget to manage... Its almost tripled in the last two weeks and it isn't changing anytime soon. But I have a job and it pays well, so my whine is tempered by that.
And my arm/shoulder still hurts. The pain pills and therapy are helping, but I'm far from normal. I just want to be normal again.
Football players who make millions and still whine about how little they make! I swear! Ticks me off to hear them.
Remarkably, I have nothing to whine about today. A first...
My son works his butt off to go to school and work. He pays for a lot of his own extras. We've always been proud of his work ethic.
I get fired up when he runs up against someone who does have that sense of entitlement--someone who doesn't know about pride and hard work and earning what you have--and then that kid has the audacity to make my son feel like what he has isn't enough or isn't good enough.
Part of it is the mama in me, wanting to protect my young (even if he is a young man of the world). But part of me truly worries that young people like my son are a minority part of a generation who will never know about those needs vs. wants.
You know, I don't have anything to whine about today. I have plenty to worry about, but that's different. To me, whining is unproductive and accomplishes absolutely nothing. I'm not willing to complain unless there's a plan of action attached at the end of the bitchfest.
Instigator
Want versus need. That's the crux of things for sure. I've eaten beans, so I know how to appreciate a steak.
Julie, good for your son! I have two who have worked hard for what they have and "the economy" has hit both of them hard. But they plug along and I'm so proud of the men they've become! I know what you mean about "the mama in me." Do not mess with my children or you will see a very ugly side of me!
Can I whine about the muscle I pulled last night in class? It hurts like hell and I have to teach tomorrow night. I'm alternating ice packs and Icy Hot, but it's just painful, regardless. Maybe I'm not as spry as I let my trainers convince me I was!
PM, I saw an article about that mother in the People magazine. Didn't read it because I wasn't interested. Sounds like she has planned poorly for her kids. Instead of flaunting her star status, she should have been putting that money away for her kids education, and maybe she has. For their sakes, I hope so.
Our actions have consequences. The sooner we realize that, the happier we'll be. And perhaps, just perhaps, we'll start making the right decisions.
Great post!
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