Speak your Mind

It is 4:00AM, give or take a few seconds. The birds are not yet awake, but will be soon. Darkness is great at night for sleeping, but not so great when one has a bit of insomnia.

The moths are returning to Colorado. Not the ones that ate holes in wool sweaters in Illinois when I was a child. The kind that just jump out at you from behind curtains and coats, as skittish as you are made skittish by them.

As I watched one flit to and fro across my window blinds, I wondered if they wander into the house when you open a door or window or if they just lay their eggs somewhere and hatch at will.

When one is up before the sun, one tends to ramble. So ramble I do. However, since this blog is actually about something, something important from my point of view, I will move on to other more poignant thoughts.

A couple of days ago a colleague of my commented on the recently passed extension on unemployment benefits. He suggested that it might be better if the bill had not passed. "There are plenty of jobs out there," he said. He went on to add that unemployment checks don't motivate people to look for jobs in the same way that their absence does. He also mentioned "entitlement" programs. Those federal, state and local programs that give money in one form or other to the down and out.

Although I am a person with strong opinions, I will refrain here from voicing mine. What I really would like to know is what is your opinion? Are you unemployed? How long? Does unemployment pay the bills? Do you prefer to get a check and take a little "vacation" from the work world? Are there really jobs out there? And would you take any job offered, even if it were not enough to feed you or your family (should you have one)?  And what about entitlement programs?  Food stamps?  Medicaid?  WIC?  SSI and SSD?  and so forth?

My conversation with my colleague made me realize that we live in a complex world with many views. That the change each of us wants to see one day has, in the past, often come at the expense of another who did not agree. That opinions and ideas are the fire that lights the flame that keeps us going as a civilization. The more opinions the better, perhaps.

When I was small, my mother hung her laundry out on the line, summer, spring, winter and fall. It baked in the heat and humidity of summer and froze in the cold and humidity of winter. But, oh, how fresh it smelled, even if the towels were a bit stiff.

I applaud my colleague for his forthrightness. He was being honest and sincere.  The truth is, we all have thoughts about the world around us. Not just the politicians on the world stage, but each and every one of us.

I encourage you to speak your mind (and here is where I inject a personal suggestion) as long as you leave the weapons, anger and judgment behind.  I also might add that it pays to listen, really listen to what others are saying.  Sometimes in that moment of silence we hear for the very first time.