A curious read. I’ve always like the Television personality of Mike Rowe, and while he is certainly entitled to his political opinion, I’m entitled to disagree with it, and I do, to a degree. First and foremost, I come from a family of laborers, union members. All of them hands on, skilled workers who worked hard to etch their livings, and it worked for them, so I have this almost romanticized notion that if I continue to work hard (well beyond my bodies already taxed limits) that I too can achieve a modicum of success, my own piece of financial happiness. The rational part of me tells me I am deluding and lying to myself. The numbers just don’t add up.

I’d have to work 100hrs/wk, between both of my jobs just to break even (this precludes sleep, it’s apparently not necessary). I work 60hrs/wk now, 70hrs/wk in the summer and that’s still not enough. I have to sacrifice still, make hard choice. At what point have I put in my time at work, of busting my ass, day in, and day out.

Shit hurts every day that shouldn’t hurt, and I push on anyway, cause it’s what I have to do. That same rationale that is telling me I am wasting my time working hard, is also telling me I shouldn’t take my vacation time. Yes, I know, I’m a union member in good standing, and I earned that time, and you are right, I did. But I know that if I take the vacation time, something I want to do, something I probably need to do, I know I will spent money I just don’t have. A bill won’t get paid, or I’ll come up short on rent. This is the shit I think about, day in and day out, while I’m at work, so I’ve become torn, almost disenfranchised by the very notion of vacation time. And yet, I have this blue-collar ideal stuck in my head, from my Grandfather, from my Uncles, older cousins. I’m stuck in between eras, wanting to belong to the past and not fitting into the future.

I did’t vote for that overrated gasbag. He wasn’t a politician, he’s a failed businessman and an overrated reality TV star. Surprisingly, I met him, twice, long before he was on TV or interested in politics. He was cruel, mean, and treated everyone around him poorly. I got a bad impression from him then and I have one now. I see a dystopic fusion for us if he’s allowed to continue in office, I fear for the future of all. This is why I have a hard time buying into Trump and his economic plans, he’s very far removed from reality, and too rich to care. No one put him in check as a child and no one will stand up to him now.

Our own intelligence communities and our own federal police has stated that a foreign nation interfered in our election. Every business venture of his has failed, he is in debt to other nations, and other businesses. He’s admitted to sexual assault. He’s clearly a fan of nepotism. Millions voted for him, millions more voted for someone else. At what point will the people pull the wool from their eyes? What’s the point if a wall on our Southern boarder? All that does is to serve as alienation of our Southern neighbor. What message does that send to our friendly Northern neighbors?

I spent a month in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico about 10 years ago, it was a very enlightening experience. The nights I spent in my motel room, I fended for myself, mostly takeout. But the days and nights I spent across the border were far different. Don’t get me wrong, Juarez is a dangerous town (one of the most dangerous in the world), hell, I got pick pocketed in my first day (luckily they didn’t get anything important)! When I was with my driving partner, I was in good hands, he steered me clear of the more dangerous parts of town and showed me an old world hospitality I had never seen before, perfect strangers sharing food with me, authentic home cooking (some of it even a little too spicy for me) every night). I always had a safe place to sleep. They made me feel like I belonged. But I also learned why the company didn’t want drivers taking their equipment over the boarder, it wouldn’t have come back.

Inversely, I spent a week on the other side of the Continent, in Edmonton, Canada. This was for the same job, and I saw similarities as well as differences. Driving in Canada was far different, no one was in the same kind of hurry as they are here. People were very polite to me, everywhere I went (with the exception of Québéc). 99% of the time, I even got help with currency issues. Here I learned patience.

Seriously, I can go on and on as to what’s wrong with Trump, but that’s already been done, and I can’t say it any better then anyone else has already. We all should be scared for our futures. I just don’t have the trust in a repeated conman trying to sell shit to a pig farmer.