It Sucks Being Me

It Sucks Being Me
Neal Ross
11 Aug, 2007


I honestly think that sometimes, it sucks being me. It sucks because I care. I blame my father for that. As I was growing up he constantly bombarded me with, what I have come to call, Donald-isms. Every child hears them from their parent, those sayings that they tell you ad naseum until you feel like you are going to scream. My fathers favorites were little tidbits of wisdom such as, “If somebody is paying you to do a job, do it to the best of your ability.”, or “A mans word is his honor.” Unfortunately for me, no matter how hard I tried to screw up my life, those little gems of wisdom apparently had sunk in and I turned out to be a decent person. Now I am paying the price for it.

I find myself in the predicament of caring too much about everything. I care about the quality, and quantity, of work I do on the job. I care about the obvious loss of morality and decency in society today. I care about the way our elected representatives choose to pander to the special interests, while ignoring the effects their legislation has upon the common, working people of America.

I work in a food processing facility, and conditions there are sometimes miserable. It gets hot and humid in the summer, with the inside temperature usually about 5 degrees hotter than what it is outside. In summer when it is 100 degrees outside, it is usually 115-110 inside, with about 95% humidity. When I go to work, I simply do my job. If I am capable, I will help others when I find them having difficulties. I don’t think of myself as anything special, I just do what I was trained to do, and what I am getting paid to do. I am partners with 2 others who hold company records for the amount of apricots processed in a day,(62,000 lbs), and raisins processed in a day, (53, 000 lbs). I don’t complain, I don’t argue, I just put in my hours and go home.

However, I see the new hires come in, mostly younger kids whose parents never taught them those little gems of wisdom that my father taught me. They gripe and complain about everything. For them the baskets of fruit are too heavy, it is too hot, they have to work too fast. Many of them don’t last a week, let alone long enough to make it through the probation period. I find that funny, that a guy who is 49 can outwork a 20 year old kid in the prime of his life. Sad, but true!

My dedication to the quality of work I do comes with a price though. I have bad feet and they ache at the end of 8 hours. I have constant lower back pain and my left knee sometimes feel as though it wants to give out. I just pop some Motrin and go about my job, because that is who I am.

Another thing that causes me great concern is the downward trend in morality in this country. People claim that they are entitled to freedom of speech, and therefore they are allowed to say the things they do. That is true, we are free to say what we please, but the reason I find myself asking, is why do people say these awful things? The lyrics to music today are atrocious. I grew up listening to late 60’s and 70’s rock n roll. Sure the music was anti social in some instances, and sang about partying and women in others. But the music today sounds like it was penned by the devil himself. There is no decency, no respect, and definitely no concern for the amount of profanity used.

Our vision is just as assaulted by the television shows and movies we are subjected to. There is so much gratuitous sex, and violence that they are unfit for viewing. I often wonder what is the reason for creating such filth for people to watch, but then I realize one thing, because it sells and it is all about profits.

I do not see any way out of this downward spiral we are in. You can only place so much blame upon the people who produce this garbage. If they didn’t make a profit they would stop producing it. So the people that go to these movies or watch these television shows are just as much to blame. All I can say is that we have lost our moral compass and that unless we find it, and do it quickly, this country is going to descend into a pit of filth that it will never be able to climb out of.

Finally I care too much about the way our government has strayed from the principles upon which it was founded. The voice of the people is ignored and our elected officials are no longer public servants, they are masters over what we can and cannot do.

I often lay awake at night trying to put together just the right words so that people can understand the way our government has perverted and desecrated the Constitution and the offices they hold. So far I have been unsuccessful as our government continues to ignore the will of the people and caters to special interest groups.

So, yes it sucks being me. I feel like I have a heavy burden upon my shoulders. I sometimes wish I didn’t care, I wish that I was just as ignorant and blind to the truth of what is happening to this country as everyone else is. Unfortunately I am not. I guess that means up until the day I take my last breath it will continue to suck being me.