cartoons

Facebook is full of funny little pictures with cute little saying lately.  It is an epidemic that has exploded on probably all of your walls.  However, what I am noticing is the tolerance people are having for cartoons that seem to be created at the expense of minority groups--be it race, ethnicity, disability....  It is as if since we think it is funny then it is okay to post it.  Cause hey, it is not like we are attacking someone, right?  It is an attack, no matter how unintentional it is.  The things in which we find funny can  often be a reflection on how you feel about things.  How will you be reflected? 

Small business survival

Some have wondered if I have so much to say about OWS, why I am not there. And I ask why? I am on the front lines of it everyday, but it is at home. My father has worked at a family owned business for 30+ years. I know the family who owns it. That family watched me grow. And when the father died one of the sons took over. When I was three I would kick that son in the shin and then run. My birthday cakes came from them, my Sunday lunches came from them. I know the true impact of what is happening to the small businesses from a personal level. But I don't want to be a faceless person in a crowd. I want to be out loud and let everyone know that my family has relied on the small business to survive. And while it was sad they had to close their downtown business a few years back, that was not the true business. The main one, the one still standing is where you will find family.

Hotel Motel

Reading reports the hotels and motels have been and continue raise prices to almost double what they normally charge.  I am happy I was resilient enough to have weathered out the power outage.  Who has that kind of money?  And if you do why are you offering it to price gauging, especially those who have been to OWS.  Kind defeats the perhaps.   

Ode to the small businesses of Wall St.

"But soon after the encampment set up on September 17, Mr Epstein said business has slowed to such a degree he's not sure if Milk Street's doors will stay open.

He told CBSNewYork.com: 'Everything was going in the right direction. Sales continued to grow. We started to build our catering business. Costs were going down. I felt that by October or November we would break even."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2056404/Cafe-owner-sacks-21-employees-consequence-Occupy-Wall-Street.html#ixzz1cZ4dyIZM

This was due to the lack of business occurring in his small business cafe on Wall St.  People if you are going to OWS, SUPPORT THE SMALL BUSINESS!  What is the point then??  Don't go and see a show and stay in a lovely hotel or apartment, do it right.  Stay with the people.  Set an explain and also shop at the small businesses.  Isn't the point to support the 99%?  Broadway?  Real Estate Owners?  Are they struggling as much as the 21 people who were just laid off?  Intuition tells me that answer is no.

Yes, it is true, police barricades are not helping the situation.  However, maybe people should have done their research first and searched out the small businesses in order to readily support them upon their arrival.  My father works at a small business in MA that is in need of support.  However, I don't see this happening.  People say that want the government to have less control of their lives, then I say "prove it."  And this starts at home by supporting the small businesses.     

Dr. Phil

Kudos go out to the Dr. Phil Show who brought to light the incident that ended in PA, but occurred at various places in OUR COUNTRY.  The show discussed the event of adults with developmental disabilities that were held prisoner in a basement.  From this imprisonment children were produced and the belief is the woman who allegedly was the ring leader was looking to get the social security checks of these children, along with collecting the checks from the adults.  The adults are said to have had the cognitive understanding of a ten-year-old.  Yet, no one else is talking about this and I question why.  Is it because you feel it does not effect you?  It is because it is not a trendy topic?  Is it because no one told you this was not the current fad to jump onto?  These people were held prisoners!  They were chained and starved!  They were forced to have intercourse and bare children!  It wasn't just days or weeks, this was YEARS!  People need to get over their fear of the disabled and realize that yes, they are people too.  And just like other people they feel hurt and they can suffer.

Dark Snowy Days

Today was a strange day.  This was a strange weekend.  A snow storm in October which caused power outages?  Mine only lasted for less than 48 hours while others are still holding on and just trying to survive.  What I noticed though were the extreme ways in which people turned to survive the power outage.  I saw people who reached out to help others and I saw people take a "I am saving me and leaving" stance.  I stayed and helped others.  Who has the money these days to just get up and go?  What I got from my experience though was the opportunity to see compassion and selflessness in its purest form.  I saw strangers helping strangers.  I met people in my building I never met before.  We reached out to help each other and in return we received company and friendship while encountering a tough situation.  People with wheelchairs were trapped many floors up, but I saw those who were able to leave ensure those people had enough food.  Messages were being sent to each floor to tell us there was coffee on floor 4 or apples in the community room.  We helped each other.  Were we cold and did we want showers?  Yes.  Sure.  But we survived.  We are true to our titles of being Western, MA tough.