Like a RIVER, this thread has its twists and turns, and THAT'S OKAY, it happens! smile

Linda, you're right...our parents' generation, nor any after it (God willing) will never REALLY know what it's like to go completely hungry. That simply doesn't happen in this country. You all know (or may know) that my day job is housecleaning, and I'm a single mom. I don't know ANYWHERE ELSE where I could make $30 an hour housecleaning! I charge per job, which includes gas and cleaning supplies plus my time, but that is what it comes out to. GOD BLESS CAPITALISM!!! Do I deserve this amount? ABSOLUTELY! What I do is HARD WORK! My customers certainly don't want to do it, and I buy all the supplies and equipment, plus upkeep on the van and insurance, plus gasoline...and I am trustworthy, honest, reliable, and thorough. I started a business 17 years ago by passing flyers out door-to-door and in one month had $2,000 worth of commited customers! Again, GOD BLESS CAPITALISM!!! ANYONE who wants to get off of their ass and WORK can make a LIVING here!! I am a HOMEOWNER on a HOUSECLEANER'S salary!!!

I was engaged to a Scotsman for a period of time. He spent 2 weeks over here. He was amazed at how POLITE we are to eachother...in the grocery store, the gas station, the bars...he said it's because we all carry guns! LOL NO WE DON'T ALL CARRY GUNS! We all know deep down how FORTUNATE we are to live in this GREAT country, and even though we differ amongst ourselves politically (it's a BEAUTIFUL THING) we all love our country and respect it and eachother, as a whole. I see random acts of kindness every day, and try to be part of those as much as I can.

I have to admit, that after 9/11, I wasn't real thrilled with Muslims. Up until that point, I had joined a Uniterian church which respects the teachings of all religions, but after 9/11, Muslims just didn't sit well with me. After a time, after I observed the AMERICAN muslims apologizing for the extremist sect of their church which had nothing to do with the majority of Muslims, I started to "get it" and only in America does this happen. We have a Constitution that seperates Church and State. We can worship a friggin' rat's ass if we want to, and go to the Rat's Ass Church every Sunday, and nobody can condemn us for it, or not hire us on a job for it, or not sell us a home for it. We can hang a banner out on our front porches that says, "I belong to the Rat's Ass Church, and I don't give a Rat's Ass who knows!!!" and our neighbors will probably STILL invite us over to football parties and cook outs! smile

THAT'S the HUGE difference between us and other countries. In Scotland, it's all about Protestants vs. Catholics. Even their sports teams are segregated! It's so ridiculous! But that's how it is. Here, Hindus play next to Jews, who play next to Catholics, who play next to Protestants. At the end of the day, we're all people, and we're all entitled to be respected for who we are! Like Kaufman's song about "Believe The World Needs You" (It's on MP3) we are, for all intensive purposes, an all-encompassing society, and have grown the richer for it. ANYONE in America can make it if they put their mind to it!

Yes, we've been infiltrated, and yes, we have enemies, but BECAUSE we are such a strong nation due to our original ideals and foundations, we WILL perservere...we don't know how to do otherwise. smile

Last edited by Polly Hager; 09/05/10 01:58 AM.
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