My 99%s worth

They are making a lot of noise in the media.  They are getting coverage every day.  There are groups taking up the fight in other cities across the country.

And nowhere, anywhere, have I been able to find a mission statement for any of them.

They are occupying Wall Street, and they are camping out, but what do they want? What is their plan to change the status quo? They have people donating food, tons of food, to feed the masses gathered at the parks.  They have built their own tent city, complete with a library.

Why haven’t they put that kind of commitment, creativity, inspiration, and energy into finding a job, or making their own lives better, than sitting around expecting the 1% they are protesting to change?

According to this guy, the 1% are the ones who make more than $350,000 a year. I will never be one of the 1% that influences the politicians.  I will also never been one of the politicians influenced by the 1%.

What I am is a single mom in my 40’s.  A month ago I had a job that was paying the bills, putting a roof  over our heads, food on our table, and afforded us health insurance.  It was not a fancy life, but it was livable. We managed to eat out once a month, and by eat out I mean my daughters got McDonald’s for dinner.

Today I still don’t have a job, and it’s been a month.  I filed for unemployment the day my job ended. And I also started looking for a job.  I knew unemployment could take up to 3 weeks before I saw a dime.  I called the utilities, I called the landlord, I called my parents.  I asked for temporary help with the understanding I would make it right, pay it back, as soon as I got back on my feet.

I spent every day on line applying for every job I could find.  I was on the computer literally 5 hours a day, applying to 7-10 jobs a day.  I sent my resume to every company I could think of that would allow resumes be submitted online.  I could not allow myself to not look for a job, even for a day.

I found food pantries and stood in line at those every week, to get food to supplement what little I could afford to buy in order to feed my kids.  I swallowed my pride, kept looking for a job, and did what I had to do to get by.  I talked to everyone I saw, and listened when people were talking about places that were hiring.

I am not out of the woods yet, as I don’t have a job.  I have a job interview on Monday.  It’s only one out of the many I applied for. Unemployment only required me to apply for 2 jobs a week.  I know there are those out there who will do just that, only apply for those 2 jobs a week.

I am not one of those people.

I will never be one of the 1%, but also don’t expect the world to change because I don’t have the job I want with the paycheck I’d love to grow accustomed to.  I don’t expect to live off of other people, I don’t go looking for handouts so that I can afford to be a stay-at-home-mom.  My job, for the past month, has been to find a job and ways to feed my family.

I am the 99%, and I’m doing the best I can.