I've Got a Laundry List...

of gripes, rants and other to do's...but I'll save them for phone calls with the Soldier Spouse...since they fall in his area.

Today (rather tonight) I want to say my bit on something that's been triffling at my mind for the past day or so. Now, don't think me a heartless bitch...I'm not. I sympathize, I feel and I'm downright heartbroken for the horrific scenes occuring in Haiti. I wish I had the skills to be useful there, I would go. I wish I did have the money to send...but unfortunately I do not.

"Just send your cash."

You've seen that, right? Well, that has me a bit wrung out. You see, Mr. Bush (W)...my cash is a little tied up right now in a huge list of taxes and bailouts. I pay school taxes on a school that we don't use/support. I pay sales taxes on everything from fast food to toilet paper (easy to confuse one for the other I might add). I pay city, county, state and federal taxes that show me little to no return for my investment. I bailout huge corporations and banks with my measly dollars and cents. Corporations and banks that have been practicing shady transactions for decades and now find themselves floundering.

I'm miffed at your statement, Mr. Bush (W) because...well...if it were me (and it has been) I would have had to stand in front of a bankruptcy judge and explain how the hell I got myself into such a dismal state of affairs. But then, if it were me...I'd be ashamed of the fact I was there at all. You see, I have that...shame. I'm not "too big to fail"...I do it all the time, then pick myself up and brush myself off and take the first step in a new direction. There in lies the key of the situation...a new direction. Not hope...not always change...making a new choice and recognizing what put you in the dirt in the first place is the way to go.

I'm also miffed because I know (because I've seen) that all those dollars and cents that get donated...well...they don't always make it to the places that they should and the people that need them most. They get tied up in bureaucratic policies and politician's interests. I have the feeling that "we" will be in Haiti for a very long time...not because President O says so...but because it will take years for the money to trickle down to those that need it most...years to make a difference. Reminder: Katrina and Ike

So I'm sorry that I cannot just send my cash. It is tied up in so many places that I can't even count them all. What little that remains will go to a charity that can use it most...my household. You see, I have two little boys that like to eat and outgrow clothing and shoes. And even though my Soldier works hard and believes that he's doing what is best for us (and he is) his pay is not much more than what he was making before re-enlistment. We, Mr. Bush (W), are your standard not quite middle class but not quite lower class family. We get by on little, save enough for when it's needed most in more ways than one and cringe when it's a week from payday but the car is broke down...we don't have the cash to send. Ask for anything else...food, water, blankets, clothing (I have lots that have been outgrown) but do not ask me for cash. You have enough of ours already.

Now, ya'll go click an ad or something!