THEM and US

THEM and US….

It has always been a THEM and US world.. even when I was a kid… My folks did the best they could.. by the time I came along there was a war starting, and we were in it a year later.

My father was a civil service person.. he built torpedo’s for the war.  Then later after the war .. worked for the Seebee’s in R.I. at Quonset.  We never had to worry about our next meal, and we had a house that Dad built.  But there were those of money.. us in the middle with a lot of poor people..who just inked by.  Even though it was NEWPORT, R.I. the home of the mansions.

Over the years the gap has widen between the THEM and US  And never so much as it is today.  Much of it is not because those with little money didn’t work hard. As they did and do… but if you had a lot of kids which was normal in the 1950’s… then college was a luxury.  And still is.

Some say, well if “THEY” got a good education.. they wouldn’t be working in poor paying jobs..  As I said just before that wasn’t always true… And now.. with college ranking up there at the price of a new house or more.. it is less possible.  Some do it slowy.. taking one or two classes a year.. making that certificate out there like a carrot for some.. 4 or 5 years..  Some tech school are less.

But for the most part it is a stack deck against the regular guy.  As there are privilege who go to work for a company and get not only a good wage for that degree.. but also many bonus.. and the higher you go and do less.. the higher the bonuses go… Some in the hundred thousands.. some with a million.. some with hundreds of thousands AND stock in the company…  But this is just the beginning…  Because you see.. if we/I,  louse up.. and get fired.. that is it.. here is your last wages..and you are gone.. period.. But the CEO’S of the world… be it companies or school districts… YOU GET A RELEASE PACKAGE… Severance package… It can be hundreds of thousands…. Some even with stock.. Case in point… when K-mart started to go down hill.. they FIRED their head ceo… and he got, as he went out the door… now remember he was FIRED.. He got a million dollar, plus two million dollars worth of stock…  This is with the company heading into a downward spiral…. Which supposedly he caused..  AND then they hired another one.. for TWO MILLION DOLLARS plus I don’t remember how many millions of stock…    Now remember..when you are fired.. you are walked to the door with your coat in hand.. period..

Then there is the yearly bonus.. Now this man or woman is paid.. paid a huge monthly wage.. HUGE… by the standards of the production people..  So tell me why.. are they entitled to a bonus.. ?   Some say.. because they ran the company and it did well… First of all, some companies are not doing well and the bonus is still there. We are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars…  But lets say for the sake of argument, the company is doing well… Why should they get a bonus?  THEY ARE BEING PAID VERY WELL…FOR DOING JUST THAT.. THEIR JOB..  The production worker who makes sure the company is working well.. gets maybe a $25 bonus.. if lucky.. some get a fricking 10 pound turkey..If you are a supervisor, you might get $50…

So tell me again.. why does this Ceo.. get extremely over paid and a extremely.. high bonus?   Just for doing their job?

Talk about a stacked deck… No wonder there is a THEM and US problem.

By the way, when I was a kid.. my parents taught me.. I didn’t get extra…. BECAUSE IT WAS MY JOB… and for many years.. I was told, I had a warm house to live in.. and food on the table and clothes on my back.. THAT WAS MY PAY…  It wasn’t until I was 15 and got a job (not counting babysitting..which went for clothes) …and I was to put 1/3 in the bank to save.  Only got 75 cents an hour… And after school I got a job for $1.00 an hour, which paid at the end of the week was $36.00 with deductions.. which I paid my parents $10 a week rent… Plus put $10 a week in savings.. And because I had a car I bought with my baby sitting money.. (hell, no Mom and Dad did not give me one) so I had gas to pay for..  Luckily for me .. I could walk the 2 miles to work, when I didn’t have enough gas.

So can some one really seriously tell me where it started that business heads get bonus on top of their high wages?  Who started that???   And how can they look at the guy in the production line, who brings home his pay check which is just barely over what his company head paid for lunch with his cronies? 

And you wonder… why we bulk at the THEM and US.