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Coldplay Left Him Cold
"...an extended disquisition on how he and the other execs at Disney are keen to monetize “tribal” experiences like concerts She’s taking a video not of the stage but of the JumboTron. And it occurs to me that at that moment, I’m watching a feed of a feed of a feed. There’s a two-foot-long German word for what I’m feeling right now..." Thank you for these lines! Love this article.— January 14, 2010 2:55 a.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Oh, and re: #60: Michael Jackson AND Ron Jeremy AND various shady music producers? Damn, you were busy in the 80s, Mindy! Sad that such an illustrious career came to end with craigslist and Motel 6, eh? Anyway, is there a Ron Jeremy blog forthcoming? Pretty pretty please? ;)— January 14, 2010 2:13 a.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
re: #60: "And, she lied about being a literary critic when in fact she's an online teacher. Are you aware that she emailed Josh to admonish him about each and every misplaced period and comma?" Mindy, you are such a fool--that is why I ignore you. The only reason I am responding to you here is because you are engaging in untruth. I have never lied about who I am or what I do, and have used my full name on this site, always. As for emailing Josh to do what you say--that is also absurd and stupid, aaaannd...bah dump duh! ...also untrue. Were someone to take up such a herculean task, they would deserve a medal. Go back and look at your blog where you promise refried and myself that you will "spew" more venom at us until we "stop" doing something to you, when in fact, we just ignore you. Now: Take your own advice about meditation and anger, and stop being such a hypocrite. As for the controversy about my identity here or somewhere else--pretty amusing, and I think I'm enjoying the attention! ;) Pete--why don't you start a blog where you can post some side by side comparisons of these postings to some of mine. You say that as a longtime blogger you are good at discerning similarities, so why not? I have nothing to hide, and I LOVE this identity cloak-and-dagger stuff.— January 14, 2010 2:11 a.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
re: #40: Pete, people here illegally are not "beneath" you. re: #41: If "guys like you" are all we have between us and losing a ground war, then I am quaking in my own non-military boots. Unless you are telling us you are going to put down the 40-ouncer, and the kraut dogs and the smokes, and start doing massive boot camp workouts (not with your WII Fit! Doesn't count!) for the next two years, along with learning the requisite rules and operations necessary for any troop going into military warfare. Oh, and of course the psychiatric workup, too. Let's not be too hasty about putting a gun in an ex-con's hands, right? Ok, then ;)— January 14, 2010 1:57 a.m.
Maggots, Flies, and The Cat's Meow
Fulano de tal? Huh? Thought that guy went by the wayside after a few pointless parries, and little to add to the conversation (okay zilch, I'm trying to be polite). So it feels nice to be back with a gringo post! Nicely done, though I read it with eyes narrowed, waiting to turn away if a sad animal story were to emerge. Whew! Just a small unexplained presence hidden away in the washer. ;)— January 14, 2010 1:44 a.m.
Cocksure Cops?
From the details we are given, and granted, we are given only one side of the story, what happened here is NOT ok at all. There was no probable cause to pull these gentlemen over, and last I checked, baggy clothing was not a crime. I could understand if they were sporting gang colors in a way that is typical that the police might want to check up on them, but being stopped and having your tattoos photographed?! Where are our legal eagles on this one?...— January 9, 2010 9:07 p.m.
Weld Paddy's Mental Web
Oh. Em Gee. (As Cuddle would say). Did you make that!? That is HYSTERICAL!— January 9, 2010 8:59 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Oh PS: Did anyone else catch that in the cover photo, the woman is entering via the back door of the bus? A big no no, and only happens when schoolkids sneak in while the driver is distracted by their cohorts at the front ;)— January 9, 2010 6:32 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Let's take a look at some of what two self-identified government workers have revealed in this blog, as a reaction to this story: "What you must understand is that we have very specific rules when it comes to giving out benefits. Yes, the system is not easy & it's not intended to be by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, if the system was that easy, everyone would be applying for benefits. What disturbs me the most are the nicknames & assuming comments that you make in reference to my co-workers. Your comment that Smoky "could drink any man under that table" has no relevance to your situation. Try not to be so superficial & maybe that will open your eyes to the fact that we are all human beings." By Apple575 Try not to be so superficial? Let's be honest, Apple. How do you classify "clients" from the other side of the window? How has your attitude hardened and uglified after years of bristling at what you perceive to be self-entitlement, coming from "clients?" Your comments from the other side of the window sound just as frustrated as those of the writer of this story as a client. Why don't you write your story, from your point of view, on this subject, with as much honesty as you can muster? At the least, you might get the attention of a Laurie True--see comment #3, and at the most, you might be left with a lifting of the burden of bad feeling on your soul, after enduring the unkindnesses this job has forced people to perpetrate upon each other day after day. And here's babyblue, with a similar perspective: "We are each being asked to do the work of at least 2 people; due to budget cuts we are on a hiring freeze with no end in sight. We haven’t had a cost of living increase in 2 years and paid overtime is something archaic to us, paid overtime what’s that? But we should be thankful we have a job, right? I mean we are on the right side of the window? I know this means nothing to the people applying for aid but it directly affects their experience in our office." By babyblue This is also a great start, and could be a fantastic followup to the author's take. It sounds like too much is being asked of you on the job, babyblue, but how do you know it means nothing to people on the other side of the window? Perhaps they are caught in their own misery, and expecting you to prejudge them and be impatient and mean (and you just might be, because you are so very frustrated, too. Miserable government jobs in public assistance, and a miserable public trapped in the machine. But seeing some of the exchanges here as a result of one person's breaking the silence leads me to wish for more like this story--from your point of view as well.— January 9, 2010 5:41 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
C'mon, everyone. It's a common literary device to call persons who shall remain nameless in stories by something that marks their personal appearance, i.e. "Cornrows," (noticeable hairstyle) or "Smoky," (husky smoker's voice) etc. These are the kinds of details that make for interesting reading, and probably helped to keep you as readers on track, despite the depressing, and potentially boring content of the story (much of which concerns the frustration of waiting in lines and on phone calls). I think the story was brave and timely, and feel the author was honestly soul-searching her own preconceptions and biases, and treated them with an irony tinged with understandable bitterness in the face of such a turnaround--a bitterness that many of you misread as an adherence to some myth of entitlement. Can't you see that the writer is being pretty brutally honest in her attempt to write the truth of what she saw, therefore revealing and narrating herself as much as a character as anyone else in the story? (refried, I’m surprised at your reaction, too—what you accept in some people’s writings, and not a whiff of in others) How would you feel in her place? For those who have said she should have looked for the good or the kindness, or asked the names of people 'interviewing' her, do ya think she was in an environment encouraging her to do so? I come away from a careful reading of the story with the impression that sadly, she would have been viewed with even more suspicion. What would you write, and how much self-flagellation, or honesty about your perceptions would you reveal? I’d ask this of those who have written in to say that they are government or county workers, because the immediate attitude here on this blog, interestingly enough, seems to be one of willful misunderstanding and suspicion. Perhaps you'd feel you were more honest, or more careful about your perceptions of people of a race or ethnicity, or class perceived to be different from yours? Or would your story about "a man sitting next to me on the bench" and "a woman who may have been Muslim" (oops--that is too much: "a woman standing nearby," then), and all of the nameless government workers on the other side of the desk, who have no identifying features, such as color in their lips or details of manicure or hair—would your story about these important issues really carry the reader’s attention? Probably not.— January 9, 2010 5:26 p.m.