Do I have to Get off The Couch?
I've never been a "burn your bra" kind of person. I look back at the men and women from the 60's and admire their commitment to their causes, no matter what they were. Even if I don't agree with what each group was protesting, marching for, having a sit-in about, that generation had a voice and was committed to using it. Our generation, not so much...
A few months ago, Jon Stewart had a Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington, D.C. His point was as such: There are the lefts and there are the rights and then there are all of us in between that are busy taking our kids to soccer games and making dinner....oh, and having an actual job! Is that why we aren't protesting? Is that why we aren't spending a week at a sit-in, protesting an injustice?
I know when I see a Union protester in front of a non-union business with a big blow-up rat, I think to myself, "isn't there anything better that person could be doing with their time?" Or when I see a group in front of an abortion clinic, taunting the women entering the building, I think to myself, "Why are they inflicting their views on these women, at such a difficult time?" I guess I just think, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Is that it? Has protesting or not protesting become just a matter of time management and soccer schedules? Or is it that we have nothing left to protest? Or is it that we feel that government, laws and "the man" has gotten to big to hear us.
I see at what is happening in Egypt, and the violence, lives lost, the looting, the chaos and I think to myself, "I would be outta there so fast!" I am amazed at the conviction and the determination and willingness to sacrifice EVERYTHING for change and a better way of life. Is that it? Is it that we Americans have life pretty much how we want and need it? Is it that we have everything the way we feel it SHOULD be? No reason to protest, we can vote in November?
I think it would be interesting to have a cause so dear to me that I want to march in the streets and burn my proverbial bra. I think it would be life-changing to feel such passion for something that I spend my life, my time and my energy being a part of that cause. I mean, I can't even imagine spending my time handing out fliers for an electoral candidate?
Recently, I have been moved to want to run for school board in my town. I feel that the countless POUNDS of paperwork that is sent home is criminal...and then to ask to raise taxes..really? I also feel that the school lunches boarder on malnutrition and poison, but hey, that's just me. Oh, and then there are the numerous teachers my kids have had to contend with over the last three years, really, you call THOSE teachers? And then we have the HARDEST WORKING PTO on the planet, and the teachers who don't even bother to attend the fund raisers...embarrassing!
So maybe I am a bra burner? Maybe it is just a matter of getting mad enough to feel that I need to get off the couch and let someone "have it?" But then again, who in the world is going to vote for a stay-at-home mom that has never run a business, isn't a lawyer and has no political connections in the community? Back to the couch I suppose.
Maybe one day I will find my cause. Maybe one day I will be as passionate about something as the people I see in Egypt, (but on a much smaller scale, of course). I feel for the people of Egypt, I admire them and I feel that to have such passion, such determination and be able to "get off the couch" and make a difference for themselves and every generation to follow is heroic. As are the men and women who marched, sat-in and protested to allow me the right to have a blog, vote, go to college, be a stay-at-home mom, and anything else we as citizens of America want or need to do. Thank you for fighting my fight, for marching my march and for paving the way. I am blessed by your sacrifice and your ability to "get off the couch."
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A few months ago, Jon Stewart had a Rally to Restore Sanity in Washington, D.C. His point was as such: There are the lefts and there are the rights and then there are all of us in between that are busy taking our kids to soccer games and making dinner....oh, and having an actual job! Is that why we aren't protesting? Is that why we aren't spending a week at a sit-in, protesting an injustice?
I know when I see a Union protester in front of a non-union business with a big blow-up rat, I think to myself, "isn't there anything better that person could be doing with their time?" Or when I see a group in front of an abortion clinic, taunting the women entering the building, I think to myself, "Why are they inflicting their views on these women, at such a difficult time?" I guess I just think, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Is that it? Has protesting or not protesting become just a matter of time management and soccer schedules? Or is it that we have nothing left to protest? Or is it that we feel that government, laws and "the man" has gotten to big to hear us.
I see at what is happening in Egypt, and the violence, lives lost, the looting, the chaos and I think to myself, "I would be outta there so fast!" I am amazed at the conviction and the determination and willingness to sacrifice EVERYTHING for change and a better way of life. Is that it? Is it that we Americans have life pretty much how we want and need it? Is it that we have everything the way we feel it SHOULD be? No reason to protest, we can vote in November?
I think it would be interesting to have a cause so dear to me that I want to march in the streets and burn my proverbial bra. I think it would be life-changing to feel such passion for something that I spend my life, my time and my energy being a part of that cause. I mean, I can't even imagine spending my time handing out fliers for an electoral candidate?
Recently, I have been moved to want to run for school board in my town. I feel that the countless POUNDS of paperwork that is sent home is criminal...and then to ask to raise taxes..really? I also feel that the school lunches boarder on malnutrition and poison, but hey, that's just me. Oh, and then there are the numerous teachers my kids have had to contend with over the last three years, really, you call THOSE teachers? And then we have the HARDEST WORKING PTO on the planet, and the teachers who don't even bother to attend the fund raisers...embarrassing!
So maybe I am a bra burner? Maybe it is just a matter of getting mad enough to feel that I need to get off the couch and let someone "have it?" But then again, who in the world is going to vote for a stay-at-home mom that has never run a business, isn't a lawyer and has no political connections in the community? Back to the couch I suppose.
Maybe one day I will find my cause. Maybe one day I will be as passionate about something as the people I see in Egypt, (but on a much smaller scale, of course). I feel for the people of Egypt, I admire them and I feel that to have such passion, such determination and be able to "get off the couch" and make a difference for themselves and every generation to follow is heroic. As are the men and women who marched, sat-in and protested to allow me the right to have a blog, vote, go to college, be a stay-at-home mom, and anything else we as citizens of America want or need to do. Thank you for fighting my fight, for marching my march and for paving the way. I am blessed by your sacrifice and your ability to "get off the couch."
Like what you read today? Post it to your Facebook page so everyone can read it! Click below to share!
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