Jobless Americans in Her Muddied Mirror

I profess that I know nothing of the story covered by our local Fox news that was posted on Facebook today.  A caption for the picture of three police cars parked at a Burger King fast-food restaurant read:

Happening Now:  Not an HPD lunch break . . . a dude just got busted for allegedly holding up 3 fast food places.  Northeast Houston in the 9500 block of Jensen . . . SkyFox over the scene.    

This writing is not so much about that story; what prompted this writing was a comment posted by an individual, which reads:

Jobless Americans who seem to think everything should be handed to them!  UGH!  

That line has stayed with me since I first read it, and its author is the focus of this writing.

NOTE:  Before delving into this, please take notice that I do not condone any kind of criminal activity whatsoever; so before the reader jumps to that conclusion, declaring the writer to be a left-wing liberal who makes excuses for every out-of-mainstream, down-on-his-luck guy/gal on a corner, leave the lid on that can.

What bothers me is a person, who, from her photo, appears to be a rather young adult, taking on jobless Americans, making a wholesale statement that on its face is devoid of any degree of humaneness.  Her FB page indicates she is affiliated with a local high school, presumably a present or former student.   Speculatively, she is just out of high school, and I imagine a scenario in which she lives a reasonably comfortable life, courtesy of parents who assure that she is properly attired with fashionable garb and properly equipped with some technological gadgetry – at least a mobile phone to stay connected on Facebook.  Perhaps.  Or, maybe she has a job that allows her to live comfortably, dress decently, and afford some gadgetry.  Perhaps.  Or, maybe she is a trust fund baby, you know, a Paris Hilton wannabe who is content to live her life and not be concerned about the means by which she will acquire her next outfit, her replacement phone, the latest iPad, the next tank of gas or . . . her next meal.

She appears to be young.   Evidently she has not been around the block too many times.  Perhaps her short life has been a flat, straight line, uneventful in any impactful way,  rather than the twisted, knotted ones of those jobless Americans who were either:  1) laid off through no fault of theirs; 2) terminated with cause; 3) terminated without cause; 4) casualties of corporate mismanagement; 5) deceived retirees who lost their nest egg in Wall Street shenanigans; or 6) casualties of exported jobs or imported workers ... Perhaps neither has anyone who is responsible for her lifestyle and meeting her basic and extraordinary needs experienced a time of joblessness.  Sadly, perhaps she believes she is immune from joblessness, immune from want, immune from need, immune from hunger, homelessness, and nakedness.  How haplessly and utterly sad.  Perhaps she planned to live only in the very moment at which she post her jobless Americans drivel, seeing in a muddied mirror, her deluded superior, immune-from-negative-circumstances self.  Or, maybe unlike the rest of us, she knows her future is totally secure.

If I should have a moment with this young woman, I would tell her of someone of whom I knew, who was once wealthy.  I came to know him personally when all he had left was himself and a car with a clear title.  Or, maybe I would tell her of another, who was a diligent, dedicated employee with an unblemished record for three months shy of 20 years (at which time he could have retired), and was ousted on the whim of another for no reason other than it was doable.  Or, maybe I would tell her about this writer, who despite the framed crap on the wall of her home office, attesting to academic achievements (and no, she did not graduate at the bottom of her class) and professional credentials, was systematically rejected by employers for more years than the young woman has probably been alive.

I pity her, and people like her.  They are the ones who have more difficulty adjusting to the adversities of life.  Like one of whom I would tell her, she probably would not survive if any event upset the delicate balance of her most likely want-for-nothing existence.  What we would not know is whether it was a waste for her to breathe precious air in the first place, or a waste for her not to stick it out long enough so she would know what she could endure.