ALL IN THE FAMILY

I there has been one or two times in my life that I have called my father desperately seeking advice. Although he always gives it to me even if I don’t ask, I do listen. After a while of listening I realized that it was usually really good advice. Not always, but usually. There have only been a couple times that I actually called and asked "What do I do here? I need your help".

“I hate this job Dad, it is making me miserable.”
“Then just quit.” There it was, plain and simple. "If you hate the job you work for, then do something you love, even if it takes a while to get there.”

Of course, that sounds great but there is always the problem of money holding you down. If you quit you can’t pay bills, you lose health insurance or benefits. So you deal with the shitty job that is tearing you apart little by little. Yet somehow, despite how much I’ve hated some jobs, everyday I have laughed at work. I don’t mean a forced- “I'm going to pretend that was funny even though it wasn’t, but I feel obligated to laugh since your my boss’"- laugh. I mean tears falling can’t hardly breathe laughing. The people who we work with make all the difference. They make it tolerable, until we are ready to leave. When something important happens in each other’s lives we are excited for them. When something awful happens we help them get through it.

I have found that the most amazing thing can happen when you're down, and in a rough patch. If you ask for help so many people are willing to give it until you are back on your feet, and doing whatever it may be that makes you happy. Sometimes you don’t even need to ask, people just hand it out. I once lent one of my co workers 700$ when he was in a rut. I had some extra money I had been saving to move to New York City but it would still be a while before I could go, so I offered it. I didn’t make him sign anything, which most people would say is crazy. I knew the type of person he was. He paid it back in full, all before I moved to the city. Everyone told me that you shouldn’t lend money like that to someone who wasn’t a family member. Sometimes with certain coworkers, they can be both.

I ran into him a few weeks ago, working at a much better job, back on his feet, new girlfriend, new apartment.In short, he is out of the rut. He made it a point to say to me "By the way, I will never forget what you did for me. It meant a lot."

So here’s to all the coworkers I’ve ever had. And here’s to helping each other out.

TAKE THAT FOX

If anyone caught the republican debate tonight I was amazed at how ridiculous Fox News is. Well, I'm not surprised, just frustrated.

First off, Ron Paul crushed Giuliani in the Iowa caucuses, but received no invitation to the last republican debate sponsored by Fox news. This pissed people off in New Hampshire, where Paul had been showing better numbers than Fred Thompson.

In tonight's debate he was the only one who actually said anything. He made points and backed up his opinions with facts, not by talking in circles. He did it all while being attacked by other candidates and by facing questions which none of the other candidates were forced to answer. For example, while one question was being asked about the direction of the Republican party since the Reagan era each candidate has their chance to answer. When it came to be Ron Paul's turn, he was asked instead about his conspiracy theorist followers and if he supports their views. Paul quickly pointed out the relevance to the question that had been on the floor for 20 minutes which everyone else had been allowed to answer.

"Can I please answer the question we've been discussing," he asked twice before allowing to continue. First, he had to state that his followers can think what they want, and he disagrees."

Following the debate, a small group of people(20 or so) were taken to the forum to discuss who they thought the winner of the debate was. When the cameras came on, and they were asked who they thought was the victor was a unanimous decision that Thompson won, and Ron Paul lost. Could that have been any more set up?

The interesting thing that Fox news seemed to overlook, was they offered viewers the chance to text in their vote as to who THEY thought won the election. Ron Paul was the winner by the American people, with 33% of the vote. Thompson came in around 19%.

LOVED THIS

"I love New York because the waiters and waitresses are the most beautiful, interesting, creative, stylish, aloof, and driven collection of service providers that can be found anywhere on the planet. They all have a story. They all have a plan. And they all forgot to bring me the fucking mustard."
-NY mag