Excuse me as I get on my soap box....

My parents told me there were three things you never talked about when in the office, they were (1) how much you made (2) religion and (3) politics. For the most part over all the years I have been able to do this. And normally, one generation looks at the past one and says they are glad they aren't a part of that one, theirs is going to better....

Now to my soap box....I truly wish that I thought the new generation following me was going to have a better life, but the America I see today scares me...not just the increase in crime or the high price of gasoline, but the way American Businesses seem to be going. Now I know that companies have been moving work to other countries for a long time but I guess it caught my attention now that it is affecting people I have worked with for years and who knows could eventually affect me.

A little background...I started at my company when I was 18, just 3 months out of high school I never expected to stay as long as I have but I was surprised once I worked for them how great of a company they were, they cared about the customers they cared about the employees, so I kept staying. Then...they started moving work all around the US, but still they offered everyone the opportunity to move with them or offered them a package that took care of them while they looked for another job. Nowadays, that isn't always the case. There aren't offers to move to where you work is going and even if it was offered, since they are now including other countries, not too many people are interested, and the packages that have been offered for so many years according to the rumor mill will be changing to be almost nothing, no matter how many years a person has with the company. This is all done so that the company makes money and makes the stockholders happy. Now I'm not stupid...I realize that businesses have to make money, but why do we have to loose sight of the other things at the same time?

I have never really paid much attention to politics, I normally just voted the way my parents had voted, but this year it will be different, I am really studying what the politicians running for office in my city, state and country are saying. I'm also listening to what they say they won't do, because that can even be more scary.

March is Women's History Month, and I wish I had the strength of the women in the past who stood up for what they believed in no matter what the consequences...because I would be a voice for the people to Big Businesses asking them what they are going to do when they have moved all their jobs to other countries...who is going to buy their product? It won't be those of us who lost our jobs to the other country, because we won't be making any money to do so. I don't blame the people in the other countries for grabbing on to these jobs that will help them support their families, if the roles were reversed, I'd do the same, I just don't understand why business doesn't see this isn't going to work for the US.

OK...I'm almost ready to get off of my soap box and leave you alone....just one more request, no matter who you vote for this year....study what they represent, locally and for the country and see if you can really say you can live with the decisions it appears they will make, but above all...vote for who you feel is right...not just because you've always voted that way...but please vote.

OK, I'm officially climbing off of my soap box...(feel free to comment, I just ask that you consider others when you write/type your response.)