Roll Up Your Sleeves

I am one man with one opinion. I didn’t write the constitution and I don’t profess to know every word or understand all it’s meaning. From a common middle class perspective however, I am under the impression the constitution exists to among other things insure that we are all treated equally. The only problem with this way of thinking….we don’t all behave equally.


I grew up in a single wide trailer. My parents bought it in the 1960s and built a couple of rooms on as our family grew. My mother still lives there today. She is just as proud of her home as anyone you would know. It was the best they could do on the income they earned from the cotton mills. We were not poor by any means…meaning there was always food on the table, clean clothes to wear to school, and we never went without electricity or any of the basic needs including medical care. My parents worked hard, but they were not financially ambitious. This was fine, because they were also not materialistic.

You see in my opinion, you can’t have the best of both worlds. You can’t have a lack of ambition and then be materialistic. Somewhere over the last 25 years or so we have regressed as a society. Too many people want the nice cars, the big houses, the best smart phones, and all the designer clothes, but they don’t want to work for it.

Don’t doubt my analysis of this situation we have gotten ourselves into. I speak from personal experience of over 20 years of supervising people. When I got my first job, I was so excited. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I can remember being on a wait list just to land a job at the local fast food restaurant. When I finally got hired…it took me about one month to be promoted. My cotton mill working parents taught me never to lay out of work, always volunteer for extra shifts, and attempt to be the best employee I could regardless of where I worked. Yes, I said my parents taught me that. In these days however, I can’t tell you how many parents I know who call their kids employer to complain about how they have been treated, rather than encourage the kid to suck it up and do their job.

I graduated from high school with a 3.56 GPA, but it was too average to get a scholarship. I had $500 in savings from cutting grass and from graduation gifts. I knew if I wanted to go to college, I had to get a job. Through the summer of 1990 I worked two jobs and earned enough to pay my first semester tuition and books at Jacksonville State University. Fortunately, I was able to live at home in that single wide with my parents and younger sister. I realize my start out in life was not as rough as some, but it wasn’t a cake walk either. It took ambition and determination if I wanted to grow in my career and get an education.

I have supervised as many as 300 employees indirectly at one time. It’s unfortunate the number of them who complain about work, call out for the slightest reason, and always think the grass is greener on the other side. This country is only going to get stronger when we as individuals stop thinking we are entitled.

Our entire welfare system needs to be regulated. We have enabled people to become dependent on the government for support. We have taught an entire generation of people that Joe is just as entitled to everything John is whether he works for it or not. We enable young vibrant people to stay home and draw support when they are fully capable of working. We reward young people for having child after child out of wedlock by increasing their welfare. All the while, the fathers of these children are not working, they are out producing more with other girls. I am not stereotyping any particular race…both whites, blacks, and others are guilty!

W e complain about Mexicans crossing the border and taking our jobs, yet the chicken plants, construction companies and other blue collar employers have no choice when people refuse to work because they can gain government support without working. Oh, and their attitude is….I am not working for minimum wage!

President Obama is all about assigning “Czar’s” to reform programs and lead our government. We need a new Welfare Reform Czar who realizes we are holding back an entire generation of people from reaching their potential by enabling their socialistic lazy attitudes. It kills me to think about the fact that an employee of an organization can lose their job if they fail a drug test, yet welfare recipients are not required to be tested. It might infringe on their civil liberty?????

I am reminded of a story I once heard about Abraham Lincoln. Anyone who knows anything about Lincoln knows he came from very poor beginnings, but he loved everyone and was very much in favor of freedom for all. During a speech at a small church a wealthy and socially elite lady approached him and asked this question, “Mr. Lincoln, what was your family’s coat of arms?” Lincoln kind of grunted and replied, “A pair of rolled up sleeves.”

Young people…roll up your sleeves. Sometimes you might have to take a job you don’t want. We have all been there. I don’t know many people who start climbing a ladder half way up!