My Right To Rant And Rave

There is a radio station out of Charlotte that I used to listen to when I was driving back and forth to Fort Mill every day. I don't remember the call letters of the station but I think it was @ 107.9 on the dial. In the mornings they had the Bob and Sherri show and in the afternoon it was the Matt and Ramona show. On Tuesday afternoons Matt and Ramona did a segment called "Tuesday Tirades" which at times was very amusing. People would call in and unload things off of their chests that bothered them. Sometimes the tirades were silly but some of them were serious things that you could tell really bothered the callers. Since today is Tuesday I thought I would post something that gets under my skin.

It absolutely drives me nuts to hear people complain about their jobs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the occasional "I had a bad day" comments. Everybody has those days from time to time. I'm talking about the everyday "countdown to the weekend" thing or the "I hate getting up early" thing or the "I can't wait for the long holiday weekend" thing or the "I hate this computer" thing, etc.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this, I used to drive back and forth to Fort Mill every day. That's 90 miles in the morning, work 8am to 5pm, and 90 miles in the afternoon. EVERY WEEK DAY, EVERY WEEK. After several months of that, it was off to the various company owned distribution centers all over the country to implement the software we had configured in Fort Mill. That meant flying out on Monday morning and flying home Friday night, being away from family and friends. Occasionally, to save the company money on airfares, we would stay over a weekend and be away from home for two week periods. Once I had to be gone for 3 weeks without a trip home. This went on for 3 years. If anyone had a reason to complain, I did. But, as soon as those implementations were over, the company started closing some of it's locations and my home base happened to be among the first to go. All of the sudden, I, along with hundreds more, was unemployed. I received unemployment benefits, which amounted to about 1/3 of what I was bringing home while I was working, for 12 of the 18 months I was without a job. The other 6 months I did odd jobs to pick up extra cash.

I know of people right now who are unemployed and haven't got unemployment benefits coming in. People who would probably love to have the jobs that others complain about, just to be able to feed and clothe themselves and their families. Or, to be able to take the family out for an evening of entertainment once in a while. With Christmas coming up, how do you explain to your children that there won't be any presents under the tree because Santa Clause is as broke as a convict? With the economy like it is and the unemployment rate as high as it is, how many are out there, in addition to the ones I know, who are in the same situations. People like the ones I know who aren't receiving unemployment benefits aren't even included in the unemployment rates you hear on the news so no one really can say with any certainy what the real unemployment rate is.

I thank God every day for my job. Even though I'm not getting rich, I can pay my bills and I have enough to eat. After experiencing a heart attack, I thank God every morning that I am able to hear the alarm clock go off at 6am and I open my eyes and realize that I'm still breathing instead of waking up dead. There are times when I feel bad in the mornings and I begin to have thoughts of "I wish this" or "I wish that" then I realize what I have that others may not and I have to ask for forgiveness for my thoughts.

Anyway, that's my tirade for today. I only ask that if you have a job, be thankful for it. Work at it like it's the best job in the world and before you complain, consider those less fortunate.

If you have a "Tuesday Tirade" feel free to unload in the comment section.