Promises Were Made - Lies Were Told!

And I’m not talking about flying cars and wrist radios!

Driving down Barber Boulevard heading into town a couple days ago, there’s a spot where all of the lanes take a long slow dog leg to the right. I remembered driving this when I was taking drivers ed in high school.

I was in a car with two kids who had never driven, and one girl who also had her license. The instructor wanted me to change lanes as we came into that dog leg, which I did, no problem. He commented that I did it right. He was hoping that because of the way the road went, I would drift into one of the other lanes while I was doing the whole checking my mirrors, over the shoulder routine. I think he was disappointed that I did it correctly. I think he wanted a teachable moment, and I fucked it up.

I not only had my drivers license at the time, I had my own car. My father taught me to drive when I was twelve, in his 1931 Ford Model A. He told me if I could drive that car comfortably, I could drive anything. He was right.

So why was I taking drivers ed. when I already had my license?

Our insurance agent told us that if I took drivers ed., my insurance rates would go down. Of course that didn’t happen. This was the first of many auto insurance company lies. Later I was told my auto insurance would go down when I turned twenty-five, after I turned thirty, and when I got married. My insurance rates never went down. Ever.

I have a pretty clean driving record, one minor accident at sixteen, in the snow, and one speeding ticket, also at sixteen. In all of the years since, nothing. And no price reductions either. It was all a lie.

So what other promises/lies was our generation told?

If you work hard you will be rewarded. The company you work for will take care of you and you will stay with them until you retire. That certainly didn’t happen. No matter how hard one works, you are always expendable if the company isn’t making ENOUGH of a profit.

Businesses expect 100% loyalty and they certainly don’t feel any loyalty to you. One side note here, my Mother worked at the bank for thirty-plus years and retired basically when they told her it was time. She had a good pension and health care throughout her retirement. She retired in the 1990’s, I certainly don’t think that happens very often anymore.

I know a lot of people who were laid off when they’re in their fifties and heading towards retirement. With their high salary and benefits the company determines they are the first to be let go, even when the company is still profitable and the CEO’s are making obscene amounts of money. If you’re laid off early, you are usually not eligible for a company pension.

And let’s talk about retirement.

Why is retirement called your “golden years”? You gave your best and most healthy years to someone else. Sixty-five is currently considered the age you can retire comfortably. What a crock of shit! If your work is any kind of physical labor by the time you’re sixty-five your body is shot. You spend your retirement years in doctor’s waiting rooms.

Many people today continue working after they turn sixty-five, because they can’t afford to retire. I can’t stop working, my monthly Social Security check isn’t enough to support myself. At my 50-year high school reunion I found that those of us who are unable to retire were all self-employed.

The American Dream is a complete fabrication, created by advertising agencies to sell shit for their clients. And over the decades most of us bought into it. Once again, you work hard and you can afford a nice life. The house in the suburbs, two cars, and putting your kids through college on one salary. That happened in the 1950’s and 1960’s when unions were strong. Once the 80’s came along, a major government and business goal was to break unions, and eventually move good paying manufacturing jobs to other countries.

How many people today are working multiple jobs and still falling behind financially?

We were told we needed a good education to have a successful life and then we watched education funding get cut, and the price of higher education (colleges and universities) sky rocketed. We were told we could get low interest government loans to pay for school. Good luck paying off those loans with whatever low paying job you were able to get.

I could go on and on about the things we were promised that turned out to be lies, but I’m sure you all have your own stories to tell on this subject. I’d love to hear them.

Angry Filmmaker Rants

Actually I think this whole piece is a rant.

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Here is a link to to me reading an excerpt from my story, Incident At Arrah Wanna. About the time I got busted at church camp for smoking pot. I was fourteen and not much of a role model, even back then. It’s only 3 minutes. Please check it out.

https://vimeo.com/803227061?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

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