Friday Thoughts

First of all, a warning to anyone anticipating going on Unemployment. Big Government, in it's wisdom to share their bedroom space with Corporate America, has decided to join forces with U.S. Bank and Visa and create the Reliacard (with the Visa logo). When you are approved for unemployment, you are automatically signed up. That's right, there is no choice. All of your personal information, including Social Security Number, is passed along to U.S. Bank. Instead of your unemployment checks being deposited into your checking account, instead of the standard issuance of a check-by-mail, your funds are deposited into your Reliacard account.

Now call me strange, call me over-reactive if you wish, but according to my ideas of privacy, if I want a Financial Institution knowing my private information, if I wish to do business with said Financial Institution, I get to choose whether or not this relationship takes place.

And oh yes, did I mention there are fees issued by U.S. Bank after you complete more than 2 cash transactions per month? $3.00 fee to be exact. So let me get this straight. I receive 4 checks per month. And U.S. Bank gets some of that state-issued unemployment money if you engage in more than 2 cash transactions per month.

Now call me a conspiracy nut, but doesn't this smell really fucking fishy? Profiting off of people's UNEMPLOYMENT FUNDS? Do these people have no soul, no conscience? Oh that's right, that answer would be no...

Of course, you can always do what I did--sign up for automatic deposit, whereby your funds cease being deposited into the Reliacard, the card thereby, supposedly, becoming invalid to use. Closed account? That's a different story. A fuzzy story. According to U.S. Bank Customer Service, they can only open up the card. They are not authorized to close it. The State Employment Office must do that. However, when I called my local Employment Dept. Offices, I was told to call the 800 number on the back of the card to close it. When I informed the woman that U.S. Bank says they cannot close the account, only the employment dept. can do that, I was told (paraphrased):

"Well, the card will become inactive now that you've signed up for automatic deposit into your checking account."

"Well yes, but an inactive account is not the same thing as a closed account," so sayeth I.

"No transactions will be taking place, ma'am. The account will be as good as closed," sayeth government worker.

'As good as' closed. Yes, that is about what I would expect from The System.

***

Speaking of the system, along the lines of a soul and a conscience, I've been doing some thinking. Or perhaps the real phrase is, I've been doing some listening. Listening to my inner voice. And it's been telling me some things that are hard to grasp, hard for my idealistic heart to wrap around. For a long while now I have been trying to come to terms with "how things are" and how to make a change. I want to believe Love in Action is what will do the trick, and yet there's a real darkness to this picture. Those who dictate, run, control the system don't understand the concepts of Love. Not that I'm a master at Love, but I know what's kind and respectful and fair. My conscience speaks to me. And I listen to it, even if it takes me some time. These people? They have no conscience. Some talk about these people being Reptilian, some alien species crossed with human DNA. That has sounded so far-out to me, but I'm starting to see the truth in their thinking. While they may not be Reptilian, they certainly exhibit the traits of the type of species that behaves without any feeling of remorse, without feeling love and all that love entails.

If that's the case, how in the world do you respond and work with these folks?

I don't think you can. I don't believe they will respond to anything of the soul and human heart. They are either lacking in these traits or they are so "far gone" in their beliefs and actions, away from anything resembling love and fair and kindness and respect, they are simply unreachable, at least while they reside on this planet.

I was thinking this morning that I am an abnormal person living in a normal world. And I rethought that. Perhaps I am more "normal" than I think and I'm simply fully awake. Add to that a high sensitivity level, and there you go. I feel abnormal given the System in which I reside. Maybe it's simply easier for many to live out amongst the masses and feel normal. I am not one of them. I never have been. And yet, some part of me feels if people would truly listen to their inner voices, truly truly listen, they would start to feel abnormal as well. Something would feel "off". They would know "things don't have to be this way..." In time, they would think "no, things are definitely fucked up. Love is what matters more than anything."

And yet here we have today a world where money rules, and in certain ways, can indeed buy you love. Or at least provide a necessary bridge. How so? Say you require regular massage or other forms of self-healing. Money is needed for such transactions. Say you don't have the funds to do this in the way you need. Say your insurance company doesn't pay for the services you truly need.

You're screwed, backed into a corner. You know what you need. Out of love for yourself, you wish to give yourself such things, but because of a lack of money, you are unable to. Or say, out of love for someone you care about who also lacks the necessary funds to do those things for him or herself, again out of self-love. Out of this love you have for this person, you wish to help but you yourself also lack the necessary funds.

Bottom line, if the money were there, these services, this love-in-action, could be provided.

The Beatles, it turns out, didn't exactly think this through. But how could they? When they wrote that song, they were swimming in wealth. And when you're in that position, when you're in ANY position where overall, you are able to afford basic expenses plus those little extras, you cannot understand what it is like to live differently. I saw this two times this week. The first time when I had my hair cut and my stylist and I were talking about money and work. Her jaw about dropped when I told her what my spouse makes and what I make, or made I should say. She really had no clue as to what today's wages are for so many of us. Just because you don't work in fast food does not mean you aren't making a poverty wage. The second occasion happened at the doctor's office. She was telling us all these things to do, to buy, to improve our health, assuming we had the luxury of an income along the lines as she did. When I told her what we could not afford, she looked confused. When I then cleared up her confusion by telling her what our income is, the confusion turned to a look of extreme discomfort. Almost embarassment.

Good. It's time for those who "have" to get a clue and stop assuming this is the 1950's.

Living is just painful. Really painful. And beautiful at the same time, but the pain, it's always there behind the smiles I give. For many reasons. And yet, I still (naively) believe Love Can Save The Day.