We Are the 99 Percent

Sara and I are lucky. Even though neither of us has a job that gives us benefits, we make enough to get by and have been able to continue to pay our mortgage after I was laid off in 2008 and she was laid off in 2009. 

I work two jobs, six days a week. She freelances and works part time, which ends up being more than 40 a week, easily. 

But we’re not one disaster from being out on the street. We’re not scraping to get by like so many out there. Like I said, we’re lucky.

Many people are not so lucky. Never forget that. When you see people protesting on Wall Street or elsewhere, saying that they’ve gotten a raw deal, it’s not always because they’re lazy.

Americans work as hard or harder than any other country on earth. We’re the only western country that doesn’t have mandated vacation for workers and one of the few that doesn’t provide some sort of universal health insurance. As a result, many of us are over-worked, under-paid and stretched to the breaking point with bills, bills, bills. 

If you can’t relate to any of these people, count yourself lucky. If you can, I feel for you. People need to understand and acknowledge the growing class of working poor in our country is not a by-product of laziness. These people are our friends, our family, our fellow citizens and they deserve to be heard.