Things Have Changed

Things have changed so much since I was a child. Today when I took my daughter to the park we were the only people there. The weather wasn’t overly hot and the sky was clear, yet there were no children playing. This phenomenon is not limited to the parks. As I sat there watching my precious child running from slide to swing to jungle gym, I started thinking about the neighborhoods I drive through on a regular basis. There are few children outside playing. When my brothers and I were growing up there was an urgency to get outside and play. That urgency seems to have passed for many children. I believe part of the cause is the lack of time parents have to take their children to the park. Parents don’t have the time to ensure that their children get to play at the local park on a regular basis. Parents don’t get the time to play with their children.

As a single parent I know what it is like to have to work to support my child, which I do gladly, but part of me is saddened by the loss of the time when families could survive on a single paycheck. I am not looking to send the relations between men and women back to a period of male dominance; I just wish that we as a society could find a way for more time with our families and less time fighting for the almighty dollar. It’s not even that people are forgoing time with their children to become rich; they are forgoing time with their children to put food on the table.

We as a society wonder why many of our children don’t maintain or know a sense of morality. How can we expect our children to learn from their parents when their parents are forced to be away from them more than they are with them? How can we instill a sense of family in the child when the family is always spread out in different places? Families are splintering. Divorce rates rise and people are feeling more and more separated from each other.

Society has evolved in such a way that many people are forced to work unbearable hours. They are taken from their families and contrary to the old saying, sometimes absences does not make the heart grow fonder. Children who desperately desire time with their parents look elsewhere for guidance and all too frequently the guidance they receive is troubling. Husbands and wives who are unable to be with each other look for someone else to fill the void. If there is no one else the sheer magnitude of the time spent apart can cause the couple to split from indifference or a feeling like they no longer know the person they are married too.

The current economic situation in this country has placed an undue burden on the middle class. There are fewer and fewer middle class families that are single income families and there are more and more double income families who are struggling to become middle class. Our economy has made the very wealthy even wealthier, made the poor even poorer and has destroyed the traditional middle class family.

Election Woes

Go to your corners and come out swinging, seems to be the attitude many are following as the election approaches. As a person who intends to vote for John Kerry, I have found myself the target of some rather rude or just plain obscene comments. This evening, someone took it upon themselves to place a Bush bumper sticker over my John Kerry sticker. When I discovered the vandalism to my vehicle, my first reaction was anger; would the person who placed that sticker on my vehicle enjoy it if I slapped a gag over their mouth as they stated their support for Bush?

This country allows for and needs varying opinions in order to function properly. It was designed to permit all citizens to have a voice in how the country is shaped. I have the right to express my opinions through my words and through the display of signs on my personal property, without being subjected to belittlement or vandalism. While I may become frustrated with people who do not agree with me, I respect their right to disagree. I do not tell them to move to another country or that they are going to spend eternity someplace rather unpleasant. I only ask the same consideration from those who oppose my political views.

I would hope that as we grow closer to this election we drop the street fighter attitudes and focus more on utilizing our minds. People in this country must find a way to listen to each other and to understand that it is acceptable for us to disagree. History has proven that when our country swings too far to either side of the political pendulum things become chaotic and unbalanced. We as citizens must remember that our varying opinions check and balance each other. When we are all allowed to voice what we desire we are better able to find a common ground somewhere in the middle and we all benefit.