By Kelly Mahan Jaramillo, June 4th, 2009
So, for those of you out there who did not vote for and love to mock and disparage President Obama- I have a question.
If you qualified for the $250 stimulus check, and woke up a week or two ago, went to balance your checkbook, and saw the automatic deposit of $250 extra dollars in your bank account, did you put your money where your mouth is and promptly send it back?
I would absolutely love to hear from one person who despises President Obama and his ideals for the country to write to me and tell me you refused the money, and be able to prove it.
If, for some reason you may have tried to return the stimulus check to the government, and they will not accept it, you can always send it to me. That way you can stay noble and righteous in your hatred and disdain. By all means, show me how against “Socialism” you really are! Please!
I have a feeling the comments section is going to be pretty quiet this week.
Actually I would have either returned the stimulus check or donated the money to some charity that is utterly against some plank in Obama’s platform. Unfortunately – for the sake of this discussion – I don’t qualify for such things; I;m one of the ones paying them out, not receiving them.
Stimulus check? What stimulus check? This is not the first time that a little extra cash has been returned to those who earned it by those who take it, and rightfully so regardless of personal feelings of agreement or disagreement. Had I gotten $250 I would keep it because I worked for it, period. But I digress. The point of the comment is that I feel a little singled out; whether or not this post was even slightly directed at me or not is uncertain, but it feels that way. So, I felt compelled to respond even if just to say for the record that I do not despise or hate this president, nor have I despised or hated any president in my adult lifetime. I do not, however, agree with everything that every president does – not by a long shot. I would be surprised to find a person who has.
Hey Jonolan –
You know, I figured if anyone came over and would be totally honest, it would be you. It is always a pleasure to see you, my man!
I appreciate what you would have done with the money, you are sticking to your convictions in a non-violent, thoughtful way, but ultimately I have to say, if you did not qualify, I can only deduce that you are doing very well in these hard times, It’s nice to hear that somebody is.
We are making ends meet – everything gets paid on time, but right now there is not room for any expensive little “extras”, which is fine. This country is a little bit to materialistic at times, and I have found that I am just as content without the indulgences.
Great to see you as always – I have been meaning to pop over to say hello, but I just got back on my feet after having surgery, and have a ton of catching up to do. The pile is frightening.
See you soon, thanks for coming by!
Kel
Sha –
It was absolutely NOT directed at you – I read a lot of the big on-line political web sites, and many people, on both the right and the left, were hurling really ugly invectives at the President.
I have never once heard you say anything hateful about President Obama, so I do hope you trust me when I tell you that you were not in my thoughts at all when I wrote this post – it was an elaboration on a comment I made on another site that had so many comments I am buried in there somewhere.
So I decided to elaborate slightly and write a short post.
You have my word, as you are one of my dearest friends, that this was not a passive-aggressive jab at you. I hate that passive-aggressive shit, and would not treat someone I care about in such a fashion, most especially in a public forum.
I am glad you came by and commented – I am surprised you did not receive a check. I do not know what the annual income cutoff is, it is something to investigate, as yes, you did earn it, and yes, it would be nice to get some back.
Hmmmmm.
Well, it is my lucky day on comments. Two honest responses, how seriously refreshing. Between three people who all differ in their outlook. I swear, if we work at it, we CAN all get along – always my ultimate desire.
Next time I post something that could be taken personally, I will give you a heads up so that you are aware that it is not directed at you, okay?
Love you
Kel
Kel,
How well I’m doing is quite subjective and open to interpretation. I’m in the “4th quintile,” but that means somewhat less since I live in NYC.
And, of course, my employment is not truly any more a sinecure than anyone else’s who isn’t on the government’s payroll.
Hey Jonolan –
Lol – nicely put. Reminds me of when we were living in L.A. – I am a second generation Los Angelino, and the last five years there, well, I am quite certain you are aware of the Real Estate issue that had flown ridiculously high and was totally out of control – we were making some really good $$ for being Union freelancers, and it definitely did not translate into comfortable middle class in L.A. The nice 4 figures a month meant nothing, we were still straining at the end of every month.
Getting out of there was a godsend. Poor California. It is hard to see my old home in such dire straits.
My attention span has been questionable for the last three months due to the surgery and I mistakenly thought the refund check was a tax bracket issue only. Since I am collecting my SSI at this point, the $250 check was for people collecting their Social Security, and there was another one-time amount for a certain tax bracket, pretty much the same deal that George W. did a few years back.
This post was half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, a person-to-person commentary similar to what one would say to the governors of certain states that were taking a stand and refusing money for their states, when their states were in desperate need.
But, on this one, I must admit, I do not have my facts down cold concerning who qualified for what refunds, where. I am simply coming back to life, and passing through my punky adolescent generalized “fling a raspberry at all of the talking heads on all sides” stage, as I find that taking a break from news for a bit, then coming back, is hard on the system.
Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually – it is such a jolt.
So, take this post with a grain – I am just another talking head that didn’t fact check.
Kel
P.S.
Bobby the Crow says hi!
Kel,
Firstly, say, “hail, my brother.” to Bobby for me.
Secondly, I hope you’re recovering well from surgery. I’ve been pieced back together a few times and I how how oddly disconcerting it can be, like one’s mind, uninvolved in the procedure, is wired wrong.
Thirdly, you may have meant this partially tongue- in-cheek but I view it as an important issue. One has to stand by one’s principles – especially when they contrary to one’s best material interests. Otherwise what point is there?
Jonolan,
Bobby gives a wing flap and a bark – translates into “Hi! Got a corn chip for the bird?”
Thank you for your understanding re; surgery issue – it is a very unnatural, albeit necessary, procedure for a body to endure – I feel for you having to go through it “several times” yikes! I am definitely putting forth effort into doing everything I can to insure that this be the last time.
Ultimately, it is out of my control after a point, but I can contribute a bit to my own health improving, I hope….
On your third point, in spite of my poor fact checking and slightly sarcastic attitude on this post, I agree with you in the overall sense – I believe that once we have made a pact within ourselves, we stick with it. I am of the mindset that as long as our personal principles are not harming anyone else, we do our best to stand by them.
Case in point, non-political.
Tomas and I decided a few years ago that if he were approached to compose a film, he absolutely had to be paid. There are so many filmmakers out there who do not budget out for the score, or they take advantage of a young, just out of school composer eager to have a film under his belt, so they dangle “this will look great on your resume” nonsense as a “payment” for the composers hard work.
Consequently, there have been a few films that were really quite good, but no pay. Tomas has scored over twenty films, from shorts to documentary, to full length feature, and he is WAY past needing “copy and credit” for his resume.
He does not write music solely for the money, but, to go back to your point – it is the principle. His time and effort are worth something, anything, and we decided that there would be no more free work, no matter how much we liked the film.
It has not been easy, as there have been a few films that we really loved, and had to turn down due to this issue.
So, standing by our principle has been contrary to an artistic interest, but we felt that to continue to work for free was detrimental not only to us, but to the director as well. It was giving a director a message that it was o.k. to not budget out money for ALL post production costs, and that includes score.
Long-winded, but tossing out an example that is a day-to-day one for us, one that is totally apolitical.
And on principles, that is where I stand. I draw the line at maiming or killing anyone in the name of my principles – we do not shoot directors who do not pay, we just regretfully pass on the film.
On another note, if it is not too personal for me to ask, what do you do for work? I am just curious (nosy nellie). If it is to personal a question, I understand. I take no offense if it is none of my business.
Well, off to do errands – - -
Speak soon, and I will be over to visit your site once I catch up around here a little more. One day at a time.
Kel
These days I’m the Information Security Officer (ISO) for one of the subsidiaries of a Global 1000 corporation. That probably sounds more impressive than it actually is.
It is quite impressive! I have a friend who is deep into the I.T. world, she is nowhere near what you do, and I am always thoroughly impressed by her ability to rummage about comfortably and freely in the deep bowels of technology.
I imagine once one is used to their work/career, it does not feel as dazzling as it sounds – the twenty years I spent as an assistant editor drew a lot of “how cool your job is” comments, and I was pretty blunt about how truly unglamorous an assistant editors job is – it is the equivalent of being a very well paid housewife: You prep the film for the editor to cut, and you clean up after he has finished.
That’s it.
A few friends did not heed my grumbling, and after they had spent a few years in ‘the cave”, as we called the editing rooms, they decided that sunlight was actually good for you, and ran screaming, lol.
Well, I hope you at least like your work. After twenty years working at a job because it was ‘good money” – I do not mind making a little less and living a more well rounded life.
Bobby and I will pop over in the next few days and see what havoc you are wreaking in the Murky Pond!
See you soon!