If you can't see what is says:
"I have a steady job with a regular paycheck, great benefits, and a lot of room for promotion. Next year I will be paid to go to college and graduate with a guaranteed position making a decent salary. I am the 1% of the 99% that decided hard work and sacrifice were more prudent than complaining about how life is hard and I'm not getting any free handouts."
I do want to preface this with a few words. I have absolutely no problem with the military or our troops. In fact, I have several close friends and family currently serving and I support them wholeheartedly. My support of our troops is one of the main reasons this upsets me as much as it does.
The note starts off great, and as I read it, I think it will end so much differently, but then at the end, the whole things comes back and slaps me in the face.
The reasons this photo gets me all hot and bothered (and not in a good way):
1. I feel completely betrayed. I support your decision to go into the military and serve our country, I have sent care packages to troops, I would donate to veterans organizations if I could afford to. I have always respected soldiers and never been anti-war protester flower child or anything of the like. I went to school, worked my butt off, graduated from a fantastic school in just over 3 years and with honors. I currently work 2 jobs to make ends meet and and still owe what amounts to a brand new car for my education. I just recently got health insurance (I graduated 3 years ago), and not from my own jobs, but from my husband's, and I pay quite a bit for it. After I graduated college, I applied to a smorgasbord of companies and positions, including Starbucks barista. I was offered none. I only got a job as a favor from my parents and was paid far less than I expected. I had to move back in with my parents to make ends meet, and even then was just scraping by. I am not lazy, nor do I want any free handouts. I just want a chance.
2.The point of the protest is that we all want what he has: An affordable education (or free, no actually PAID, in his case), healthcare, a guaranteed position making a decent salary, etc. What makes it even worse is that I, as a taxpayer, pay for all of this for him. Which I am okay with, but please do not tell me I am lazy while paying for your free education as well as my own. The students at UCD are not lazy. To be accepted in a UC is a big deal, and they did not get there by slacking off. These are the future great minds of our country. All that they want is a chance at what you have. They are your sisters and brothers, and they support you, we support you. Why don't you support us?
3. Unemployment is highest in returning veterans. This is their problem too. If what the soldier says in the picture is true, I would have to infer that as soon as soldiers are discharged and unemployed that they are instantly lazy, afraid of hard work, and all they want are handouts. This is absurd, right?
I hope that the issue may just be that these soldiers are so isolated from what's going on here that they don't quite understand the situation. I am aware that not everyone in the military shares this soldier's sentiment, but it seems to be a popular one in our country's military. I have noticed the same opinions in some of older folks as well. I sincerely hope that they can look at this for what it is, and hear our voices. We don't want anything crazy, we just want to be heard, and to have a chance at the "American Dream" like those before us did. We are tired of lining the pockets of the super rich and huge corporations that care nothing for us. We are tired of doing everything "right" and coming out with nothing but debt.
