Transfurious

LADPW - "Hello this is Edith in Permits. How may I help you?"
W - Hello, this is Wes with ____. I have some questions on the required permits for two construction projects I'm. . . . . .
LADPW - Hold Please.

~no music~

LADPW - "Hello this is Edith in Permits. How may I help you?"
W - Yes, this is still Wes with ____. I have some questions on the required permits for two construction projects I'm currently working. First. . . .
LADPW - "I'll transfer you."

~ still no music~

LADPW - "Construction Division, this is Adam."
W - "Hello Adam, this is Wes with ____. I have some. . . . . . ."
LADPW - "Yes, Wes we have the permit packages you submitted, but we are still researching a couple of things. We are. . .blah..blah..blah."
W - "Well, thank you for your work on this. But I really have a question about what other permits are required for this project."
LADPW - "We have your street permit package."
W - "Yes, I know, but are there any other permits that are required prior to starting construction?"
LADPW - "I'm not sure, I'm pretty new here. I know you need storm drain permits, let me transfer you."
W - "Wait, I've already submitted to storm. . . . . "

~ Fine, I'll hum some music~

LADPW - "Flood Control, this is Henry."
W - "Hello Henry, this is Wes with ____. I'm hoping you can help me out with . . . . . ."
LADPW - Wes, Yes, Sorry about the confusion, but we misplaced your storm drain permit submittal. We've found it and everything is under control now.
W - "Um, yeah. Anyway I was hoping you could tell me what other permits are required before we begin construction"
LADPW- "I'm not sure, this is just Storm Drains. Let me transfer you."
W- "Wait, I. . . ."

~ Do, Do, Do . . .Do Dee Dee, Oh Mandy~

LADPW - "Land Developement this Sue. "
W- "Hi Sue, I'm trying to find someone, anyone, that can answer some questions about required permits."
LADPW - "Hold Please"

~". . . you came and you gave without taking, but I sent you away. . . ."~

LADPW - "Hello this is Edith in Permits. How may I help you?"
W - *sigh* -click-

Immig-Rant

During the Immigration Marches yesterday, I saw signs like, “We Are Workers, Not Criminals”, “Nation of No Justice, and “No Human Should Be Illegal”, but it is not the person themselves who is illegal. It is the illegal act they committed when they crossed the border. When a person’s first act upon joining a new community is illegal, one questions the sincerity of that person. So what do we change to make the act legal?

Now don’t get me wrong, I grew up in a small farming community that relied on “illegal” immigrants for a majority of the farming labor force. Most of the “illegal” immigrants I’ve known and grew up with, were the most polite, self efficient, hardest working people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Several are still close friends.

It all starts with what everyone in America sees as their Rights. We are all the time seeing some group or individual screaming about their Rights, but they never admit to failing in their responsibilities. With every Right that is granted by living in this great country, there is also an associated Responsibility. People tend to forget this part most of the time. A few examples:

Right - Freedom of speech – Yes you have the right to speak out about your thoughts, feelings and opinions.

Responsibility – What most people choose to forget is that they are responsible for the words that they speak. If those words incite a riot or lead to violence or death, the speaker is responsible, to a certain extent, for those outcomes.

Right – Freedom of press – The press has the right to report on current events and the public has a right to know what events are transpiring in their city/state/country.

Responsibility – The press has the responsibility to use “good judgment” in how and what they report. This is rarely the case. For example, the public has a right to know that one of our young soldiers died in Iraq. The press has the responsibility to respect the grieving widow/family and keep the cameras out of their faces.

Right – We have the Right to bear arms. We can own guns, collect them, target practice with them, pass them on as heirlooms, and use them for hunting food.

Responsibility – We have the Responsibility to understand that a gun has the power to take life indiscriminately. It is not used to try and shoot each other in the streets, taken to school, given to children, etc.

So, I propose that any citizen of the world has the Right to enter the U.S. and live here. However, they must also accept the Responsibility of building a better life for themselves and the entire country. This means, for example, no Welfare, no tax breaks, no food stamps and not having more children then they can support and care for. The hard working men and women I grew up around would have been ashamed to accept any of the previously mentioned hand-outs. If one can't help make things better, they just hinder those who are. There's no middle ground.

There is no room for the rude, violent, lazy, exploitative people in this country, whether they are immigrant or existing citizen. Pride in your country and culture is commendable and should be respected. Shoving that culture in other’s faces and inciting violence, such as the recent school riots is contemptible. While I don’t know every person or situation, I do know that the current system is failing both the U.S. and the immigrants and this failure is because of both the U.S. and the immigrants. Instead of trying to make the Great American Melting Pot boil over, let’s build a better pot.