"I wouldn't say...

"I wouldn't say two words to 10 people around here before I left."

Mindy just smiled. I said "Watch and see."

She was talking about when she did the books for a hardware store. Guy came in to get seeds. She asked him what kind of seeds he needed for his green beans...He said "The Jolly Green Giant ones if you got 'em." She told him "Nah...you'll have to get those at wal-mart." guy said "Seriously? that's the only place that has 'em?" He was serious. He was oblivious to her trying to be funny.

Lots of them around here. I went to work for Adult Ed here in the county when Alcoa was closing and my job was cut. Did volunteer work when I was unemployed and they had some grant money and tada...employed. It's where I met Dave, he came on board later. Anyway, guys from the plant I worked at were coming in to take pre-employment testing. I was tutoring them.

5th grade, 4th grade, 3rd grade 6th grade, 8th grade

Reading and math scores.
Mostly.
A few 12.9's but not many.
And mostly from surrounding counties, not here.

I was dumbfounded.

I had worked at another aluminum plant before being downsized and going to Alcoa.

The people already employed there weren't much better off. 

Most of them anyway.

Nich always says "Yeah, I gotta deal with their offspring." It's a valid point lol. I don't argue it.

I just thought "These are the people wanna look down on us? Cause they work here or there? Cause their spouse works here or there? Cause they got some nice house? Cause they were born here live here and will die here?And because their last name is____ fill in the blank."
Lady at the Child Support office is a great example.
Left her job with the County.
Went to work in Owensboro.
Her family is friends with County Attorney. That's how she got her job back here. I went up there the first time after she was in her position. She just looked down on me like how dare you want this poor lil thing to pay you child support. I felt obliged to tell her about some shit the wonderful Mrs.Joanna had pulled. Didn't matter.
Later that day we were both getting gas. She saw me on the bike. You wanna talk about looking down on somebody. I wanted to go say something to her. But I didn't. I knew better. Discretion. Took me a long time to learn that.
One time she was quoting the wrong numbers to me...I looked at her file folder and it had somebody eles's name on it, when I point it out to her shes looking at the wrong case? Very polite, very professional...and now I'm the asshole? Cause you can't even perform the simplest of task without getting it wrong?
I made sure mom and Al heard all about her. Al knows her. He worked with her on the United Way fund raising drive and such. I'm sure he got the word out about how unhappy I was with Mrs. LaMar and her service. Even today, I asked for the 2012 records, she printed out the 2013. It's everybody all the time, Christian, his attorney, me, Fawn, anybody you talk to, she fucks shit up every time she touches something.
Carol just rolled her eyes when I told her how much I look forward to paying her a visit.

Anyway, these workers around here?

Please.

I mean seriously? These are the 21st century skills you possess and you think the world owes you $18-$22 an hour?

With a house and a boat and a four wheeler and a mansion on the hill?

It's just not the reality of the world any more.

This area gonna get hit hard.

Maybe another 20 -30 years but it's coming .

Amazing it hasn't happened yet.
People living in a time warp around here.

I'm not trying to be arrogant, which this could easily be misconstrued as, just being realistic and pointing    out what should be apparent.
People just don't ever wanna think about the day when these plants won't be here.

This day in age?

This global economy?
It's coming.
Thankfully, as in everyday thankfully, we will be gone.

I tell Nich all the time his competition?

The 12 year old in India that's already mastered SQL.

"Well that's crazy to leave home." - Christian.
Not when it aint home no more it aint sir.

"The more I study: politics, philosophy, religion, history, economics, the more enlightened I become? The more I can't stand it around here any more."
Nich, tonight.

Me too.
Time to move on.

I flat out told him last night that I thought the biggest mistakes parents make is to make their child their lives. That he was a part of my life, just like my job was a part of my life. But being his parent doesn't define me as a person. No more than working in the NOC defines me as a person. I define me as a person. Period. Always have. Always will.

 Here's why: If your child defines you, then who are you when they are gone out on their own? Not me buddy. I know who I am. Been him for a long time before you ever entered the picture.
Character, consistency, integrity...eventually it attracts like minded people.
Always has.
Always will.
No need to ever think it won't
Period.
End of story.

 I told him he would always have a room to come back to, but between 18-21 years old he had to be gone.

I got a life to live.
Not his life.
My life.

He gets it confused sometimes.
Thinks it's him that's the reason things are happening lol.
Guilty of "kewl" by association on occasion.
Thinks he's kewl just because he's around me lol.
Don't work that way.
He should count his blessings to have been around it for a while.

Now son:
"Go get your own."

Love you Bambi.
Peace.