Come in rabbit hutch this is monkey wrench. Do you read? Over. Oh hi! Consti here just trying to work out some of the bugs in the new bunkers communication systems. The staff and I have just relocated into a used government facility we found on the cheap under the streets of Boston Massachusetts. In the heart of Kennedy country, or should I say more accurately Scott Brown country. After 5 days of driving cross country from Phoenix to Boston we are all happy to finally settle into our new digs despite the terrible condition the government left the facility in.
“Now Consti who cares if you moved cross country!” Good question. I believe that you can’t really have an appreciation for this country and its people until you have traveled it. Presidential candidates used to travel the country by rail stumping for election. It was the only way to travel at the time. Then those caboose cars turned into photo ops while the candidate flew to their next fund raiser. Now its Bus tours to meet and greet the population with the candidate leapfrogging by plane. Call me a romantic, but this degradation further puts the candidate out of touch of the common folk. “Go Greyhound and leave to politics to us!”
(Ed Note: I should probably note here that none of the companies mentioned in this article are associated in any way with myself and my opinions. All companies listed here retain full copyrights and are not paid endorsers of myself. They are simply secondary information to the article in question.)
I’ve gone cross country several times, and I am never disappointed by what I see, hear, or the people I meet. This time in particular I made a concerted effort to ask questions along the way to get a measure of how my fellow countrymen felt about the current state of things. Somewhere at the beginning of the trip one of the Staff members dubbed it “The Consti Tution Tour 2010.” Much to my chagrin it stuck with the group.
Now the trip was 2,817 miles for a total of 44 hours of driving time taking us through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and finally Massachusetts. With stops along the way from “gas-n-gulps” (trucker for gas stop with dinner), rest areas, big box chain stores, souvenir stands, and overnights at Motel 6, etc. (Ed Note: If you require a pet friendly hotel while on the road Motel 6 is your place.) And let me tell you there is no deficit of opinions from the truckers on the CB or the locals along the way we were privileged to meet. Instead of boring you with a day by day parsing of the opinions I’ll keep it simple for our Democratic readers and go by topic.
Unemployment – I love road food. There is such a variety of ways I can clog my arteries on the interstate. At one particular Waffle House along the way we ran into a chatty waitress. She was in her early 20’s and at the time we met was working her second job. She also waitressed at a bar she told us since just the one pay check didn’t cover her and her boy’s needs. She was lucky to get the job at the bar she said us since she had previously been laid off for 9 months. Since both jobs had been part time her unemployment benefits were under $100 a week.
Just inside the Arizona border with Mexico on the Navajo Nation there is a wide out in the road (a single on and off ramp) with the Indian City Souvenir shop. A great place for Indian blankets, Museum quality Hopi statues, and a variety of trinkets and bobbles. I was speaking with one of the women who worked there and she was telling me that jobs on the Nations lands were non-existent. And that a lot of the younger generations had fled the Nations lands just to support their families. Now keep in mind the Native Americans receive monies from the Federal Government, and free health care to boot! The tribal lands are governed by the natives, yet heavily subsidized by the government. The major source of income for the nations is gambling, and in most states like Arizona it’s taxed at a negotiated rate by the state. So for a nation that is supposed to be autonomous the federal government still raids their coffers. Some think that since gambling isn’t allowed in the state the tribal lands should follow suit in policy. I personally think they should take advantage of us at every turn.
The economy – Along the way we stopped at a gas-n-go (trucker for a gas stop with NO diner) and I chatted up the counter clerk. A woman in her 40’s who told me she had been working there for 8 years. I asked her if she had seen a decline in customers over the last year. She told me that the majority of customers were truckers now and that people on vacation were rare. She told us that in the past year the owner of the stop had cut staff and raised prices just to stay in business. She added that many in the small town that sat right off the road had left for greener pastures. Many she said were on government assistance since the place was practically a ghost town.
Now the CB radio is a wonderful thing to have on a cross country trip. And let me tell you that truckers are a fountain of opinion and foul language. According to many that I spoke to the price of everything has gone up from gas to bubble-gum. A lot of the people driving our freight across country are independents and they say that it’s harder to make ends meet with all the cost of moving product. From the cost of vehicles, to insurance, to the coffee they drink prices have risen on them cutting into their already narrow margins. Many of those who work for the big freight firms were laid off or fired due to the downturn. Many were not happy with the economy and were talking about leaving the industry all together. You can’t feed your family on fumes one trucker told me over the CB.
In Arkansas I had the pleasure of speaking with a farmer over the CB who was working his fields. He gave me an ear full about the rising cost of farming. Sadly he told me that he may take government subsidies this year since the price at market for his crops dropped by HALF! Out of 6 farm hands at the beginning of 09 only 3 remained this year. He had to let the others go as the cost of doing business (feeding our country) was pushing him into bankruptcy. He didn’t give me the sob story about losing the family farm, but I got the impression that’s where he was headed if things didn’t improve.
(Ed note: Due to word constraints I will post part two of this article tomorrow.)
Consti.
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