Empty Hands
Today I visited a steel fabrication shop that employs about thirty guys. These are your common, hard-working, hard-living types of guys who never let their fear show.
This afternoon, I sensed that they were kind of worried. One of their jobs was shut down by the bank and although there was still plenty to do, they could see further than the trees in front of them, and the mood wasn't good.
One guy who is within two years of retirement was looking at the Dow Jones Report on the computer. "I've watched about thirty grand that I had for retirement drift away," he said.
Another man complained about the cost of groceries and the fact that his raise didn't 'cover shit.' "I have to think of moving on," he said. "I've been here 15 years, and they bankrupted the whole freaking country."
So now we are debating bailing out the rich guys again and hope they trickle enough down to the men and women who are actually doing the work. I don't claim to be an economic guru, but I couldn't help but think of a Mellencamp song that always broke my heart because the lyrics were so biting. I thought of the song all the way home:
In the shadows of the smokestacks through the black snow that lay on the land
I walked home one winter morning with my life savings in my hand
Maryanne she's fixing up some breakfast
got the lights on, on the Christmas tree
sitting there looking up at an angel, with something dying inside of me.
Grew up with great expectations
I heard the promise and I knew the plan
They say people get what they deserve,
but Lord, sometimes its much worse than that.
Maryanne she's taking in some laundry
I got a part-time job at a drive-in stand
Oh Lord, what did I do to deserve these empty hands?
Across the cities, across this land, through the valleys, and across the sand
There's too many people standing in line
There's too many people with nothing planned
There's too many people with empty hands.
Now Maryanne's been crying
Lord knows I love her the best I can
When my pride is bruised and broken
she slips her hand into my empty hands
Without hope, without love, you've got nothing but pain
It just makes a man not give a damn
That's no way for us to live
We've got to fill these empty hands.
- John Mellencamp/George Green, Lonesome Jubilee
This afternoon, I sensed that they were kind of worried. One of their jobs was shut down by the bank and although there was still plenty to do, they could see further than the trees in front of them, and the mood wasn't good.
One guy who is within two years of retirement was looking at the Dow Jones Report on the computer. "I've watched about thirty grand that I had for retirement drift away," he said.
Another man complained about the cost of groceries and the fact that his raise didn't 'cover shit.' "I have to think of moving on," he said. "I've been here 15 years, and they bankrupted the whole freaking country."
So now we are debating bailing out the rich guys again and hope they trickle enough down to the men and women who are actually doing the work. I don't claim to be an economic guru, but I couldn't help but think of a Mellencamp song that always broke my heart because the lyrics were so biting. I thought of the song all the way home:
In the shadows of the smokestacks through the black snow that lay on the land
I walked home one winter morning with my life savings in my hand
Maryanne she's fixing up some breakfast
got the lights on, on the Christmas tree
sitting there looking up at an angel, with something dying inside of me.
Grew up with great expectations
I heard the promise and I knew the plan
They say people get what they deserve,
but Lord, sometimes its much worse than that.
Maryanne she's taking in some laundry
I got a part-time job at a drive-in stand
Oh Lord, what did I do to deserve these empty hands?
Across the cities, across this land, through the valleys, and across the sand
There's too many people standing in line
There's too many people with nothing planned
There's too many people with empty hands.
Now Maryanne's been crying
Lord knows I love her the best I can
When my pride is bruised and broken
she slips her hand into my empty hands
Without hope, without love, you've got nothing but pain
It just makes a man not give a damn
That's no way for us to live
We've got to fill these empty hands.
- John Mellencamp/George Green, Lonesome Jubilee
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