You know, after thinking about it, I guess the Bankruptcy Bill has its merits. Take, for instance, United Airlines (please!). It wants to file for bankruptcy - fine. So how about the people responsible - the ones who pull down the fat salaries, bonuses, stock options, golden parachutes, etc. - selling everything they own, going for credit counseling, and giving the lion's share of their future earnings in perpetuity to pay back their employees' pensions?
That sounds pretty fair to me. After all, isn't that what they've been insisting we do?
9 comments:
Oh hon, your confused. That whole paying back what you owe, and getting counseling is for POOR folks. Those fat cats already took their class. It was called How to rob em blind 101. Apparently everyone who attended passed with flying (pun not intended) colors.
Gosh, Wanda - I try and I try, but I still keep missing the boat. I guess I'll have to go back to school to learn all that important stuff.
Love the Flying Pig!
Alicia, the thought is good. Implementation is the problem. Too many rich folk would fight it. I do like the idea, though!
Alicia, you don't want to go to that school. I went to the school of hard knocks and it was during my time as a student that I learned it's better to owe a little bit of money and be happy than learn how to make things tougher on the little guy and not have one shred of dignity. By the way, I graduated from the school of hard knocks with honors and my head held high.
Me, too, Robert - like you, I'm a musician; I had 3 months of college (full-tuition music scholarship) got a road gig, and that was that - I've never looked back. At 45, I have a husband (also a musician) and 4 musical kids, and we're both still playing music, although I got off the fast track, career-wise, when I had my kids. We live fairly frugally, although we do have a house, but I'm proud to say we have always supported ourselves honestly. Say what you will about 'flaky musicians', but we've always worked hard and not lived beyond our means. When they passed the Bankruptcy Bill, I paid off the couple thousand dollars we had in credit card debt, and, with the exception of our house, will not use credit, except to secure something like hotel rooms or rental cars, which I will pay for in cash. I am not giving those usurers one more penny - if I can't afford it, I don't buy it. I save up until I can.
If you're interested, here's an article I wrote on my personal blog re: being a musician -
http://www.aliciamorgan.com/wordpress/index.php?p=7
Alicia, nice article, but you left out a few things. How about requests? As a musician, we're asked to play all kinds of stuff, from fluff that we never want to hear (let alone play) to stuff we've never heard of. You don't see people going into a McDonald's and requesting the fry cook put down some onion rings like they do over at Burger King. Then there is the time honored "one more song" at the end of the evening. How would the mechanic feel if a customer asked him to fix one more motor after hours for no additional pay? But you know what . . . a lot of musicians will do just that. Most of us got into music for the love of it. Yes, we toil at rehearsal after rehearsal and set up and tear down, but when we have a good night, we sometimes don't want to stop playing. We enjoy playing "one more song". Unfortunately, I no longer perform live. I have a small ten track digital studio for self-gratification (yes, I'm a music-bator). At least when I have an idea, I can put it down and keep it much like an author will keep notes. I have to admit that I made a fairly decent living at the game until I decided to give it all up and "get a real job". Unfortunately, that real job never paid as well as my fake one and it wasn't nearly as gratifying. But I have my kids now, and they're well worth the sacrifice.
Yeah - I just love the drunks who stumble in to the club at, oh...1:27 AM, and go, "Hey! You guys aren't quitting now, are you? We just got here!"
Or, the ones who go, "Can you play that song? You know, the one that goes, uh...(unintelligible gibberish) - c'mon! You know it! You know, the song?" as if by constant repetition that we know it, it will somehow magically materialize.
Unfortunately, I have never done anything other than music and art (I used to be a cartoonist/portrait artist at amusement parks) so I don't have any useful 'job skills' to get a 'real job' with. But after 30 years as a professional musician, I'm starting to teach at MI (Musicians Institute) in Hollywood...now that my little daughter starts first grade next year, I'll have the daytime available for that. Since I had my kids, they have come first, and I'd never trade that time with them for anything. You can make all the money in the world, but you don't get back the time you miss with your kids. But I still gig, and record, and it's kind of cool to be a fat old babe and still making music. It's my own personal 'f*** you' to the music business, which wants you to think that you can only be viable if you're young and skinny.
Alicia, I'm glad you like my flying pig.
Robert, I thought I recognized you! I too attended the School of Hard Knocks. Sadly I failed to lear how to dislodge myself from my roots. I come from a long line of hard knocks graduates. It's a family tradition!
Alicia, after reading your "Musician" article, my curiosity was piqued, so I did a little detective work and was able to come across some audio and video of a couple of your bands (I won't name names but as proof, I'll mention Marilyn, Tony & Jack and SCARLET O'Hara). Nice to see some of us still have roots in the past while we look to the future. I don't have anything on the web quite so elaborate, but if you go to my blog and click the link to my personal family page, you'll see a boom box gif on the bottom of the page. Right click on the boom box and click "Save Target as" and you'll be able to download an old (1989) video of me doing a strange rendition of a Sam Cooke tune. Oh yeah, and I have a few original mp3s I can send if you send me your e-mail address to my family page e-mail contact. Of course, all of this depends on your interest or lack of therein. LOL
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