After the 4th grade, I was raised in Oxnard, California. Oxnard was a sleepy little town filled with fields of strawberries, orange groves, lemon groves, and fresh flowers. Everybody had a job. I lived in a small 1300 sq.ft. "cookie cutter" house which was exactly like all of my friends. Our house had a two car garage, 3 bedrooms, den, kitchen, 2 baths, and dining room. We had one TV, one telephone line and one "extension" phone which was placed in my room for my 15th birthday.
I was fortunate to be raised during a time when the United States was investing in the infrastructure of this great nation. The interstate highway system was under construction, schools were being built to accommodate the "boomers" which had been born after WWII and the Korean war. I grew up in a time when every neighborhood had wide sidewalks that led all the way to school. We enjoyed the best that schools could offer. Language labs, science labs, fully equipped gyms, band, and choir rooms. To graduate, we enjoyed four years of English, math, science, history, government. PE and 2 years of a foreign language. I chose Spanish. The rest of the time was spent learning office machines, typing, shorthand, sewing, auto mechanics, and yes, cooking from scratch. Hueneme High School Proms were held in the gym.
As a young mother, I didn't have to boil the water which I gave my baby. I knew the water was clean. Water mains didn't break, potholes didn't exist, we never lost power, and everyone knew their neighbor.
Graceland....was a mansion, Elvis lived there.
Over the last 40 years, I have watched the American Dream become grotesque and distorted. Instead of developing conflict resolution at home deciding which show to watch on the one TV, we now have turned to the street and road rage. Graceland looks like the house next door and everyone believes that they DESERVE to live there. Schools are crumbling, sidewalks don't exist, everyone questions what is in the tap water, so most don't drink it. We can't trust peanut butter not to kill us, that toys won't poison our children, and the pharmacy medications we use aren't fake.
When I had my first child, maternity care was not covered in my policeman husband's insurance plan. Yep, it was considered self inflicted. Anyway, since insurance was not involved, my OB charged, $250.00 and the hospital was $300.00 which included a hospital stay of 3 full days going home on the fourth. The hospitals were clean and people washed their hands. Therefore, you got well when you were hospitalized instead of fearing the dreaded "Nonsocomial Infection" or Hospital Acquired MRSA. Everybody had health care.
I long for the US Democracy of the past. Safe water, safe banks, safe toys, food and medicines. We knew that our country could defend us if needed because the defense budget supplied the Military and not a bunch of greedy defence contractors. Public utilities were public.
It disturbs me that people spill hateful words towards our newly elected President. Our country is in shambles, falling apart and becoming sicker by the minute.
These complaining people need to go back to school and learn the definition of Democracy. Anyone who is saying that President Obama is promoting Socialism and Communism obviously did not spend 4 years in government and history classes to graduate from High School. Unfortunately, it is obvious that they didn't have the benefit of a quality public school education like I did.
