Past Opinion Articles

Article for the week of 7/10/07


Confessions of a Dislocated Texan
By, Ezra Mann

Why not settle for the unsettling


At one point in my life I was as naïve as the average uninformed American. I thought that if one worked hard and played by all the appropriate rules; I might be able to go as far as my imagination would take me. I voted the way my parents voted and I thought that the current leadership wasn’t as bad it so obviously was. Then I began a trek of my own in the real world and found out how beneficial all that positive thinking could be. It’s so hilariously ironic that I’m quickly laughing my way to the poor house.
For a very brief period (And I might just have a world record for the definition) I thought that paying for school wasn’t really that bad an idea. After all, I started out in a junior college where I could go obtain a much sought after higher learning for less than a thousand dollars. Sure, it was still a lot of money and it increased a bit each semester, but it was still within reasonable reach. (Well, within what the government thought I should be able to survive on) Then I graduated with my associates degree and decided to go to a major university. I never wanted to pay for college again.
The fun only continued when I found out how needed someone as multi talented as I was in a large university setting. I found out that being trained to know multiple newspaper functions could be as helpful as a diaper rash when you move from a small to large publication. Apparently, a media source can only get so big before it assigns you to a fixed location that you might as well die before trying to vacate for something a little different. To put it in a simple terminology, if you try to learn how to adapt yourself in any setting you will just get a headache trying to fit in. Apologies to those who thought survival could be anything less than agony.
Eventually, I graduated with my degree with only a shred of my optimistic nature intact. (Boy, did that go quickly) I started out early in my final semester seeking that small bit of foot in the door that I had heard so much about. I figured that with my size 12-14 sized shoe that I could keep the door open long enough to bug a boss into a small paycheck. Then I found out that my journey of annoyance wasn’t quite coming to the close that I expected. For some reason, even if you spend your entire college career preparing for the real world, the real world still doesn’t think you are ready.
So here I am, stuck in the world of the unemployed and surviving on the care of a few kind individuals and barely enough money to start a belly button lint foundation. At one point I was so proud of my sarcastic nature that I thought that I’d be swept in and respected for my talented abilities. Now I’d be happy if I got hired on part time at a retail outlet brought to you by other employees who might also have been hopeful at one point in their lives. I haven’t given up entirely on becoming those things that I dreamed of, but forgive me for not leaping for joy lately. For some reason, it just fits the worldly situation.
I have no job, I’m quickly piling up way too much debt and I’m wondering if my wife and I will ever see our own roof over our head. I used to scoff at those who complained that no one gave them a chance in this world, now I feel I can only relate. In the end, you can only try so much against those that really don’t care if you succeed. If attitudes change then we might be able to save what we’ve lost. If not, those that would have been able to make a difference will be swallowed up in the settle for the unsettling.



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