After working for the City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department for over three years I had a chance to apply to be a low level supervisor. A supervisor in a division I had worked in, moved up the ranks so after mulling the issue over a bit, I applied for his vacant position. The job oversaw a litter crew, a lawn mower trim crew, a play ground repair crew, a ball field maintenance crew, an area large mower operator, and some miscellaneous park keeper positions. The whole crowd added up to around 20 people. The ethnic diversity of the crew was stunning for a guy like me that haled from lily-white South Central Wisconsin. I made on okay for the daunting task of taking care of one-third of the play grounds in the whole of Dallas, as well as miles of highway median strips, numerous parks, ball fields, recreations centers, tennis courts, and swimming pools.
One thing that has always remained in the dusty archives of my years working for "Dallas," is the interview from hell for the supervisor job. I had gone through a couple preliminary interviews. And then came the mother of all interviews. You would have thought I was about to take on a job of caring for F-16 Fighter jets. There was a boss named Richard above me that seemed to cautiously be an advocate for my advancement. His boss Ron however, was the level beneath the City Hall gang. Ron had come out of the Chicago regional park system and never wore anything but a Chicago suit coat and pants. He stuck out like a sore thumb in a place like Dallas. Even the rich guys wore blue jeans in Dallas. Ol' Ron was concerned that back in 1980 I had listed four jobs in one year on my resume. "What are you, some kind of job hopper?" he said in his dour Chicago tone. That was it for me. I did not care after being grilled for a low level sandwich-manager job (stuck right between labor and real management). This position would take all the hell from both labor and management.
I did not skip a beat and pounced on him. "Why are you in Dallas?" I asked. I did not give him time to answer. "You most likely have fled here to escape the depression in the North like many of us," I continued. My boss Richard began to signal "enough," with his eyes. But I continued, "Would it have made you happier if I put down that I took food stamps and unemployment for a year like many of your Rust-Belt-Chicago peers?" Richard started to bow his head. But I continued, "I worked at shitty, part-time jobs to make ends meet. It is how I was raised. Everyone else gave up and took food stamps and unemployment if they were lucky enough." Ol' Ron just sat and stared at me. He and Richard took ther leave and left me sitting there.
That night, Heide said, "Oh shit. I can tell by the look on your face you did not get the job." The next day however, Richard gave me the evil eye and said, "You crazy bastard, you start your new job tomorrow."
Stupid pop culture, media-complex, distraction-from-reality story
I am thinking, each day I should jot down the stupidest news story that is foist upon us by the big-media-complex as a distraction from the reality that has become America. So here we go - welcome to today's "Stupid Pop Culture, Media-complex, Distraction-from-reality Story."
Hey everybody, the Presidential election process has begun in Iowa. We will languish for the better partof a year over elections to choose the best two rich two-party-paradigm flunkies who will no doubt continue to grind our country into the dirt. Ah, fuck it! Now this is the real damn story - Britney in peril. Perhaps a better heading would be, "Britney fills pages while our dead soldiers catch a line or two." Now there is some real God damned news!
Wisconsin military service person of the week
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sergeant Mark A. Maida, 22, of Madison who died Friday, May 27, 2005 in Baghdad of injuries he sustained the day before when the Humvee he was riding in struck an explosive mine in Diyarah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Mark was a 2001 graduate of James Madison Memorial High School in Madison. He enlisted in the Army the same year. He had plans to come home on leave in July to get married. Mark Maida's three-year military term was completed in October, 2004 but he was required to stay in via the U.S. military's "stop loss" program. He already had enrolled for classes at Madison Area Technical College. The "stop loss" program is best defined as personnel who could otherwise leave the military when their volunteer commitments expire are forced to remain to the end of their unit's overseas deployments and as well up to an additional 90 days after they come home. Sergeant Maida was deployed to Iraq in January of 2005 with his unit, E Troop, 2nd Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Irwin, California. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Mark's brother Chris Maida, returned in April from a six-month tour in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. Mark Maida is the son of Ray Maida, a retired Madison police detective, and Diane Maida. He is survived also by his brothers Chris and Aaron, and a sister, Juliann Mutch. Sergeant Mark Maida is the 38th Wisconsin service member killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
3,904 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
471 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
28,882 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,848 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
82 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
6 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
125 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
14 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
