Of Employees and Americans

She couldn’t help it. It stood out in a sea of business and business casual. She found herself drawn to the color of his t-shirt as the man meandered his way through the restaurant following the hostess. Well, it was not so much a color as it was the sum total of a variety of shading which gave the overall appearance of wearing an aged document. As he approached her and her table she was fascinated with how the sun light danced on and off the hues of his shirt when he came from the bright day light to the filtered of the pergola which covered the café seating. He continued to come closer to her and she could recognize the familiar calligraphy of the first three words of the constitutional preamble, “We the People.” As he continued to approach her she could make out the crimson spray paint graffito styled addition stating, “Are Pissed.” She was so captivated by the shirt she hadn’t realized he was headed to her.

He smiled in a warm, genuine manner which just lit up his face and asked, “Are you Suzanne?”

Taken back a bit she quickly stumbled over her words betraying her disappointment slightly, “Oh, oh, you’re Jim?”

“Yes,” he continued to smile while standing on the opposite side of her table.

Maintaining her eye contact she motioned with her right hand for him to have a seat.

Switching his attention to the chair he quickly sat down and returned his attention to her, “I have to say you are as beautiful as your photos online.”

Ignoring such a comment on the outside she cringed a little on the inside as she asked keeping perfect composure, “Are you familiar with Greek Cuisine?”

“I’ve had baklava.”

“You’re practically an expert,” she smiled at him.

He laughed missing the sarcasm, “What would you recommend?”

“What are you into?”

“What, what do you mean?” he asked sounding a bit lost.

Sighing she responded, “Are you a vegetarian or do you like meat and what kinds do you like?”

“Oh, I’m a carnivore who looks at vegetables as an accent to the meal.”

A little impressed with his usage of the word she responded, “Well, I’m going to try their Moussaka with a green salad.”

“What is Moussaka?”

“Well it is like a Greek lasagna made with either potatoes or eggplant and using ground meat with other ingredients while the salad is basically greens with feta cheese and olives.”

He thought for a moment looking at the menu for a few seconds not really reading but looking at the pictures, “You know what? I think I’ll keep it simple and just have what you are. It is all very new to me,” he confessed, “This way I won’t have to spend a lot of time reading the menu and wondering.”

“Hmmm,” she let out from behind a quaint smile.

Trying to keep the engagement alive he asked, “Have you ever been to Greece?”

“Not really, I was in Athens for a one night visit when I took a tour of Europe. I hate those.”

Looking a bit concerned he asked, “What was wrong with that? I think it would be great to see the world.”

Taking a breath, “I think there is a major difference. Yes, it would be nice to see the world but you can do that through television or magazines. I think it is just a waste of money and effort to do those tours.” She took a moment to think, “Of course I didn’t realize that when I booked the tour. I thought I was going to see the world and explore.”

“But isn’t that exactly what you did? I mean you were in Athens, Athens,” he interrupted.

“Let me put it this way. I would have gotten the same effect driving to the mall.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Indeed,” she replied casually, “You are basically carted off to a destination and are given a place to sleep which is a hotel which is totally engineered to a marketed research tourist. For example in Hawaii you are bombarded with what you think is Hawaiian Music and see what you believe is the Hula but in both instances you couldn’t be further from the truth. These are products which have been created to please the tourists.” Suzanne took a breath and continued, “You are rushed around mainly in tourist areas to shop and quickly sightsee. You don’t get to truly live the experience of being in that place. It’s like some bizarre hands-on power point presentation.”

“But still, the chance to be there and experience it…,” he attempted.

Sighing she added, “It is just a tease. You are there seeing it, within arms reach of it, but just out of touch with it. You are in some limbo “Athens” just out of reach with your fingertips just brushing the edge of the real “Athens.” It just leaves you wanting so much more. I think that anyone who thinks it is an amazing experience is just as shallow and plastic as a kiddie pool.” She thought for a second at what she had said and gave him a glance stating, “Sorry, it is just how I felt from the experience.”

“Oh, I’m not offended. I think it would be nice to visit but I find that I must agree with your argument as well,” he responded with a disarming smile, “Perhaps some day you will have a true opportunity to experience Greece.”

He had lifted his hand as if he was raising a glass to toast his wish. A waiter had noticed his motion and came directly over to their table.

“Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, we would like two of your delicious Moussaka and two green salads,” Jim answered before she could respond.

Suzanne shot him a look and shook her head a little but then just smiled.

“Okay,” said the waiter after jotting some notes on his order pad, “And what would you like for drinks?”

“I,” she replied putting an emphasis on her ‘I’, “Would love just a nice glass of water.”

He made an expression of ouch at her tone, “I’ll have a house beer, thank you.”

“Very good,” agreed the waiter in that practiced way with a polished smile and mannerisms geared to coaxing a nice tip, “I will be back with your drinks after I put in your order.”

Reading her response very well, “I’m sorry about stepping on your toes but I just thought I would save time ordering for both of us. Besides, I thought that is what you said you wanted.”

“I am perfectly capable of ordering for myself,” she cautioned in a very stern tone.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he apologized in his most boyish tone with complimenting expression, “I’ve learned something new today, thank you.”

Disarmed slightly and desiring to not make a scene and to get through the date, “It’s okay. It is over and let’s move forward.”

After several moments of nervous silence as if he was a troop attempting to move safely forward through a minefield he probed the soil gently with his bayonet, “You look very nice tonight.”

With a poker face she answered, “Thank you.”

It was back to the awkward silence as the troop’s bayonet tip hit something hard and heavy. He just sat there wondering what to do. His attention was drawn to the waiter delivering their drinks with the same smile as before. After the waiter left he took a sip of his beer and saw her looking at his shirt.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,”

“Why that shirt?”

Looking a bit proud of it he started to explain, “I did tell you that I am very politically active.”

She let out a laugh and caught herself.

“What, what’s so funny?”

“I am so sorry,” responded Suzanne almost immediately, “That definitely came out wrong.”

Feeling a bit confused and incensed, “Okay, Freudian Slip or whatever it’s out of the bag so let’s explore it.”

Suzanne looked at Jim with a stare as if she was measuring up the situation.

“Let’s just get this all out in the open before we invest too much. I’ll go first. I find you to be a fairly intelligent and attractive young lady. Both of these attributes draw me towards you. However at the same time you seem to be a bit full of yourself and opinionated which is a serious repellent. I am willing to go forward and see what I am missing and if it is worth going the distance with you despite these other repelling qualities. There, I can be honest. Are you able to be honest with me as well?”

“Sure, why not?” she agreed maintaining that amazing poker face, “Let me start you off with a question. Why are the people pissed and at whom are they pissed?”

“Well the situation the country is in and those individuals in Washington DC who have put us in this situation.”

“You, Jim, are part of the problem with this nation.”

“Wait,” he responded with a smile of disbelief, “I’m part of the problem. Look at the shirt. I am expressing my opposition to what is happening.”

“Okay, so you’re upset about what the people are doing in Washington. Why are you letting them do it?”

“Well, they are our leaders. They make all of the calls. Look at Biden with his decisions such as shutting down the Keystone Pipeline and favoring foreign oil and fuel has shot through the roof.”

“I guess you got that from deep research of some memes you agree with on social media. Why not find out about the whole story instead of just finding something which is convenient for you.”

“What? I see it everyday I drive by the gas stations.”

“Here,” she started in a calm voice while looking him directly in the eyes, “Before the pandemic Russia and Saudi Arabia got into a price war. Not sure exactly what set off the war but I have heard that it was Saudi Arabia was attempting to teach Russia a lesson—possibly to get Russia to follow OPEC decisions. So production was increased so much that there was an oil glut. Cost of a barrel dropped. When the pandemic hit and nations closed down to try to reduce the spread. Demand for oil plummeted to the point that a barrel cost around $21. In some cases producers were paying those they supplied to take the oil away. This is how gasoline prices reached record low levels under Trump. But with low prices and slow demand companies were losing money at record levels. I read that at least 28 American oil companies went bankrupt. Workers were laid off. Trump who had made promises to protect oil and coal jobs decided to act in March 2020. There were negotiations between oil producing countries. Trump put pressure on the Arabians to slowdown oil pumping. He wasn’t the only one. 13 Republican Senators threatened the Saudis with unfair trade practice suits as well as cutting off their military aid if they didn’t roll back production. They did. Did you notice that in the second half of Trump’s last year fuel prices started to climb?”

“Yes, but that was because Biden was elected.”

“No, the price started to go up before the election. Anyway, the oil industry is plagued with a cycle of bust or boom and the bust of the pandemic shutdown hurt them a lot. They have taken the opportunity with the end of the price war to build up profits and make up the losses of the shutdown. Biden has been pushing for production increase. However, he is faced with an uphill battle as even if enough oil was pumped today it would still take at least 6 months to reach the retail level. But before that can even happen they have to hire and train the workers.”

“Okay, but what about the Keystone Pipeline?”

“First of all, he didn’t shut down the pipeline; he just stopped it from building extensions. As far as foreign oil, the Keystone Pipeline is a Canadian Company in which the Trumps own shares. It is pumping a highly corrosive oil to Texas for refinement for sale overseas not for domestic use. Canada is piping it across the United States so it doesn’t have to deal with spills on their own country.”

“Where did you get all of this?”

“I actually found several articles in business journals such as ‘Fortune’ or ‘Business Week,’ the ‘Journal,’ and several other publications.”

“And you believe them?” he asked sounding incredulously.

“Let me explain something to you. When it comes to information about the economy these publications know what they are saying and aren’t using political agendas.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Think about it. You are writing articles for investors. If you give investors opinionated or wrong information about things that affect their investments they will not buy your publication. And an interesting side note is all of these articles confirmed each other.”

“Okay, so you are blaming the gas prices on Trump and the Republicans?”

She sat back in her chair and shook her head a little with a sly smile, “That is one of the great things about a leader. It gives us an easy target to blame. No, I’m not blaming him for the way gas prices have shot up so. If you listen to what I was saying some Senators and Trump did pressure the Saudis to end their price war with Russia by cutting back on oil production. Yes, it did help to drive up the prices which helped to revive some American oil jobs. But if you were listening the oil producers themselves raised the price to help to recoup losses from the price war and the pandemic shutdown. It was the simple fact that when they raised the price to this point and people still paid and didn’t reduce consumption which told the oil producers they could raise it higher yet.”

“Yeah, but we need leaders.”

“Do we?”

“People can’t possibly work out things themselves…,”

“So we elect people to work it out for us,” Suzanne interrupted quickly.

“I’m not saying that but yes, that is what we do. But these are individuals who are able to focus on the issues while we do our day to day jobs. These are people who have demonstrated leadership abilities. You need that vision, that quality, that example, that drive, those organizing skills. We need that person who is above the day to day noise to keep an eye out on what is happening.”

He sighed and looked about the room as if trying to find someone to help.

“And that is all fine and dandy,” she started as she took the opportunity of Jim’s pause, “I think it is great to have experts work on learning about and keeping tabs about what is happening in the world. But what would make it more wonderful is if they were all working for this country and the betterment of our society.” She leaned forward in the most animated she had been all evening so far as she explained, “Imagine, you have a community where everyone works and does their jobs but at the same time, they are all on the same side. They understand that only through the individuals of their community working together is their community able to improve, evolve if you will. Imagine there is an issue and the community comes together to work it out in a meeting or series of meetings. If there are those who are leading the conversation they are doing so to facilitate and encourage interaction. They are able to draw on the experiences of the experts and events which have occurred in other communities such as theirs.”

“Ha, you said that there are leaders,” he pointed out triumphantly.

“See, that’s the problem.”

“What is?” he asked with a truly confused expression wondering how she was going to take his win and turn it on him.

“You see this as a competition.”

“Wait, um what?”

“You see this as a competition where as I see it as a learning experience, a chance to learn and grow. I am trying to help you understand a possibility while at the same time learn more about you but you are so prone to competing I don’t think it is possible.”

“What are you saying?”

“A community where everyone understands that they are all in this together is what I am talking about and trying to use to help you understand something beyond your shirt,” she answered. She sighed a moment and then continued, “I think that the issue is your understanding of a leader.”

“Again, I’m lost.”

She resisted the urge to say, ‘Duh!’ but instead said, “I am getting that you understand a leader as someone you look to in order to solve problems so you can just live your life. I get the impression that you see a leader in a competitive ‘Us versus Them’ scenario but not much beyond these reasons to have a leader.”

“I guess to some extent…,”

“Think about the person who trained you for your job. In many ways he was a leader but he wasn’t attempting to overcome an opponent. He was doing what he could to train you so that you would do your job well and everyone at your workplace could prosper. He was training you and still is so that you can be a success and add to the overall well-being of your company.”

“Okay, I get that.”

“This is the type of leader I am talking about in this community. Problem is with a lot of leaders their first priority is doing what is necessary to remain the leader. This is one of the things I truly disliked about Trump. It wasn’t about the country. It wasn’t about you or me. It was about gaining control and maintaining that control while using the powers he had to push his visions and his ideas on the nation. He should have been concerned about what was good for America not what was good for a few jobs here and there. And here again, is Biden doing what he believes is right—a blanket, one size fits all solution. In all they are in competition with one another attempting to discredit each other. It is just back and forth instead of forward.

“Our Founding Parents understood the importance of getting people involved. They understood that you would not be able to please everyone at the same time. This is why they gave the states and local communities so much ability to answer their own issues according to their needs and what is available to them. This is why the Freedom of Speech was so important for them—express ideas and share them as well as point out what you believe to be mistake and why. This helps to create the ability for these people of individual communities to come up with solutions from which all could learn and use to help resolve their own issues.

“Trump wasn’t about that. He had absolutely no interests in hearing the thoughts of others which may have been against his. But at the same time Biden went into office with all of his advisors and though he is willing to listen to the opinions of others he is still going to make up his mind according to what he understands and how he sees it. And, that is a major problem with leaders who are competitive instead of being leaders the nation needs. We need people to be involved and people in our government offices who are more incline to be facilitators and help the people to work it out instead of working it out for the people. We need people to be involved but instead we have two rival gangs who are in competition with one another. And sure the Republicans do seem to have it more together because it is all in the way they work.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, the Republicans believe that the best way to control the nation is by doing all they can in protecting the Capitalists so that the Capitalists can provide jobs and keep people happy and let the people pursue their happiness through their work. However, this runs in direct contradiction to the economics of material wealth.”

“And how is that?”

“In order for something to be of value it has to be in demand. The more in demand it is and the less of a supply there is the higher it will be valued. If there truly was enough money or wealth to go around that all had an equal ability to reach for the stars…,”

“The item of value would have no value.”

“Very good,” she replied looking at him in a slightly different light, “However, another problem with the Republicans is that they believe that all need to be in their definition of what an American is. Basically through their speeches, their actions, and so much more such as what they value and what they believe is an education they create the perfect person to follow them and push their agendas. One of the main tools they use is manipulation through fear such as if the government taxes your boss then you may not get raises you require or the ability to maintain your job. A recent ad I heard from the Republicans stated that a program that the Democrats have is costing everybody $50,000 a year—who do you know is earning $50,000 a year. Or when Bernie Sanders said about raising taxes on the ultra rich? It was twisted to he wanted to tax all people at these higher rates.”

“Republicans sound a lot like a new spin on the old Feudal System.”

She stopped and looked at him in a bit of amazement and then continued, “The Republicans and the parties which existed prior to the formation of the Republican Party but were the forerunners of the Republican Party have all tried numerous times to silence those who disagree with them and don’t follow their ideas.”

“Sedition and Alien Acts,” he added almost thoughtfully.

“Yes, exactly,” she responded again looking at him differently, “Now the Democrats on the other hand still believe in supporting businesses but at the same time they are all over the place because they do listen. Whereas the Republicans have the same political approach they have had since their Grand Master, Alexander Hamilton who believed that the country should be in the hands of the wealthy, the Democrats do listen and try to please everyone which we know One Size doesn’t fit all. That was the importance of having the people involved. Who knows your situation and issues: your friends and neighbors or some person miles away in Washington trying to represent anywhere from 600,000 to over 340,000,000 constituents?

“I see our government as an institution to represent us to foreign entities, maintaining standards in money, weights, and interstate travel, possibly to facilitate trade, but mostly to give guidance and help communities solve their issues. By guidance I am talking…,”

“About expert opinions and shared information from other communities which have had the same or similar issues and providing the resources if needed.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Let me explain something to you in the air of honesty. I wore this shirt to see if I could get your real thoughts and it has worked wonderfully. I’m sorry about the deception but I have had so many dates where people put up a façade.

“I’ll level with you. I do understand that leaders as we know them are detrimental. We become too dependent on them while at the same time they will manipulate and twist information to their advantage and not that of the country. Instead of a nation of the people offering original ideas we have a population of employees and sychophants.

“Truth is if the ‘People Are Pissed’ they should be and the person they should be ‘Pissed’ at is themselves. Our Founding Parents left us with an amazing potential and we cast our pearls before swine in a manner as we gave into easy answers. We are no longer a nation of the people; we have become a nation of employees, almost subjects, who are so utterly dependent on individuals who will do anything they can to be our leaders. They lie, they steal, they twist the information, and we are limited to their vision, their understanding, and more than likely their easy quick fixes so they can remain the leaders. We are dealing with people who have divided our nation into us versus them for their own political and economic gains.

“We need to become ‘We the People’ again. We need to take back our nation. We need to reach out to our family, friends, and neighbors to work through our issues and make our communities great. Ideas need to be shared, bounced around, and originate from the bottom and move up instead of being imposed down by this gang and then changed to suit this gang just back and forth. We need to learn to think for ourselves and become Americans.”

She looked at him with a bit of admiration. First he had seen in her eyes until now. She was silent as the waiter had come to give them their Moussaka and green salads.

“Kali orexi,” exclaimed the waiter before he turned to leave.

She let out a long sigh and started to nod her head a little, “Okay, you got me and in a way I am very impressed.”

“Let’s start here with a promise to be absolutely honest and to work to help one another learn and grow. I promise, I will never be in competition with you but at the same time I will not give in if I know you may be wrong. I will do what I can to help you and allow you to help me. I will only be the boss when it calls for my expertise as will you be the boss when we are in the areas of your expertise. But at the same time I will do all I can to explain why we are doing what we are doing as I will eagerly listen to you when it is your time. I want a best friend not a competitor. We are all in this together. Let’s see where this takes us from here.”

“You know what; I can get on board with that idea.”

They raised their glasses in a toast.

“She smiled and said, “Okay, let’s give it a shot and see if theory actually works.”

“Perhaps we will get to truly experience Greece and other places.”

She smiled.