The Demise of Joe Lunch Bucket and the Arrival of the "Stepford' Employee

Everyday in reading the news paper,listening to the news or hearing a politician speak I am ill, and enraged. Joe Lunch Bucket was the man who went to work without fail everyday. He brought leftovers from last night's dinner, he worked in manufacturing with widgets and gadgets, and at the end of the day went home to his family. Joe had health care benefits, he paid his taxes, he made enough to pay his bills, buy a home for his beloved family, and was the backbone of our society. There are no more Joe Lunch Buckets. His jobs went oversees because corporate America was and remains indifferent and greedy. Without a single thought about their part in destroying America they thought about money and plenty of it when profit margins soared by shifting the work of Joe Lunch Bucket to China or third world countries. Boardrooms collectively rubbed their hands together and said "Goody Goody for us." Joe Lunch Bucket never had a prayer. At no time did these corporate players give one thought to the demise of Joe Lunch Bucket and the ripple effect to his family and to society as a whole.

Now enters the "Stepford employee. I am sure you saw the movie "Stepford wives who were given a lobatomy so they could not speak up or out about an unfair situation in their marriages. Now, life is stranger than fiction: here is the deal. The federal government is the single biggest employer in the United States. JOBS is the single, hottest four letter word in America (actually the lack thereof). When a federal worker has a conflict with his employer that smells like, walks like, and quakes like a duck - it is a duck or more commonly known as discrimination, whistle blowing or retaliation, he has no where to take a legitimate dispute to the only place he could go - the EEOC, because it is and has been proven to be grossly corrupt. (See my other blogs.) Now comes the Stepford employee, he cannot complain because he will almost assuredly lose his job. No one can afford to lose their jobs especially with entities such as Monster.com who boldly say, "DO NOT BOTHER TO APPLY IF YOU ARE UNEMPLOYED." Now he has figured out that his mode of survival is as follows: "yes sir, no sir, how high sir, anything else sir!" Regardless of the corrupt, illegal instructions he has been given there is no avenue to stand up and contest. He is a quick study - he looks at his friends or friends of his friends who spoke up, their lives were obliterated as well as their families in the ripple effect.

Congratulations to the politicians, government agencies and corporate America - the citizens have been righteously screwed. Joe Lunch Bucket is desperately needed in our economy and as a fine upstanding citizen we need his vote. Stepford employees will eventually say "no more!" - and riot in the streets. Unfortunately, the leaders of our country will call forth the militia and then democracy is dead! Query - think about it, it is happening as we speak. Help me call attention to this and do something about it!

Respectfully submitted,

Honorable Mary Elizabeth Bullock (Retired)

Judging Me

To My Dear Readers,

I have a new book soon to be published called, "Judging Me." This book has nothing to do with the fact that I was a federal civil rights judge as it has to do with a child raised in poverty, who was violently sexually abused and became a federal civil rights judge. It is more about overcoming adversity and is addressed to those people who are disillusioned, dispossessed, and disenfranchised. Everyone has a story to tell if others would only listen. In the beginning, the story is dark and depraved but ultimately like the critics have said, "It is truly the most inspirational." As I frequently, state, "If I can take the debris of my life and fashion it in such a way that I help one other person, than what happened to me was worthwhile." I hope that you too will find that it is a breath of hope for those who have no hope. When I convey the brutalities and cruelties it would have been understandable that my life would have gone according to statistics and case studies. And, yet, it did not. "Why does a flower that grows through the crack of a sidewalk without purchase for a solid root base, through angry rains and careless people, turn out to be a miracle in its own right? It is about choices, life enhancing or life diminishing. Not one of us abdicates our right to choose, unless you are one of those people who decide life is not for the joy of becoming who and what you want to be but rather what those little houses of horror hone you to become - another monster. I beat the odds and so shall you, my reader. My name is Mary Elizabeth and this is my journey."