Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Overheard at Booth 2: A Century of Progress, Erased

Billy: When you put it that way, it almost seems downright farsical.

Joe: But it's true, when you think about it, I mean, the minimum wage, the 40 hour work week, health benefits, heck! even fire escapes! none of that was part and parcel of the work place a hunnert years ago!

Jim: Exactly a hundred years ago. Back then, my eight year old would be skinning cows in the slaughterhouses, coming home head to foot drenched in blood and grime . . .

Bob: Foot-in-mouth disease!

Billy: Ah, don't be so makin'fun of the boy, now!

Joe: Seriously, we ain't foolin' around - this is serious, I tellya. A hundred years ago, labor was fighting for the working man, now who's fighting for the working man! Nobody! Not the unions, because they done lost sight.

Jim: Became part of the problem.

Bob: Right!

Billy: But now, we gotta start it over again, for ourselves, for what was already fought for us, which was given to us, we have to keep.

Joe: And we got the bosses against us, but this time, it ain't just a few rich guys, it's entire international corporations.

Jim: Yeah, this ain't like yellin' at a Rockefeller or a Ford. This is redressing our grievances against heartless, godless ExxonMobil, SmithKline, Bank of America, Chase, NYSE . . .

Bob: . . . and don't forget the whole dang Republican party!

Billy: Yeah - and they's some mean sumbiches, lemme tellya.

Joe: Sneaky, too.

Jim: Steal a lollipop out of a baby's mouth and then make him buy it back from the corporate lobbyists at twice the price.

Bob: Pocket the extra penny and send the mercenaries to a foreign country to blow up their little chilluns for their slice of the candy!

Billy: Dang, this is gettin' bleak. No more espressos for you guys - it's time to switch to decaf!

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