Occupy Wall Street, for lack of a better idea, is good.

protestors deal with tear gas

This pisses me off. No one tear gases board meetings.

It’s clearly disorganized.  No one is really sure what they hell they want.  All they can really agree about is that someone is fucking them over, and they probably have more money. It’s clearly unreasonable and barely more than an angry mob.  So, what’s to like?  Plenty.  I nod when I see crowds on Wall Street because I’m angry too.

I’ve spent so much of my life being reasonable.  I contribute, volunteer, share the pain and  pitch in.  Where has that gotten me?  A good job (I’m lucky and have had some hard work rewarded), a shitty credit score and 3 hours sleep a night.  I can pay my bills, but I can’t pay them off.  I have a house, but I can’t live in it (too far from jobs).  I can’t sell it either.  I can’t even re-finance it.  I owe too much to have a lower interest rate.  I won’t default, and if I did, I’d lose my job, too.  I have too many credit cards, remnants of being unemployed in the past and being stiffed for various work reimbursements, rental income and a myriad of late/NSF/overdraft charges.  I mostly make the minimums, and they continue to raise my interest rate anyway because occasionally it all flies apart. So, I get to keep paying, waiting for something to change or for something to break.

I’m angry that I still pay NSF penalties for online bill pay errors, even though I’ve ‘opted out’ for overdraft and ‘courtesy pay’.  I’m angry that banks don’t pay me a penalty when they make a mistake.  I get to wait on hold for 30 minutes and inform them, and hope they agree to correct it.  I’m angry because my success or failure is conditioned on spinning a dozen whirling plates.  I’m angry that it seems like the plate companies deliver them greased.  I’m angry that I have to agree to 13 pages of terms and conditions, clearly stacked against me, to check my bank account and see if I need to transfer money again because my deposit won’t be credited for 3 days.

What do I want?  I want to pay my bills.  I want to be responsible.  I want to be treated the way I treat others.  I want banks to work with me to avoid stupid mistakes, not base their profits on them.  I want an alternative between ever rising debt and default.

What do these Wall Street Occupiers want?  I don’t know, but I hope they get it.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

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