The last installment of this series but def not the last of Jenny Jones' stories!
And so we continued our Occupy march for 2 more stops, chanting and waving our signs. Someone spoke at each stop, and we parroted the speech. We were the “human mic”. At each stop, we were greeted by the “Men in Black” with their pepper spray and face masks, and riot gear. The “Peace Officers”. Reminding us that we were miscreants, to be feared by mainstream Phoenicians.
We stopped at the Chase Bank building. I had been in this building many times. Not as a Chase Bank employee, but an employee of a much smaller, regional bank. I worked for Valley National Bank, in the mid eighties to mid nineties. During my tenure at Valley National Bank, they were one of the largest employers in the state of AZ. When I left, they had been bought out by Bank One, who was later bought out by Chase. The processing centers, credit card centers, and call centers that had once provided jobs for Phoenix workers had been shipped to the Philippines and other countries, where they did not have to pay such high wages or provide benefits for their employees.
My husband and I were not able to stay with the group for the walk back to the park. I had a meeting I needed to attend. Grudgingly, we rushed back to our car, in the rain, to continue on with our lives. But I did come away from this experience with a new perspective. I, the 53 year old woman, whose heart pounds, and whose hands tremble when I get pulled over for a traffic ticket, had suddenly become a threat to society. This mild mannered Customer Service Representative, had dared to speak out against, and call attention to, the injustices that are being perpetrated against the middle class.
There is nothing wrong with Capitalism. But there is something very wrong with the unfettered corporate greed and power, that has been allowed to permeate American society over the last 20 years. There is something very wrong when our legislators are allowed to be bought and paid for by corporations who are interested in nothing but the acquisition of more money and more power. There is something very wrong when a sector becomes so strong and so powerful, that they can become even stronger and more powerful at the expense of the masses.
So, the next time you turn on your TV and see the “terrorist hippie” Occupy protestors, chanting and waving signs, and getting arrested and pepper sprayed, look very hard. You might see me. Or a neighbor, or a co-worker. Or a friend you have lost touch with. I am “they”. And remember that I am doing this, not because I am jealous or envious of what you have. Not because I want to “milk the system” and be supported by my friends and neighbors and co-workers. I do this for all of us.
Finally, at the ripe young age of 53, I have awakened to the realization that the lifestyle I have taken for granted until recently, is in jeopardy of disappearing, for myself and my children and grand children. And you and yours. I have finally realized that there is something out there worth protesting for. This may have been my first march, but it won’t be my last.
Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, full time job working citizen, fighter for human rights and a fabulous friend.
And so we continued our Occupy march for 2 more stops, chanting and waving our signs. Someone spoke at each stop, and we parroted the speech. We were the “human mic”. At each stop, we were greeted by the “Men in Black” with their pepper spray and face masks, and riot gear. The “Peace Officers”. Reminding us that we were miscreants, to be feared by mainstream Phoenicians.
We stopped at the Chase Bank building. I had been in this building many times. Not as a Chase Bank employee, but an employee of a much smaller, regional bank. I worked for Valley National Bank, in the mid eighties to mid nineties. During my tenure at Valley National Bank, they were one of the largest employers in the state of AZ. When I left, they had been bought out by Bank One, who was later bought out by Chase. The processing centers, credit card centers, and call centers that had once provided jobs for Phoenix workers had been shipped to the Philippines and other countries, where they did not have to pay such high wages or provide benefits for their employees.My husband and I were not able to stay with the group for the walk back to the park. I had a meeting I needed to attend. Grudgingly, we rushed back to our car, in the rain, to continue on with our lives. But I did come away from this experience with a new perspective. I, the 53 year old woman, whose heart pounds, and whose hands tremble when I get pulled over for a traffic ticket, had suddenly become a threat to society. This mild mannered Customer Service Representative, had dared to speak out against, and call attention to, the injustices that are being perpetrated against the middle class.
There is nothing wrong with Capitalism. But there is something very wrong with the unfettered corporate greed and power, that has been allowed to permeate American society over the last 20 years. There is something very wrong when our legislators are allowed to be bought and paid for by corporations who are interested in nothing but the acquisition of more money and more power. There is something very wrong when a sector becomes so strong and so powerful, that they can become even stronger and more powerful at the expense of the masses.
Finally, at the ripe young age of 53, I have awakened to the realization that the lifestyle I have taken for granted until recently, is in jeopardy of disappearing, for myself and my children and grand children. And you and yours. I have finally realized that there is something out there worth protesting for. This may have been my first march, but it won’t be my last.
Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, full time job working citizen, fighter for human rights and a fabulous friend.
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