The Patriotic Public: and its hunt for lemonade

With mother nature throwing us bitter southerners into the brisk breezes of winter, disgruntled citizens barking about what they perceive to be a botched election, and news corporations desperately trying to regain control of the "We tell you what to think about factor" with the Patreaus' three-way, things are pretty gloomy out there in the forever streaming social media world.

And as I sit, curled underneath a half-dozen blankets in my unheated apartment, unemployed for more than two months now, I have to admit that it's been quite a battle trying not to get dragged into the negative vibes lately.  With the prolonged hours of busying myself folding laundry and trying to pick up a freakin' trivia answer while watching Pawn Stars, I can't help but find my shoulders getting a little frosty with the mass of "Patriotic Public" as of late. What is it with us Americans that we must always be displeased with something? 

A significantly plump-in-per-capita region of our country has been battling a lack of heat, food, electricity, and, up until recently, water due to the ferocious natural disaster that plagued them several weeks ago.  Just a couple days past, the country was a 24-hour devotion to the veterans who fight to defend freedom, and a memorial to those who made the ultimate sacrifice doing so, and then we move on, while families who have lost a loved one will continue to mourn, and desperately attempt to wash away their never-ending grief.  There are citizens who have spent their entire lives happily paying taxes, not a word of complaint, who are now suffering in the world of unemployment, and are being denied a check to meet their family's needs because big, fat, companies are unwilling to pay the piper.  Perhaps I'm a bleeding heart, but these are Americans here, people.  And while you are sitting fat and happy in your toasty house with steak in the freezer and your kids in public school and cops protecting your street and strangers watching over your freedom, you're bitching and moaning and complaining about... well, just about anything.

What's patriotic about that?

I'm a lucky girl, and I do my very best to keep reminding myself of that.  I have a little savings left that I can stretch until something comes up.  I have a loving family, a supportive boyfriend, and a strong-willed dream that I'm chasing.  I'm warm, I'm fed, and I'm healthy. And if it weren't for the fact that social media is one of the nations biggest employment recruiting centers, I would be damn near boycott sheerly due to the ungrateful people who are continuing to make a positive attitude a luxury commodity. 

Perhaps my past couple of years bumping elbows with camo has changed me into someone who believes whole-heartedly that you should be thankful for what gifts you've been given, and work with what you've got - make lemonade, if you will.  Or perhaps it was a recent encounter with a less than ideal work situation that refocused my prerogative toward one of professionalism, patriotism, and integrity. Or maybe the realization that it costs a lot of dough to get a job these days has made me soft to my fellow employment-seekers. 

But I know one thing for sure - I'm a patriot. I believe in the U.S. of A.  I have faith that things will work out for me, and I'll do my damnedest to try to help other people get there as well.  And just in case that isn't enough to drill through my point, top off that chilly goodness with this here cherry for your thoughts - complaining isn't going to get me anywhere, and I'm pretty freakin' thirsty for some lemonade.