I had the misfortune of meeting a very ugly woman. Outwardly, she was dressed very well. She was put together. Some of you, if you looked at her, would’ve found this woman in her early 30s to be physically attractive. The ugliness came from inside.
I was at the courthouse parking lot in White Plains, which also serves as the parking lot for the White Plains Library. It waiting our turn to pay for the meter, somehow some conversation started at wound up about what was going on in New York City Wall Street occupation. I know that I mentioned, more under my breath than anything else, that 100 of the protesters had been arrested instead of giving up the space in the Park.
Her next comment: ” I know. Those lazy bastards need to get a job.”
Are you stunned?
My comment: ” Are you kidding me!? I am out of work. I can’t find a job. You… get me a job? Huh? I need a job?” And she just walked away from me as fast as her pointy expensive shoes could take her.
The haves and the have nots. 
I had just had a discussion with some one the previous night (someone whose opinion and knowledge I respect and admire: NOTE – all facts that I am going to present are from this person. She presented this information while I was discussing my feeling feelings and opinions; so, I am supporting what she presented to me in total accord) about the occupation of Wall Street and in other areas of our country. It is costing the municipalities a tremendous amount of money for a protest that, while semi-peaceful, has absolutely no purpose other than to say ” I don’t like what you’re doing.” There is absolutely no clear concise agenda or, in my mind, anything that deals with solving the problem. Any problem.
I have railed here often about that fact; if you going to complain, come up with some solutions and do something about it. Playing the complain complain complain game is a total waste of time and it completely diffuses and obfuscates the real problems. Case in point: the Bank of America withdrawal of personal accounts when they decided they just wanted to make more money off of the common person. An action was decided on, it was enacted, and Bank of America backed off.
I believe in protest, but I believe in problem solving more.
I do not believe in violence and nonsensical rhetoric. It gets us nowhere. 
Why do I feel that this is part of the creativity series?
It is time all of us to find creative solutions to the problems that we face is very un-united United States. If you think that this country is not a laughing stock to the rest of the world, imo, you are sadly mistaken.
What we are doing right now is not working. Doing the same old again and again and again is putting this into a spiral that goes far beyond the financial crisis of the world. I am not sure I have the intelligence or the finesse to offer any problem solving myself. I do feel that we do need extreme critical and creative team work to take care of the problems that we face.
Without pointing fingers:
- WHAT DO YOU FEEL WE, UNITED, CAN DO?
- WHERE DO WE START?
- Where do our next creative leaders come from?
- Do we have any?
