Paycheck to Paycheck

I watched the show "Paycheck to Paycheck" on Oprah's Townhall last night with Maria Shriver. I had also seen the HBO documentary about Katrina Gilbert. When I first watched that documentary I actually ended up switching channels because I found it so depressing. Not because her story is so sad, but because I could relate to it and seeing my reality in hers hit a little to close to home. But now after seeing Oprah's Townhall show I feel more inspired. Inspired to do something. I, like millions of other women, live on the edge of financial catastrophe. I often look around at my apartment, that I worked so hard to make cheery and cute, and see it not as my "home", but almost like it's a mirage. It doesn't ever seem real. Because in my head, I know that at anytime, unexpectedly, it can all disappear. One wrong move, one rent payment not paid for one reason or another, and it's all gone and my daughter and I are living in my car or on someone's couch. It makes me crazy. All this crap about the "American Dream" that has been shoved down all our throats since we were kids, how we can be "anything" when we grow up......it's all bullshit. If a person doesn't know the right people, have the right amount of money or have a piece of paper from a college saying you have a degree, then basically it appears you are nothing. You don't count. Your opinion doesn't matter, you don't matter. A person can be highly and naturally skilled and capable of doing a job, but unless you have a piece of paper from a college saying so, it doesn't matter. I find that infuriating. Millions of people are not working or can't find work that pays more than $8.50 an hour because employers only want the ones who are perfect. And even when they find the perfect one, they still pay them garbage wages. A piece of paper and millions of years of experience shouldn't be what identifies us. People are more than just a college degree. We all come from years of experience. So what if it wasn't in the exact field of the job we are applying for. That doesn't mean we aren't capable. This downward spiral has to stop. People need to be given a chance. Men and Women. So many unemployed, underemployed, homeless. It's sickening. What is happening? Where is this all going to lead? How can one person make a difference? I don't know. But I'm going to try to find out.