The American Dream ....a point of view

The coffee scents the morning air, masking the pizza box odor still on the counter from the night before, I lean on the wall rubbing my half open eyes. I wander to the shower and then to the coffee pot, taking a sip, I remember the drama of the night before. As I run it all through my head again I wonder what else could have been.

My tow truck isn't waiting for its oil to be checked this morning, I know my work phone will not ring. I start the day a bit lonely and sad, knowing I won't hit the road to fix a problem another has had. I won't be changing tires today, or reviving a tired old car. I won't be able to help someone who's vehicle didn't get them too far.

Its a hot summer day, already sweating by 6 and the sun is still rising. Today I'll head to the office of my attorney general to file a complaint of my unpaid wage. I worked for a towing company out of Glendale Arizona for the past few months. I was hired as an independent contractor, sort of my own boss. I worked 24/7 except every other Friday from 4 in the evening until about 6 in the evening on Sunday. That was reserved to spend with my children, that was the time that I lived for. Lets go back to where this situation began.

I had just finished truck driving school at The American Institute of Technology in Phoenix Arizona three days ago. I had a job all lined up, a "pre-hire" from the Swift trucking company, upon completion of school and acquisition of a commercial drivers license. I'm at my recruiters office and he's running the paperwork through the computer, I'm a little fidgety while I wait for my assigned "training driver" who I'd learn the ropes from for a couple weeks, then on to a truck of my own. Decent money, no boss looking over my shoulder, freedom of the road, benefits, and getting paid to see the cities across this great country of ours. I was excited. "Well" says Abraham," we have two problems, first off your availability is listed as needing every other weekend at home", "Yes, that's right." I said," I have my children during that time.""Understand says recruiter Abraham. He goes on to say "and also I see you had a ticket for "trespass" back in March." "Yup", I responded, "I was walking home from AIT after getting off the bus from school and took the railroad tracks as a shortcut back to my apartment." "I was approached by a police officer on a bicycle who gave me the ticket for being on state property." Abe cuts in "This may create a problem for ya!". "I quickly respond, " I paid the fine, $300, it's all taken care of!" "That's all good but we can't hire anyone with any criminal activity within the last two years, and on top of that we can't guarantee you would get home for your visitations with the kids."Abe said. "Well I don't understand, I disclosed my availability and the trespass ticket on my pre-hire application!" I exclaimed on deaf ears. "I'm sorry Jeremey, there's nothing I can do for you until the two years from the date of conviction for the trespassing thing has passed, come back then and I'll see what I can do." said the recruiter.

I was given a pre-hire, (the building block to work from in pursuit of my American Dream!) under conditions that the trucking company and its recruiter and my trucking schools recruiter both knew of before hand, both knowing I wasn't employable with those conditions. Under those conditions I should not have been accepted into thee school to begin with. After the meeting with Abraham I returned to The American Institute of Technology to find out how this happened and what I could do about it. The schools recruiting manager sat me down and explained my options, I could come back within a year and take the "refresher course" to reactivate my CDL and reapply with the trucking companies the school recruited for, or I could file a complaint and go to a hearing to let the schools officials decide what to do about my complaint. I said "I wanna do both, but what good will the refresher course do for me, my CDL goes inactive after 6 months of inactivity and I have to take the course with in a year or else I have to pay for it. Even if I take the course it serves no benefit to me, because it'll be more than the six months of inactivity before the two years has passed since the trespass conviction!" "So you wish to file the complaint then?" I'm asked. "Yes" I answer. I file the paperwork and head to the bus stop.

Two weeks pass and in the mail comes the result of my complaint. The letter states "your complaint has been reviewed and under our determination we have found fault in your application to the school. On the application you stated you were ticketed for trespassing, its been determined the ticket was "criminal trespass", which is a criminal infraction, which made you ineligible to attend our school. You stated it was a civil infraction to your recruiter, and our determination is that you lied on your application to gain admittance." and goes on to say, "the recruiter in question has been reviewed and we found other mistakes on her part regarding other student recruit applications. We have taken appropriate action." I later found she was fired for not processing the applications properly. I took further action to report the school for their mistake, which they admitted was a fault of their employee, to Sallie Mae, the bank who provided my $7000+ school loan. Sallie Mae never responded to the complaint with nothing other than my monthly bill. Sallie Mae is big business and the American Institute of Technology is as well, and is one of the fastest growing trucking schools in the country. I had rights didn't I? I did but not a lawyer I could afford to speak with would touch it, they claimed it would take years and by then it would cost me more than what I owed for the loan. Unbelievable..... not even the legal aid organizations would help me, they said it couldn't be proven that the school was at fault even with the letter they had sent me. The school had gone through the process required by law regarding complaints and I was left to pay the money to Sallie Mae because Sallie already paid the school. I lose, the poorboy loses.

So that's what led me back to driving tow truck. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed helping people out of unfortunate situations and getting paid to do it. Well my second cup of coffee is cold and I'm still thinking about Mr. Robbings(not his real name) part owner of Robbing's Towing Inc. Off to the bus stop and on to the Attorney Generals office to try and get my pay that I haven't received in two weeks. On the bus I find myself thinking about the beautiful house the Robbings had, the H2 Hummer in the driveway, the 2009 Chevy 3/4 ton with a lift kit and mudder tires, the jet skis and 5th wheel camper, and the brand name clothes. Man it appeared they were doing good, they were gonna be great to work for, they were making money in this rough economy, I was gonna be just fine working for them! Then I reminded myself not to judge a book by its cover.

I filed my complaint with the AG's office and headed back home to hit the web for a bit of research. While I was driving for "Robbing's '' I had been ticketed for the tow truck being unregistered. I was fined $400 for the ticket which was also in my complaint to the AG. As well as a "damage fund" of $325 that the company deducted money from my pay for each week, just in case I had an accident or damaged a vehicle I was towing(I was responsible because I was an independent contractor, remember!). In my research I found that Robbing's had been in some trouble with previous "employee's" and that the tow trucks weren't even insured or on record with the Department of Public Safety as being up to date on inspection. The company had false registration papers in the truck, I was ticketed for it. The company was operating with no insurance on the tow trucks, which just a short time earlier had not been paid, but the papers in the truck beat the system as it didn't show in motor vehicle records the insurance had expired when I received the unregistered vehicle ticket. I found out a couple days later the company hadn't paid taxes in two years and owed the IRS some 60 thousand dollars. How then did the "Robbings" have so many nice things, such a nice house and all? They were crooks, cheating the system and cheating those they hired to do the dirty work. In the mean time the company filed for bankruptcy, so my complaint with the Attorney General was put on hold, they recommended I take the Robbings to small claims because time was running out and the Robbings were giving them the run around as well but they had to follow procedure. In the mean time I ran broke as I was living week to week, and didn't even have the $35 or so it took to file a small claims case. I had only 180 days to do so and time was running short.

I was facing eviction now, haven't paid any money towards rent in 5 weeks, waiting for word about unemployment( i was an independent contractor therefor not eligible because I didn't pay into it, fair enough!) which I had to file for first in order to file for foodstamps and rental assistance. I was denied because I had applied about 6 months earlier when I was in trucking school still and quit my part time cashier job because of a change in the class schedule.

I really can't take this crap anymore, the systems are unfair to the poor, unjust for the working man, and too easy for businesses and their croonies to throw loopholes at those who stand their ground against them. If I had money enough to afford an attorney I could have sued the school to get them to pay the loan back, I could have sued the "Robbings'" for keeping my wages and damage fund and the cost of the ticket. If only I had money enough to use the system to protect my rights! But I didn't so I must move on and let the past be the past. I must find another way to start all over again, find a new building block to stand on in persuit of my "American Dream"........ but that won't last long either, that $400 ticket I'm trying to fight and haven't paid is gonna come back to haunt me!!!...................to be con't...............

"It is an amazing world we live in, messed up by the complications of man. We place rules and regulations to keep civil and provide order. I live in these great United States, where freedom is a way of life and each person living here has wonderful and numerous opportunity. What I have noticed through my aging is all the little things more and more people are failing to recognize along the way." In our system wealth can be passed on down and used to make more wealth and provide security and preserve the opportunity for the less fortunate to pursue their American Dream. All our "dreams" are different with a common ground, we all want that piece of the pie to call our home, a place to rest our bones and raise our children. we all want a place to go to escape the daily grind and settle into the arms of those we love. Well more and more the powers of the past have bought political pockets and laws of their to preserve the wealth they've accumulated. The other 98% of us also must live with in the ways of the world the wealthy have made. Good for them, I couldn't be happier that they are living their "American Dream". Hey there you greedy, self-centered, power hungry control freaks of the super wealthy 2%, we are not your slaves! We do not live off what trickles down from you, we live off our hopes and dreams! We live off hardship and struggle and the love and support of our families and friends, we live off each other,.....and your wicked ways are tearing apart the opportunity for us to pursue our "American Dreams." HOW DARE YOU! But I suppose we are to blame as well. We go on with our daily grind, overcoming our simple everyday struggles just to preserve our comfort zones. Now the economy is crumbling, stocks are struggling, banks are corrupt, local governments are broke, the whole country is broke, homes are being lost, insurance companies just suck, politicians are dazed and confused, jobs are disappearing, disasters occur beyond our control and the government gives us the run around. Why does the world have to be about money? Well because the past has made it that way. Granted capitalism could be a great and powerful system IF it worked for us all, but the super rich have messed it up, and left us to squirm in its aftermath. Well guess what you 2%ers their is one thing that made this country of our so great no matter the situations it faces, that is the resilience and will and ambitions of the average "everyman". We will stand our ground, we will fight the battle, we are pulling the wool from our eyes, lifting our heads toward the sky, shaking our fists in the air, and we are all heading for you! It will take years to fix what has happened to the "American Dream" and it may never be the same, but one thing about everyman is he can take only so much pain. When that point comes, the numbers be vast and swift in its will to let you 2%ers know we aren't just passing through" Some people say the 2%ers are working on a New World Order, a world economy of sorts, a world government, and even have plans for "population control". Maybe this is all rumor but then again maybe its not. Maybe this loss of "Our American Dreams" is just the beginning, you set us up, have us living beyond our financial means, leaving the opportunity for the rug to be pulled out from under us. With my faith and my believe in man, I know when that all happens to the majority of us, we will be coming to you!