Monday, October 1, 2012

History? Seriously?

Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass)  and Democrat Elizabeth Warren squared off in their second debate tonight at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Campus.



I attended this event for work, and because of my company's business relationship with UMass Lowell, I was able to attend the event as a VIP. 

Which was pretty cool.

I was able to park in a special parking lot and enter through a special door.  I was able to attend a pre-debate reception which allowed me to rub shoulders with very important executives and political figures.  I didn't know who anyone was, but my colleagues (who are high on the corporate ladder) did and kept pointing people out to me. "That's so and so, and that's the President of whatever."

Rigggghhttt....that guy. 

The best thing about being VIP is that our seats were right on the floor, 7 rows back from the stage. I kept looking around wondering who all the other "important" people were sitting around me and wondering if they were wondering why I was there and who I was.

I'm a big deal people.

The debate was typical - both candidates slung mud back and forth while questioning the others credibility.  Neither of the candidates presented a clear cut plan on how to fix the economy, produce jobs, or tackle issues like immigration and women's rights. 

Towards the end of the debate, the moderator took a question from a pre-selected UMass Lowell student.

Her question went along the lines of - and I'm paraphrasing here:

"My name is Joan Shmoe.  I'm a senior majoring in history and political science. What are you going to do and what policies are you going to put in place to guarantee that I will have a job when I graduate?"

Both candidates were all, "Congrats on your achievement," and "I'm going to vote for this and implement that and focus on education and blibbidy blah blah hocus pocus alla kazam."

I hated both of their responses for Joan Shmoe.

If I were running for Senate: if I was all "Vote Anastasia for Senator," I would have replied with the following:

"Well Joan Shmoe, first and foremost, it's not up to me to guarantee you find a job once you graduate.  In an economy that is failing and with jobs at an all time low, I regret to inform you that you have been misguided and someone, a parent or a guidance counselor, should have offered up some grounded advice when it came to picking a major.  Majoring in History was a huge mistake.  In the current economic climate, students can no longer expect to pursue majors such as History and expect that jobs will be readily available. In this economic climate, students entering college need to carefully research what jobs are currently in demand, and what majors will steer you in the direction of securing a job upon graduation.  Majors such as engineering, science, mathematics, healthcare, information technology, computers and business disciplines. But History? Seriously?

Unless of course your parents wealthy - if that's the case you can major in anything you want.

Either way - figure out how to find your own damn job. Stupid."

Wow....I love this honesty stuff.....

3 comments:

  1. Perfectly Sia! Love it. Thanks for the morning laugh.

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  2. HA! Seriously! I graduated with an International Studies Degree (I KNOW)and finding a job in my field (and not wanting to go to law school) was (is) a joke.
    Poor Joan Shmoe - she obviously needs a heavy dose of reality check. It sucks, but true.

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  3. What a wild experience to attend this! I wish you got to answer the question instead of the talking heads on stage :)

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