Stupid bitch in the store tonight, blaming the MINERS for their deaths!

[liberalhistorian]

I flew back to South Dakota today from Cleveland after spending a couple of weeks with my son and parents and family for Christmas. Three flights full of screaming kids and a day spent in crowded airports did NOT put me in a good mood when I finally got back. I had to go to the store for some groceries and other necessities.

I picked up the Rapid City Journal while there and began looking at the front page, which had an article about the miners being alive and the families joy, as did many newspapers throughout the country this morning. It was so heartbreaking to see that, knowing the truth and desperately wishing the story could be true. I commented to the lady in line behind me about how tragic it was and how terribly sad it was to see that story now. I just couldn't believe her comments. She said that "well, they knew the risks when they took the job, maybe they shouldn't have even been working there in the first place."

Stunned into silence, I finally managed to say that it was almost worse for the families to have it happen this way, since they felt the incredible relief of being told their loved ones were alive and it was over, some of them probably told their children, and all of the celebrations, only to have all hope and relief and joy smashed into everlasting pieces a few hours later, their lives never the same again. She just shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sure they'll sell their stories and make some good money off of it, just like those other miners did." I assumed she was referring to the ones in PA who were rescued a few years ago, after spending three days trapped in the mine and submerged in water.

Well, yeah, lady, but you see, the difference here is that the PA miners are fucking ALIVE and these poor souls in W.VA are NOT! (and the really sad thing is that it's known that they survived the blast and were alive for awhile afterwards). Like the families would rather have a lot of money than to have their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers, boyfriends, etc., alive! NO amount of money could EVER make any of those family members feel better!

I just could not fucking believe this stupid bitch. How the hell can people be so heartless, thoughtless, and insensitive? Never mind that miners work in dangerous conditions just to ensure our comfort. Never mind that that damned mine was recently cited for over two HUNDRED safety violations and they knew it and still continued to send men down in what they must have known was a terribly dangerous situation. TWO HUNDRED SAFETY VIOLATIONS, people. But noooooo, it's all the fault of the miners.

We are all Americans, which means we're supposed to all be in this together. What kind of stupid bitch could even consider thinking like that? Before anyone asks, I have no clue as to what her political persuasion was, but it really doesn't matter. People of all political beliefs are capable of making some pretty stupid, senseless, thoughtless remarks. It was especially stunning because it was the first time I'd heard that kind of comment today, of all the times I've talked with people today on planes and in airports and restaurants, and I'm just amazed that anyone could even consider thinking what she was saying. Call me a Pollyanna if you want, but I'm just stunned and amazed. What a stupid heartless bitch! I sure hope she doesn't have much company in her thoughts.

[REP]

1. "You Like Your Electricity, Lady? You Helped Kill Them."

That's what I would have said. Or maybe I just would've slapped the shit out of the stupid bitch.

Agreeing to a job is not agreeing to die.

[liberalhistorian]

10. Exactly, well put!

It's like saying when a police officer or firefighter is killed, "well, hell, they chose the job, they could have done something else, so the hell with them." I will never, EVER understand that kind of mentality. And it usually comes from people who neve r have to dirty their hands with that kind of work and who benefit from the comforts such work provides.

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. That's exactly what I tell the asshats who say

"The troops in Iraq are volunteers!"

Yeah. They volunteered to get killed. :eyes:

[liberalhistorian]

16. That's an excellent

comparison! And I've heard that "well, they volunteered, so big deal" type of attitude as well; it always infuriates me.

[Texasgal]

2. I am so sorry that you were exposed to that...

Welcome to the "New" America... I guess it's every man for himself nowadays. :(

What a heartless woman, I hope she never has to go through the pain of losing a loved one.

[liberalhistorian]

22. The thing is, even when people

who think like her do experience the same thing, they usually don't relate it to how other people feel, it's only real as far as they and their own experiences are concerned. And that kind of personality cuts across all political and socioeconomic lines.

[Greyhound]

28. "I'm proud to be an Amerikan..."

:grr:

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. She's, no doubt, a heartless bitch and

probably a Bushite

I would have started screaming at her right then and there. Your patience was more than I would have given her.

[liberalhistorian]

11. I'm not so sure it was patience

as much as being too tired after such a long day, lol!

[Cathyclysmic]

4. Did you not get the memo?

Any misfortune that happens to poor people, it's ultimately their fault.:sarcasm:

[northzax]

7. not sure I'd classify professional miners as 'poor'

sure, the wprking conditions suck, and it's the third most dangerous job in the united states (behind commercial fishing and logging) and lifespan is shortened by environmental conditions, but the average miner makes about $47,000 a year, that's not 'poor'

[liberalhistorian]

13. That may not be "poor" per se,

but it sure as hell ain't enough for what they have to deal with and the danger and the ever-present danger of something happening. Not to mention the environmental conditions, etc. And if you have a family and children to support, it really isn't all that much considering what you deal with every day.

[Cathyclysmic]

17. True....

but to get paid 47000(before taxes I'm assuming)is not that much for the third dangerous job. A family of four qualifies for HEAP assistance with that income in Ohio. It is a shame that people have to make a decision to put their lives in danger to get by.

[Zookeeper]

19. Are you sure that NON-union miners make that much?

I would be very surprised if the owners of this mine, with all of the unaddressed safety violations, would have paid that high of a wage.

[liberalhistorian]

20. Unfortunately,

too many miners today are non-unionized, which wasn't always the case. Looks like they need to band together and become unionized again. Some of the deceased miners family members were saying just that today, that they needed to bring back the unions.

[northzax]

21. that's a national average

so obviously some people make more and some people make less. I have heard, and this is hearsay, that senior miners at this mine made in the neighborhood of 65-70 thousand. but that is complete hearsay.

[cmd]

47. My brother was making 27 dollars an hour in a non-union

He worked six days a week and could work a double any time he wanted. He wanted to get back to a union mine ASAP. There were far too many safety violations in the mine where he worked. Yes, the pay can be that good. There are more non-union than union mines hiring. The union mine he worked for closed many years ago. Unfortunately, he died before he was able to get out. His death was not mine related.

[liberalhistorian]

54. I have no problem at all with miners

making that much money, with the kind of conditions and the danger they have to endure. And your brother was right to want to work in a union mine, it's still dangerous but not as much and the workers are better off, especially as far as the correction of safety violations is concerne.

[Shell Beau]

27. This morning on GMA it said that they average $35,000 and with

their overtime (and lots of it) they can bring home up to $55,000. Which still isn't a lot for what they do. They deserve a lot more since they put their lives in so much danger and we really depend on their work.

[liberalhistorian]

29. Very true!

MOst miners have families and children to support, and that's not really that much, especially considering the very real danger they face every single time they go to work. And especially when mine executives who would never dirty their pretty little hands with such work, and who quite often ignore safety violations and do nothing to correct them, get so much more.

The mining industry really hasn't changed all that much in 150 years. It's still very dangerous, and mining officials are still robber baron SOBs who think only of the bottom line and getting as much money as they can and who think nothing of sending workers into very dangerous situations by not correcting safety violations. And miners are still grossly underpaid for the work they do.

[fishwax]

5. that's fucked up

jesus. that's why i don't talk to people. :grr:

seriously, though, i'd have had a hard time dealing with a response like that. I'm sorry you had to ...

[liberalhistorian]

9. I'm sorry I did, too,

a bad ending to a long hassle of a day. But like I said, one of the reasons this was so stunning was that every single other person I talked to today, no matter who they were, whether on planes, in airports or restaurants, was heartbroken for the miners and their families and angry that it happened. I felt like slapping her; fortunately, I was too tired after my very long day. And that really wouldn't have solved anything, either.

[CanuckAmok]

6. Nobody *wants* to be a miner.

It's low-skill, low pay, dangerous work. Most people who mine have few other options.

And if "Joe Miner" got another job somewhere, someone would take his place in the mine.

Do people like this woman live in a total fucking vacuum all the time?!

I'm not a religious person, but there's a saying that I seem to carry with me: "There but for the grace of God go I".

Basically, the only reason this woman isn't digging her own fucking coal out of the ground is because someone else is doing it for her.

[northzax]

8. actually, a lot of people want to mine

it's what their daddy did, and their grandaddy. With the increasing technology in the industry, mining is a higher skill job than twenty years ago. And the pay, while not as high as it should be, isn't awful.

[CanuckAmok]

12. true enough.

I had that generational aspect in the back of my mond when I was posting, but I didn't add it for some reason. My granddad and his father were coal miners in Wales.

But what I meant is, in the grand scheme of things, mining is a pretty shitty vocation, and most people would do something else in the same pay-scale if there were other options.

[liberalhistorian]

15. The father of my

long-time next-door neighbor in OH was a coal miner in PA for decades. His dad wanted him to go into it, just like his brothers were doing, and he had to tell his father a gentler version of no fucking way (the way he told it).

He even left PA because of the pressure and because he had no intention of getting sucked into mine work. That's not to say that he wasn't proud of his father and grandfather and brothers and that he didn't have pride in them and their work, he just had no intention of doing it himself.

[northzax]

18. you and I may agree that it is a shitty profession

but you know miners, they would take gross offense at that. They're some proud people up there in the hills.

[cmd]

48. Not really true

Not that many are willing to go underground. You can get a job in a non-union mine quite easily - and the pay is not bad. The mine my brother worked for was crying for workers. Not that many men and wormen can handle the job. My dad and one brother both worked underground. Another brother works at an above ground facility.

[Zookeeper]

23. As I watched Countdown's coverage of this mining disaster....

I was thinking that many Americans are barely aware that miners still exist. I lived on the West Coast for years, and I'm pretty sure that the native Californians I met have absolutely no sense of what those jobs or that culture is about.

The woman you talked with sounds like she'd be cold-heared under any circumstances, but, as far as the upper Midwest goes, I find that the folks I meet who are from the Dakotas or rural farming areas go completely blank when I talk about unions or manufacturing jobs. They really don't seem to understand the fact that some people grow up in a place where the opportunities are fairly limited to working for whatever industry "owns" the town.

But, yeah, I suppose it's the miner's fault for working there. Why can't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become Doctors or Lawyers or something? Then she could go dig her own coal.... :sarcasm:

[liberalhistorian]

24. See, that's the thing,

the people who think like her expect, even demand, the benefits enjoyed by the work of those she denigrates, but would never, ever consider doing such work themselves and they even look down on it. Infuriating and disgusting.

[MissMillie]

25. It never ceases to amaze me

how many people in this world speak without any forethought at all.

[Shell Beau]

26. Some people are so stupid. She has light in her freakin'

house b/c of those workers. Stupid ungrateful.... Ugh! :mad:

[DainBramaged]

30. I have one question, two parts

Did you call her on her statement?

If not why?

[liberalhistorian]

33. Yes, I did,

but I'm not sure it ever does any good with people like that. Their brains are tiny and their ears are totally plugged.

[DainBramaged]

35. As long as you did, it matters not if they listen

what matters is that they do not have the last word. As my signature line reads, fight or move over.

You done good.

[DS1]

31. You go shopping with your friends over at that other place?

:P ;-)

[fudge stripe cookays]

32. Never mind that...

in that area of the country there ARE very few other jobs. If you want to feed your family, you go into the mine.

It's historical. Grandfathers went into the mine, fathers went into the mine, sons go into the mine. They have no other choice.

I would have laid her out with the most nasty, spiteful thing I could have said, tired or not.

What a selfish bitch.

[China_cat]

38. I grew up in PA

on a family farm. But farming didn't pay all the bills so some went out to work. You had your choice of the steel mill, the railroad or the mine.

The steel mills are gone, the railroad might as well be and, in that part of WV, it's either the mines or running white water rafting trips in the summer.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

34. I thought it was gays and uppity negroes that were at fault.

:shrug: :sarcasm:

[UncleSepp]

39. All coal miners are black... it HAS to be their fault!

I don't get it either. People have gotten willfully callous and cruel these days, and the culture of responsibility seems to mean putting the responsibility at the lowest level and the authority at the highest. It's bizarre.

[liberalhistorian]

55. I think there have always been people like that,

it's just that nowadays they may feel it's okay to be open about expressing it.

[Deep13]

36. Psychologically insecure people need to believe...

...that people can only get hurt if it is their fault. It makes them think they can prevent being hurt themselves.

[liberalhistorian]

37. That's very true, and that's

largely where the infuriating "blame the victim" crap that we always hear from some people, even supposedly "intelligent" people in the news and politics and elsewhere in the public sphere, comes from.

[Zookeeper]

40. That's an excellent point and that insecurity is ripe for....

the Rethug's fear-mongering tactics. I am continually amazed at the degree of fear that motivates the Republicans I meet.

[Taverner]

41. Fucking Republicans

And I have no DOUBT she is one....I know people like this...people who also blame the soldiers in Iraq for their deaths.

[skygazer]

42. What a frigging moran

They chose to do it - you know, a lot of us out here in the real world DON'T choose our jobs. We take what we can find, what will pay the bills. I didn't CHOOSE to be a booze salesperson - it was the job that was available. It's not like we can trot right out and get a better job just because we want to. Yeah, right - "let me see your resume. Hmmm... It says here you were a coal miner for 15 years and now you want to work in this law firm. Uh, huh. And what are your qualifications, sir?"

[CBHagman]

43. It's an insult to dogs to call her a bitch.

She's definitely heartless.

[Ilsa]

44. I guess if someone had forced the miners to do that job which killed

them would have made the stupid bitch more sympathetic towards them? Not. People like her will always have an excuse for not empathizing with the plight of others.

[REDKING]

45. Stupid people.

You walk down the street you take a risk .
you go to the store,you take a risk.
you go to school,you take a risk.
Life is risk.
I am not American but to have those prescious hours thinking that they were ok only to find they were gone must have and will be hell for those poor people.
Losing a loved one is the worst thing to take.
She was an empty shell.Some people just dont get it, but take not comfort but assurance that one day she will find out just how it feels.

[xmas74]

46. I would write a LTTE about this exact experience.

It's a great way to shame her(if she is the kind of person who actually reads the newspaper) w/o even mentioning her name.
But that's just me.

[liberalhistorian]

52. I plan on doing just that,

and have been working on it today. I should be able to get it finalized and emailed by tomorrow.

[xmas74]

56. Good for you!

Gather the community in support and make silly people around you look selfish.

[Boojatta]

49. She could rephrase that to give it some rhythm and rhyme.

"well, they knew the risks when they took the job, maybe they shouldn't have even been working there in the first place."

She could sing it. Then she could keep on singing. She knows what happened to John Lennon, so she knows the risks of singing.

[liberalhistorian]

53. Zing!

Yes, she's too stupid to realize that there are risks to everything and that just because someone has a job that's riskier and more dangerous than others doesn't mean they deserve whatever happens to them.

[cwydro]

50. so.....

did you say any of that to her?

[salin]

51. sadly, given how much of this country still is fueled by Coal

have to wonder what this woman would do if there were only people 'smart' enough to follow her advice and not take the job - and no coal...