30k

Nope, not how much money I'm making (I wish!). I'm currently 30,000 feet above the ground typing this blog from the airplane as I fly home from the ATL. I'm blogging on a plane because I can and I think it's cool.

I have never been so excited to sleep in my own bed.

I went through lots of training this weekend to begin my Year of National Service. Today I swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic as a VISTA member. We (a subdivision of Americorps- think domestic Peacecorps) take the same oath as the Military. Someone actually asked as we were about to stand and swear in if saying these words made us the first line of defense in case of a national emergency. Come on. It's called common sense. Amidst all the talk of poverty and capacity building this week, did you spend even 2 minutes in a firing range? No? Well that probably means that you won't have to stand on the beach as Al Qaeda floats up. Can you tell how frustrated I was? I'll continue this vent after we land-- holy short flight, batman!

On the ground now.

Let me preface this by saying; I understand that talking about poverty from varied perspectives, especially when you're supposed to be working towards reducing it, is important. I also had a great facilitator (Sylvia, who I'm absolutely positive is NOT hurting for money by any measure). But when you are trying to convince us of the truth behind certain rhetoric, there are rules.

For instance, you can't be totally hypocritical. The motto of the week was to be "Efficient and Effective." I'm going to say it, they could have done this whole training online. As a matter of fact, we did do it online, we just did it all again in person! We had one session that I felt like wasn't review, and was something I could actively apply to my work experience. It was good. I learned something. I would have appreciated more like it, if we were really going to have a training that lasted an entire week. Imagining what the Federal Government spent on this training...I don't even want to think about where that money could have gone.

I did meet some great people who will be affecting change in the next 12 months. Here comes my soapbox (just for a line or two). We, as a nation, are facing harsh realities about our economy and the ability to make things different. The 150 people who were at the training this weekend will make changes. They may not be huge, or noticed by everyone, but there will be constructive, positive changes, nonetheless.

Climbing down now, so that I can get to the forehead-slapping moments.

• One woman in my group referred to welfare as "entitlements." When the group facilitator stopped her and asked her to think about why her words might be considered offensive, she didn't understand at all.

• After she explained AGAIN why someone might take offense to welfare being called "entitlements" the facilitator asked "everyone understand what I'm saying?" A woman sitting off to the side, who missed the point on multiple occasions, says "Yeah, it's bad to live off of the government." Sigh, really? Did we not just spend two whole days talking about how you can't make sweeping statements or judgments? WERE YOU IN THE SAME ROOM I WAS FOR THE LAST TWENTY MINUTES?!

• Another woman INSISTED that education was not a factor influencing poverty (her evidence was she's "seen people with college degrees in the shelter"). Ok, I understand that every situation is unique, and I'm the last person to guarantee that a degree = a job, But seriously? If you cannot read, it makes it pretty hard to earn more that minimum wage. If you didn't graduate from high school, it's hard to become an executive.

• One girl had all the trigger words and idealisms. This is going to be a hard year for her. While I think that people who stay positive do better at this job, a healthy level of realism can help in avoiding frustration. You can't expect quoting your college professor all day to get you through a year of service to a rural, undereducated community.

In sum, the training had pros and cons, ups and downs, helpful moments and wasteful moments. It was an experience to kick off a year of experiences. Deep breath: here. we. go.