This mother is an amazing support to her struggling son. While he is lucky to have a nurturing and gentle parent, it's not enough for this man's daily troubles as an indentured educated citizen. That's why we must radically restructure the system, so that young people (as well as everyone else) don't have to face insurmountable student loan debts. As for this particular story, the young man's hopes - let's call him R - were dashed recently. He will never be able to be of service to the U.S. as a meteorologist. He was told not to bother by an Air Force Squadron Commander who came to visit him at his lousy job as a sack boy at a grocery store. Why will he never have the opportunity to pursue this career, a career he spent years studying for in college? Well, he can thank his student loan sharks and that brutal, predatory system. So he spent all this time in school and for nothing.
Here's what R's mother wrote:
Cryn:
I had to email you today. I feel helpless, but I need to chat and only you understand.
You will remember my son, who has the degree in meteorology. We have been trying since his graduation in 2007 to find him a job. If you recall, the United States Air Force turned him away (although he got a 98 on his entrance exam, and he would have entered as an officer because of his degree) because of his student loan debt.
Well today a friend of my son's (who is also a meteorologist) had his Air Force Squadron Commander look him up at his grocery store job. R said he was very nice, but very honest too. He told R that he can quit applying for anything related to meteorology jobs in the Air Force, even as a civilian. Incidentally, meteorology jobs all are linked to the Air Force. Because he will be taken out of the list of possibles every time. Why is this the case? He has too much student loan debt.
I am so hurt for him, saddened, and furious, all at the same time. I don't know whom to turn, what to do, what to say . . . I am a mess. R worked so hard for his degree. There was frustration and doubt, worry and fears that he wouldn't get through it. But he did, and he proudly walked across that stage to received that worthless piece of paper. I know with this recent personal visit [from the Air Force Squadron Commander] that R will give up. He will see this as the final horrible truth the he will have to live with. And I don't know
He has gastroparesis and ulcers of the stomach now. He barely eats and has very few friends. He does go to a gym a couple of days a week. And maybe he will go to a bar and watch football, but otherwise my 27 year old is always home and hibernating in his basement apartment (our house). I am sorry. I just needed to vent.
This United States of America is a free country all right. Free to crush your fellow man. Free to make the rules up as you go. Free to treat the poor like paupers, the rich like royalty, and the middle class like slaves. Slavery didn't cease to exist, it only switched to a different class of people. The future is not good. Our children and grandchildren will be slaves to the rich.
This will never stop unless we die or can't take anymore and kill ourselves. I see the country as money driven and on a spiral to complete destruction, and it won't be but another 25-30 years before the only people existing will be the royalty and its slaves. College has become just a business to feed the ones at the top of the food chain. And feed them well.
I was concerned about R's devastation and his mothers concerns about what might happen to him after this conversation. Immediately I wrote her back and told her that if R were contemplating suicide to seek medical help (I've written on the topic of suicide before, and that post continues to receive responses from people). R's mother replied reassuringly:
I don't think R would ever do anything to harm himself. He lives with us and I am constantly monitoring his mood. Here nothing really gets past me because R wears his feelings on his shoulders.
Thanks for being there for me, Cryn. And thanks for all you have done and are still doing. I don't know if you realize how important your work is for some of us. Your work has become that miracle that we are all hoping and praying for. And I do pray for you. I pray that God will give you courage for the mission, strength for each day and restful nights for your body, mind and soul. I pray that your husband and family understand and support your efforts too. You are my friend, whom I have not met, but that I love very much.
I pray for R and R's mother, too. In fact, I pray for all of you, and I hope that my mission will result in a good outcome for every single indentured educated soul. I want you to know that your suffering is not in vain. Your suffering has not gone unnoticed, and it is my duty as a public servant to carry this burden and to fight for your rights. Let's thank R's mother for having the courage to share her story. Let's thank God for good mothers like her. Keep your son close.
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