Shut 'er down!

So at this point it looks pretty likely that I will be out of work (at least for a little while) at the end of the day. And despite what commenters over at the Strib might think, it will not be a "paid vacation". It is amazing to me the number of people who have deluded themselves into thinking that State workers are the enemy in this budget battle. So many of the commenters are exclaiming, "Shut it all down. It won't hurt me." They have this "that'll learn 'em" attitude which I just don't understand. In the one breath, they are bitching about greedy people looking for handouts and and in the same breath, bitching about leeches feeding off "my hard-earning money". Yet encouraging a shutdown which will require thousands of people to apply for unemployment. Apparently, they are the only people who actually work hard. They bleat, "I don't used/need any of the State's services." Uh, if you leave your house, you use State services, asswipe. Do you have a MN state drivers license or ID? Is your car titled or registered in the state? Do you drive on the highway to get to your much-more-important private sector job? Those are just a few of the areas where, yeah, you kinda do use State services. There are private businesses that do business with the state which may have to raise prices or cut services they provide because they are losing income because of the shutdown. The way these commenters talk, the only thing the State is good for is handing out welfare checks to undeserving, greedy liberals who don't want to work. The state is just good for nothing. One guy whines that he didn't get a reminder about renewing his tabs. So the state needs to babysit you to remind you to do what you're already know needs to be done? Newsflash: those reminder cards are a courtesy. Not a requirement. So many of them talk about personal responsibility, but so many of their complaints about the failures of the state are about what the state isn't doing for them. It's so infuriating that people act like we individual State workers not only don't matter, but some of them act like we don't exist. A shutdown is gonna do a hell of a lot more than "teach the legislature a lesson". What am I as someone who will be shut out of work in a down economy suppose to learn from this? The lessons learned will be a lot of people struggling to pay bills who will then cut spending in other areas and that is gonna effect businesses who are gonna lose out on those funds. There's a trickle down affect (remember that little phrase?).

This rant has rambled on for long enough. I did this to myself by venturing over to the comments section. I just get so incredibly angry when people look at those guys in suits at the Capitol like they are the only ones this will impact.