It just hit me another reason I don't like work (as in the institution of going to work) is that apparently you really have to watch what you say. I'm kind of used to watching what I say in the sense of not purposely hurting people's feelings...just not so much on topics. example, wages, ethics, religion, politics, and basically everything else people say you're not supposed to talk about at work, and yet when you talk these subjects inevitably come up.

I think I may have offended one of my co-workers, we were discussing affirmative action. (I think it's still needed, she (being white) doesn't think it's needed. I doubt she's ever been kicked out of a resturant for being white)

The offense happened when I pointed out that in our office almost all the higher paying jobs are filled by all white people. That's not to say we don't have blacks, asians, and a few hispanic people in the office, it's just I haven't seen anyone with a office with a view that isn't white and male. (there was a woman...and now she's gone with about 70 other people with the company) Houston has a very large black/Hispanic population. I think in a perfect world, the ethnic groups would be more proportionate with the population in the city.

Mostly I'm generalizing because I don't actually have stats and figures it's just what I see when I walk to the bathroom, get lunch in the lunchroom, and basically see who's coming and going. I could be completely wrong and our office does reflect our local population in terms of ethnic diversity...

Don't get me wrong, I know there are plenty of poor white people too, it's just I do think white people have an advantage over blacks and Hispanics when it comes to finding good jobs and getting a better education and the stereotypes aren't as negative for white people as they are for other ethnic minorities. I'm half hispanic, and I have been kicked out of a resturant because I was with my mom and brother and the owners didn't want mexicans eating their food. I'm lucky that I pass for white and can still kind of claim some benefits of being an ethnic minority (such as better shot of finanical aid, and grants/scholarships)

At this point, I think the main discriminating factor in america is poverty. If you're parents are poor you go to the crappy schools, with a lot of underachievers, and your odds of suceeding plummet to new lows every year. Parents who are poor don't have the money to help their child/children pay for college, they may not be educated enough to actually help their child/children study in for tests in middle school or high school (or they might be working two jobs and are never home), and it's just a cycle that continues.

I honestly think schools should be run like a communist system. All money is pooled into a central source and allocated equally to every school so even the schools in the low income areas of town have the same money as the schools in the richer parts of town. Schools with more kids would obviously need more money...but at this point I doubt this will happen.

Rich/middle class people have a vested interest in making sure their kids are getting the best education possible so they have a chance for a future and once you have the money...Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to what it would take to really make a change in how things are run in america and I can't help but think there are no more Martin Luther King's for our generation, and I have a feeling that maybe not many people really care about how bad things are going to be 100 years from now, or even 50 years from now)

I orginally intended to only point out that I'm not used to limiting what I talk about and it's really really hard not to voice my honest opinion about topics I feel passionate about. I'm going to have to work on this before it comes back to bite me in the ass. it's now way past my bedtime. night everyone.