Cursing Mayor Mike; Out of the Good Times and Into the Bad

Well mark another one done—34 years. Happy anniversary, babe. Out of all the couples we started our marriage journey with, we are the only ones left standing.

I guess we took those vows seriously because here we are 34 years later and I’ve got those “for richer or poorer” and “in good times and bad” ringing in my ears.

Unfortunately this year, we moved back into the poorer side and landed in the badlands. We can thank the city of Dallas and Mayor Mike for that.

We never, ever expected, planned or dreamed of being rich. We just worked hard at our regular jobs (my husband as a Dallas police officer and I as a public school teacher).

We both took on extra jobs, kept our promises, paid our bills, served our communities, raised two kids and eked out a reasonable living. We planned a future where we could live our golden years with some semblance of dignity and comfort.

But here we are—our pension money frozen, our benefits cut, our financial security zapped into oblivion and a trail of one broken promise after another by the city of Dallas.  Better Call Saul.

Make no mistake. The Dallas police and fire pension systemisn’t fixed, and those 10,000 active and first responders and their families are still broken. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

You know, we spent our lives like a lot of other first responders never really expecting much.  All we ever really expected and wanted in our retirement years was to travel, see our kids and not worry about money.

Ok, so maybe my wants were a bit more extravagant than my husband’s.

Go ahead and call me excessive and greedy: I just want to be able to walk into Central Market every three or four months and buy some of the fancy food there like the rich folks do without worrying about the cost.  (You know, like Mayor Mike and his crew of cronies.) Heck, I'd settle for just being able to buy a steak at my local grocery store without having to worry about my grocery bill.

Instead, life seems to have come full circle—and not in a good way.  I see my future days mirroring my college days where I subsisted on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and boxed macaroni and cheese.

But on this day, the day of my 34^th anniversary, I will still count my blessings. I am blessed that my husband and I have each other through these tough times. I am certain we will endure, but I have to admit, it’s not exactly my idea of the circle of life.

And for that, even on this day, I curse Mayor Mike and the city of Dallas every single day.

#ThanksForNothingMayorRawlings #StopSpreadingLies #BackThePension #ThePensionAintFixed