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stevedeshazer

(21,653 posts)
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:30 PM Jan 2012

Hands.

Look at them. Yours, and those of others.

Mine are pretty beat up. I'm pushing sixty, and now they don't always do what I command them to do. And my legs? Well, that's a whole 'nother post.

I grew up in a farming family. Loggers, too. I saw hands missing fingers many times. No one saw this as strange, just a part of life in our world.

I still lift heavy shit, rain or shine or snow and ice. My hands have aged, just like the rest of me. I can still do it; it just takes longer after 45-50 years of work than when I was perfectly invulnerable at age 12-14.

My hands ache some days, and so do my knees and ankles. My doctor has helped me a great deal with medication and therapy. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have health insurance that is still marginally affordable. And I think I can retire in five years. I am very lucky.

Now, take a look at Mitt Romney's hands. Newt Gingrich's hands. Hell, the hands of any softy Republican or Democrat in Congress, the legion of DC lobbyists, and the velvety soft hands of the pundits who make big bucks to tell us all what we think.

Their soft hands remind me of those of the short, defensive character Curley in "Of Mice and Men".

Curley wore a glove filled with Vaseline to keep his hand soft for his wife.

Romney is a softy. He's never had to work a real goddamned day in his life in actual labor.

I wish I had a picture of Willard Romney's soft hands...hands that stole the dreams of many honest hard-working folks like you and me.

I respect blisters, and 30-hour work weeks going forward.

With hardened hands,

Steve.

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Hands. (Original Post) stevedeshazer Jan 2012 OP
K&R !!! n/t RKP5637 Jan 2012 #1
Let me add to that the abused hands of people who work a computer flamingdem Jan 2012 #2
Did that for a while, too. stevedeshazer Jan 2012 #4
have to say I agree with you. I hate those soft hands with perfect nails. Alameda Jan 2012 #3
respect for work is the number one thing missing in this country. limpyhobbler Jan 2012 #5
K&R! highplainsdem Jan 2012 #6
love hands... handmade34 Jan 2012 #7
See? You got it. stevedeshazer Jan 2012 #8
It's not just my hands that are beat-up. GoCubsGo Jan 2012 #9
yes handmade34 Jan 2012 #10
K&R.... unkachuck Jan 2012 #11
Fond memories of hands. Strong, firm hands, some with motor grease around the nails. patrice Jan 2012 #12

flamingdem

(39,313 posts)
2. Let me add to that the abused hands of people who work a computer
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:34 PM
Jan 2012

all day without and sometimes even with the right ergonomics. Carpal Tunnel and other musculo-skeletal problems are becoming rampant.

stevedeshazer

(21,653 posts)
4. Did that for a while, too.
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:36 PM
Jan 2012

Farming, hauling, and office work.

Romney has no clue what it's like for any full-time worker.

Alameda

(1,895 posts)
3. have to say I agree with you. I hate those soft hands with perfect nails.
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:36 PM
Jan 2012

they say a lot...like they don't actually use their hands for actual constructive things.

GoCubsGo

(32,083 posts)
9. It's not just my hands that are beat-up.
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:45 PM
Jan 2012

I have a ton of scars on my arms and legs from run-ins with thorny vegetation, and a some insect bites, too. Also, big scars on both shoulders where the heavy pack I had to carry rubbed them raw on several occasions. And, I have several deformed toe nails from spending several summers walking all day in ill-fitting boots. Those pampered princes wouldn't last a day in my old jobs.

 

unkachuck

(6,295 posts)
11. K&R....
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 10:53 PM
Jan 2012

"...hands that stole the dreams of many honest hard-working folks..."

....and why it that our fate, future and livelihood rests in soft-hands? Why are those of us with callused-hands, who work hard for a living, second-class citizens in this supposed democracy?

....hands that steal dreams should be crushed by public outrage....

patrice

(47,992 posts)
12. Fond memories of hands. Strong, firm hands, some with motor grease around the nails.
Tue Jan 31, 2012, 11:14 PM
Jan 2012

Motor grease from doing ALL of our own car repairs, in addition to his paycheck job . . .

Sun-browned hands, black hair at thick wrists, clutching motorcycle grips, pulling the front break, twisting the throttle...

Mom's hands alternately pounding and then smoothing bread dough, for 6 loaves, 2 times a week. Or caked with mixing flour and eggs for noodles that would dry in sheets on wooden clothes-drying racks on the back porch . . .

My dad's hand with a crushed thumb-nail, purple black, swollen; without a word, he quickly & expertly used a drill to make a hole to relieve the pressure, then wrapped the palm & thumb in strips of torn dish-towel and took us fishing . . .

Powerful hands full of life and doing,

Not the empty hands of a hollow idle man who mouths that others do, in commands from the sound of silence.

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