“I did everything I was supposed to and I have nothing to show for it.”

It’s not the arrests that convinced me that “Occupy Wall Street” was worth covering seriously. Nor was it their press strategy, which largely consisted of tweeting journalists to cover a small protest that couldn’t say what, exactly, it hoped to achieve. It was a Tumblr called, “We Are The 99 Percent,” and all it’s doing is posting grainy pictures of people holding handwritten signs telling their stories, one after the other.

More at the source.

Guys, listen. Here’s the deal.

I love you guys with every shred of my hard-left leaning heart. But I think you might be doing something wrong. Here is one thing that can help you.

Tomorrow, wear a polo and khakis

Seriously. polos and khakis. Every time you guys DO finally get some fucking press, it’s a scrawny dude with dreads in a ratty t-shirt. You’re going big here, dress it. Tomorrow, Polo shirt and Khakis.

Why? Because you need to get the right-leaning equivalent of me on your side. I’m 35 right now. I understand where the hippy thing comes from. I get it as well as a guy who’s 35 can. My Counterparts do not. They think you are scummy druggies on welfare and when they see on tv a bunch of people who they think are S.D’s on W, they root for the cops to hit you again.

Speaking of the cops, Who do you think they’ll mace first? SD’s on W, or a guy in khakis and a polo? Seriously, it’s fucking cop camouflage. And if they DO come for you. When people at home see PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE THEMgetting abused by police… That’s when shit changes.

Seeing protesters get beat up means nothing because protesters get beat up all the time. Therefore, don’t look like a protester! This connects you to the person watching and opens them to your side!

So for serious. Do it. You’re almost about to tip this thing over. Polos and khakis. Cop Camo + target audience = Shave, shower and polos and khakis.

TL;DR: Polo shirt and Khakis = dress code for nyc protests tomorrow.

Do it.

Edit: Going to bed soon, one more thing before I turn it over to all of you.

Please spread this as much as you can. Professionalism will help push this thing over the edge. You have labor pushing you. National Media is starting to wake up to you. You’re almost there. Keep pushing.

Think: Business Casual Friday. Don’t play it up like the Billionaires for healthcare. You’re just a guy, going to work in this big office building here.

Even if you don’t think that you SHOULD be judged on appearances (which I do agree), You have to realize that you ARE. Fight the appearance fight another day. Polos and khakis.

Do it.

Source: reddit.com/to_all_occupy_wall_street_participants_here_is/

A graphical representation of my feelings.

I suppose I shouldn’t go into too much detail. In a nutshell: they’d been putting me under an insane amount of stress for a couple years now. Last week my employer went out of her way to make sure I felt worthless, and that was the final straw. I called a meeting with the owners. Let them know I was very unhappy working for them, laid out all the problems I had. Asked that they let me work my web design position remotely, or let me go. The following day they sent me an email saying they were letting me go.

You’d think I’d be angry about being fired. Or freaked out about not having my main source of income. In all honesty (at this point at least!) I feel relieved. I feel free! When working there, every day I’d wake up miserable and dreading the day. That kind of thing wears on you after awhile, and I know I was no longer myself in the rest of my life. I felt trapped. I had sought out a new job off and on for a long time, with no luck.

I am still planning to go back to school in the fall, try to finish out a Bachelor’s Degree. Right now I’m trying to focus on my freelance work to hold me over and continue to hone my skills. If a good employer comes along and expresses an interest in hiring me, I’m all for it. I’ve wanted to be a “location-independent” web designer for a long time, so now that I have the time and dedication to put into it, we shall see what happens!