Burn Out

I just spent the morning with a good friend who works endlessly for the Denver community, the disenfranchised in the country at large, and for teachers in DPS. One of my biggest takeaways in this interaction is the amount of work that others are willing to put upon the backs of people fighting for them because they are unwilling to stand up and do it themselves.

There are groups of you that don’t have time, resources, or agency to fight. Those are not the people that I am addressing.

I am really thinking more about the endless work that a lot of us do for Denver teachers. Whether it’s countless hours trying to get a good school board member elected or trying to get a fair contract, I find that there are a lot of people who are willing to talk about supporting these things, but they’re not willing to show up and do actual work to better their own lives. They sit in these pools of anger over the situation that they’re stuck in, but they’re not willing to take the time to lift up the mantle of the cause to maybe get something better for themselves.

I know, for the past two years, I have basically been working a part-time job on behalf of Denver public school teachers for no pay, and I’m generally pretty happy to do it. I just get really upset when people are accusatory to me about things that are happening, but they are unwilling to show up and are ignorant of the system at large. They are not helping. They are ready to say that we are not working hard enough for them on their behalf, but they’re unwilling to do anything to make a difference for themselves.

There are veterans who were in my place years ago, who have been worn out and don’t see the benefit of working. To them, I get it. The reason they were burnt out, though, was because everybody else was willing to sit back and let them be worn out.

My good friend I was with this morning is on the verge of that burn out. I’m getting ready to start a family, and am unwilling to work a part-time job on behalf of people who are not willing to work for themselves instead of spending time with my child. I am burning out.

The only way that anything will ever change is if we distribute the work more evenly. We can’t expect people to go on this way without occasionally helping with the burden on their shoulders.

To all my friends who are all talk and no action, it gets really old listening to you complain about things that you are unwilling to do anything about. I used to be you, and I know all of your excuses for not participating are useless and counterproductive and only make you feel more helpless.

To those of you who are working for people who are unwilling to step up for themselves, I appreciate you. I appreciate you are carrying the weight of many on your shoulders with a lot of criticism that you aren’t carrying it right.

I know in society there’s a lot to fight for, and the things I choose to fight for or my friend chooses to fight for may not be your cause. You are fighting for something else that is equally or more important. If you’re one of those people, I’m not addressing you either.

I am addressing the average person who engages in no way in fighting to make the situation better but chooses to sit back and just be pissed that things aren’t working out the way they want them to. If you’re one of those people, shut up or get off your ass. Other people are dedicating their free time and lives to making the situation for you better with only your criticism to motivate them. You are part of the problem. You are one of the people to blame for your circumstances. Your parasitic ways are draining everyone. It is time for you to make a change.