Inspiration

I look for that everyday...inspiration. Somedays I feel like I am just muddling
through with no purpose. That is when I look for what I have to be thankful for.
That's what I did everyday when I had cancer....find what I have to be thankful
for.....simple things, like a home, food, job, family. Look around and see
homeless people or people with over-whelming problems, or illnesses. There is
always something to be thankful for...even just a little flower, or a sunny day,
noticing a majestic tree. I know, sometimes it's easier than other times.
That's when I'm thankful to be home and have good food, watch a show I like...
Home makes me happy, I create my own paradise there and expect others to respect
me and my space.

Today, glad to still be home....I came in yesterday eve and too late to attend
a ladies get-together from my church.....I needed nurturing, good food, and rest.
Surprisingly, I am still home this morn, so again, nurturing me....came back to
bed with a good book and coffee and juice. I want to share something with you
that I find inspiring, and I will fell you why.

Reading Barbara Walters' AUDITION, about 1954 McCarthy hearings which twenty-two
people were watching. "It was high drama.". ...."leveling charges at everyone who
came into their sights" (she was talking about Roy Cohn, but this instance was...).

"He was in the midst of impugning a young associate of the army's chief counsel,
Joseph Welch, when Welch uttered the famous words that triggered McCarthy's downfall-
--'Until this moment, Senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness,'
he said. 'Have you no sense of decency , sir. At long last, have you left no sense
of decency.'---and the gallery in the Senate hearing room burst into applause. So,
unseen, did many in the television audience and others wept happy tears. It was an extraordinary moment. It was if the bully everyone was terrified of were suddenly
stripped naked and people realized there was nothing left to fear. McCarthy's
popularity immediately began to plummet, and his reign of ideological terror was
over. When the hearings ended inconclusively, Roy (Cohn) resigned but McCarthy was
soon censured by the Senate. He would die, three years later, of alcoholism-related
hepatitis."

My point is this. We, as railroad men, (I know, I know), have been given a voice
through this project I have undertaken in your behalf. Let me be your megaphone,
so-to-speak, to carry forward a fight against the disease of railroad, in which
you are belittled, ridiculed, and threatened. This is 2011 people, and time for
American railroad to catch up with the times. Yes, we have a good paying job we
do not want to lose, but as Americans, we also have freedom of speech. You can
remain anonymous, and I fear not to carry forward your voices.

My plan begins with reporting of facts of daily train activities in which we
are exhausted by poor management decisions, including bad tracks and equipment.
How you are called and handled by CMS, dispatchers, yardmasters, corridor managers,
and others MATTERS. Come forth today to understand you are not just a number, your
opinion, and facts involving your job, are important, so that conclusively, our
voices will be heard and utilized to bring about positive change. Look for notices
and info in the yard office. Use the mailbox I have provided at Ney yard. Call me
or use my email. Jack Luge is also graciously working to support this project.

Thanks and have a great day.
Mitzi Gopffarth