Humble Beginnings

 

Now, I’m the last person to try and defend the non-intellect AOC has displayed before, during, and after her election. However, I see some trends we conservatives are using when describing her, and it isn’t right.

Actually, it’s also on the left, but let’s bring it up. I see articles about how this “bartender” ended up getting elected. My personal disdain for her aside, why imply someone who was “merely” a bartender can’t represent her district? Next, you’ll be saying a Manhattan real estate billionaire can’t be President.

My point is we should not disparage the previous occupations of elected officials. Don’t you want accomplished citizens to leave the private sector (briefly, I hope) and represent us in office?

My very first job was at age 16, cleaning hubcaps at Jet Car Wash in Raleigh. After that, I worked for a lawn care company, then UPS senior year as a package sorter before graduating and going to college. Even then, I worked as a cashier-stocker for a friend’s grocery store after my sophomore year at NC State, as well as for my neighbor who owned an electrical contracting company. There are times I think I’d make a damn good representative in the House, but my love of sanity, retirement, and reality know better.

As for bartending, I’m acquainted with one bartender who became a millionaire. He now owns a bar and several others (along with his wife). The bottom line? Let’s not knock the former occupations of the opposition’s people.  It makes us look stupid, as well as too good to represent anyone…

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  1. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’m a big fan of the video game Age of Empires (AOE) and especially its expansion pack, Age of Empires:

    Is that the Matrix one about the Napoleonic wars?

    • #31
  2. GFHandle Member
    GFHandle
    @GFHandle

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.  

    • #32
  3. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    I also remember reading that her father was/is an architect, which I thought had decent compensation. But I’ll admit that the situation is probably more complex then that.

    • #33
  4. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    it’s a classic I still find myself returning to.

    Call me a crazy optimist but… I don’t think the same will be said of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

    After Obama (twice) and Trump, I’ve given up on guessing what and who Americans will vote for. I feel very out of touch with my country these days.

    • #34
  5. Freeven Member
    Freeven
    @Freeven

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Freeven (View Comment):
    I’m a big fan of the video game Age of Empires (AOE) and especially its expansion pack, Age of Empires:

    Is that the Matrix one about the Napoleonic wars?

    That doesn’t ring a bell.

    The AOE series was developed by Ensemble Studios. 

    • #35
  6. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Freeven (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):
    I don’t think we should call her “AOC.”

    Maybe we could call her aoc.

    I prefer we not talk about her at all, but it seems we must.

    I can’t get used to calling her AOC, however. I’m a big fan of the video game Age of Empires (AOE) and especially its expansion pack, Age of Empires: The Conquerors, which will always be AOC to me. It’s an older game now, but it’s a classic I still find myself returning to.

    I’ve been playing CKII lately . . . maybe I’m thinking of Louis C.K. . . .

    • #36
  7. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    Yes, her actual background challenges her “working-class” roots.  Still, she was a bartender . . .

    • #37
  8. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Stad (View Comment):

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    Yes, her actual background challenges her “working-class” roots. Still, she was a bartender . . .

    So if I’m ever challenged to say something good about her I can.

    I’d be interested in someone asking her questions about it though. Just to see.

    • #38
  9. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    I agree with your stated point, but she has degrees from prestigious universities in Economics and International Relations. Yet has never had a job in a field remotely related to her fancy-pants education. Presumably she was incapable of getting one. Citing her bartending is not a knock on bartending – it’s a knock on her inability to find useful employment related to her education while she lectures us on topics supposedly related to her education.

    [And she routinely demonstrates her incompetence and ignorance in the very fields of her prestigious university degrees.]

     Economists were created to make  meteorologists look good so she was better to be a bartender.

    • #39
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    As a bartender, did she report all her tips to the IRS?

    • #40
  11. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    As a bartender, did she report all her tips to the IRS?

    She probably reported what the IRS said she had to report.

    • #41
  12. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    Yes, her actual background challenges her “working-class” roots. Still, she was a bartender . . .

    So if I’m ever challenged to say something good about her I can.

    I’d be interested in someone asking her questions about it though. Just to see.

    It would been interesting to find out if she was a good bartender or not . . .

    • #42
  13. Thejokewasonme Member
    Thejokewasonme
    @

    Stad (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    Yes, her actual background challenges her “working-class” roots. Still, she was a bartender . . .

    So if I’m ever challenged to say something good about her I can.

    I’d be interested in someone asking her questions about it though. Just to see.

    It would been interesting to find out if she was a good bartender or not . . .

    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one.  I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    • #43
  14. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Stad (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):

    Stad, I think you are right. As one who has a small interest in a couple of restaurants a good bartender can be a key to a good business. Perhaps she was a good one, who knows. Her looks probably helped.

    It’s too bad that her working class kind of job didn’t give her any real empathy for working class folks and the dismal plight her Socialist Democrat Allies have driven them into with their nutcase solutions. Perhaps she had too many shooters too many times and fried her brain. Or did too many drugs. (An occupational hazard of bartenders in hipster joints.)

    Michael Knowles is from the same state as the lady. He says her neighborhood was very upscale. She is no working class hero.

    Yes, her actual background challenges her “working-class” roots. Still, she was a bartender . . .

    So if I’m ever challenged to say something good about her I can.

    I’d be interested in someone asking her questions about it though. Just to see.

    It would been interesting to find out if she was a good bartender or not . . .

    heard that if a drunk guy used a platinum card she would nationalize his account to bring vodka to the working class. 

    • #44
  15. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):
    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one. I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    I can see it now:

    Customer (taking a seat at the bar): Whiskey please, and make it a double.

    AOC: Oh, your white privilege makes you think you’re entitled to a double, huh?

    Customer: Uh . . . I’m paying for it.

    AOC: Sure. With money you stole from the poor, no doubt.  Don’t you care about the downtrodden, or do you vote Republican to line your pockets with filthy lucre?

    Customer: Lady, I just want a dri—

    AOC: “Lady?” You misogynistic, capitalist pig!  Get out!  [splashes water in his face]

    • #45
  16. Thejokewasonme Member
    Thejokewasonme
    @

    Stad (View Comment):

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):
    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one. I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    I can see it now:

    Customer (taking a seat at the bar): Whiskey please, and make it a double.

    AOC: Oh, your white privilege makes you think you’re entitled to a double, huh?

    Customer: Uh . . . I’m paying for it.

    AOC: Sure. With money you stole from the poor, no doubt. Don’t you care about the downtrodden, or do you vote Republican to line your pockets with filthy lucre?

    Customer: Lady, I just want a dri—

    AOC: “Lady?” You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    You might add: AOC: “Lady?” Look at me.  My eyes are up here!  You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    • #46
  17. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    Stad (View Comment):

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):
    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one. I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    I can see it now:

    Customer (taking a seat at the bar): Whiskey please, and make it a double.

    AOC: Oh, your white privilege makes you think you’re entitled to a double, huh?

    Customer: Uh . . . I’m paying for it.

    AOC: Sure. With money you stole from the poor, no doubt. Don’t you care about the downtrodden, or do you vote Republican to line your pockets with filthy lucre?

    Customer: Lady, I just want a dri—

    AOC: “Lady?” You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    Okay, this should become a thing: political anecdotes about her bartending days. Well done.

    • #47
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):
    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one. I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    I can see it now:

    Customer (taking a seat at the bar): Whiskey please, and make it a double.

    AOC: Oh, your white privilege makes you think you’re entitled to a double, huh?

    Customer: Uh . . . I’m paying for it.

    AOC: Sure. With money you stole from the poor, no doubt. Don’t you care about the downtrodden, or do you vote Republican to line your pockets with filthy lucre?

    Customer: Lady, I just want a dri—

    AOC: “Lady?” You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    Okay, this should become a thing: political anecdotes about her bartending days. Well done.

    It would make a great SNL skit.  Well, in the old days . . .

    • #48
  19. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Thejokewasonme (View Comment):
    Based upon who she is today, I wouldn’t find her a good one. I suspect little change in her personality from then until now.

    I can see it now:

    Customer (taking a seat at the bar): Whiskey please, and make it a double.

    AOC: Oh, your white privilege makes you think you’re entitled to a double, huh?

    Customer: Uh . . . I’m paying for it.

    AOC: Sure. With money you stole from the poor, no doubt. Don’t you care about the downtrodden, or do you vote Republican to line your pockets with filthy lucre?

    Customer: Lady, I just want a dri—

    AOC: “Lady?” You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    You might add: AOC: “Lady?” Look at me. My eyes are up here! You misogynistic, capitalist pig! Get out! [splashes water in his face]

    I like it!

    • #49
  20. kelsurprise, drama queen Member
    kelsurprise, drama queen
    @kelsurprise

    Stad (View Comment):
    Okay, this should become a thing: political anecdotes about her bartending days.

    “Hey, uh, AOC, your drawer was short tonight, again.” 

    “Well, we decided we should be paid what we’re worth and not how little we’re desperate enough to accept.”

    “That’s . . . not really your call.  You don’t own this place.  I do.”

    “Yeah, and while you’re just sitting there on your trillion dollars, we do all the work.”

    “I  . . . don’t have a trill . . . you know what, forget that — the point is, your bank needs to tally with the sales during your shift.  Period.  That’s the only way this place is going to stay in business and provide you all with jobs.” 

    “Well, that may be factually correct but it’s not morally right.”

    “Okay, you’re fired.” 

    “It’s because I’m a woman, isn’t it?”

    • #50
  21. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kelsurprise, drama queen (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):
    Okay, this should become a thing: political anecdotes about her bartending days.

    “Hey, uh, AOC, your drawer was short tonight, again.”

    “Well, we decided we should be paid what we’re worth and not how little we’re desperate enough to accept.”

    “That’s . . . not really your call. You don’t own this place. I do.”

    “Yeah, and while you’re just sitting there on your trillion dollars, we do all the work.”

    “I . . . don’t have a trill . . . you know what, forget that — the point is, your bank needs to tally with the sales during your shift. Period. That’s the only way this place is going to stay in business and provide you all with jobs.”

    “Well, that may be factually correct but it’s not morally right.”

    “Okay, you’re fired.”

    “It’s because I’m a woman, isn’t it?”

    The account of this conversation may not be factually correct, but it’s morally right. 

    • #51
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