In the Trenches

This afternoon, after finagling my way to a lower price for my oil change, I immediately settled in the lobby of the Jiffy Lube in Lakewood to look at magazines. I settled on Newsweek.

When I was growing up, Newsweek was one of my favorite magazines. Well-designed, intelligent and interesting, it was somewhere where I would dream of working if I had advanced far enough in my journalism career. It’s a different magazine now – thinner, badly designed and forgetting about who the heck reads their articles.

And there I was, thinking about my husband, who is having a difficult time getting over his loss of confidence and lack of job, not knowing where to turn to. I think about the bills that we have to pay, the care that I take in what I put on my credit card and the fear that I face when it comes to how my husband and I are going to deal with our expenses.

Newsweek is probably still in some lofty building. But they seemed to have forgotten what it’s like in the trenches. It’s most obvious in a section that’s called “My Turn.” This used to be the section where normal people got to tell their stories, how they were fighting, how they were learning to live with whatever problem they were faced with. Now it’s replaced by “more important” people, like Bill Gates or the archbishop of Canterbury talking about whatever is important to them.

What is more crucial to our lives than the common man? Who shaped America, who helped drive change? Who really plays the most important role in our lives? You can say the American government, but I would say that if the Senate was anything like it is today, it’s not the case. I think the people come first, and then the Senate gets so scared out of its wits that they have to go through with things.

I think that, in today’s economy, the common man is more important than ever. We are the ones who are digging in the dirt, finding a way to survive despite the difficult times, while the wealthy are sitting far and away from this struggle, looking at it as simply observation. They just sit there, scratching their heads trying to figure out how to help us – when, in truth, many of us have found ways to help ourselves despite them.

I think that we are led to believe, as common people, that we really don’t have the power. We just have to sit back and let other people make decisions about our lives, and then be helpless and follow them no matter what.

Common people are better than this. We need to stand up and tell the world that we matter. We are important, and we are the ones who really make a difference. There is a quote: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Do you really think we would be if we just sat up in those fancy Senate offices just thinking?

I hope that journalism remembers that. Charles Kuralt , the American journalist, travelled this country telling the stories of regular human beings, finding the beautiful and fascinating stories in all of them. It was always a dream of mine that I would pursue that beautiful kind of journalism of loading up in a van, going to different places and meeting the ordinary person, yet find that they are more extraordinary than anyone thought. It is because of drive, determination and that ever-beautiful hope that exists in the heart of every American.

Meanwhile, like those regular Americans, I refuse to surrender. From the age of two, I learned that I had to fight for everything – even the ability to speak. I was born to fight it all despite everything. You will never see me give up. I want to fight for my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The truth of the matter is that I will always stand for the common man, no matter where that person is. It is a part of who I am.

So I salute the common man by giving a common recipe: deviled eggs. A part of me wonders if there is anything more American than this picnic food – and don’t say hamburger.

DEVILED EGGS

6 hard-boiled eggs
½ teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon dried garlic powder
1 teaspoon dill
Salt and Pepper
Paprika

Hard boil the eggs. Once cooled, peel them and slice each egg in half. Very gently, pop the yolk out of the white part into a small bowl and mash.

Combine the mustard, mayonnaise, garlic powder, dill and salt and pepper to taste in with the yolks. Mash and make sure they’re evenly combined. Put the yolk mixture back into the whites. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Quick Tip 1: Because the eggs should look pretty, you may want to make several extra hard-boiled eggs, just in case some explode during the cooking process.

Quick Tip 2: If you want them to look super-fancy, you can always use a piping bag to put the filling back in. If you don’t want to buy your own, take a heavy-duty plastic bag, put the filling in and cut off the tip.

Quick Tip 3: Feel free to play with your food. I’ve seen fillings of deviled eggs with goat cheese, minced celery or relish. The best thing I can suggest is to experiment and see what you like best.