College Grad: Indentured to Serve by Robalū Gibsun
Lord, forgive us our student loan debts, as we forgive our pre(debt)ors. And lead us not into high-priced higher education but deliver us from big banks that bind our generation. Amen. If “In God We Trust” is our scripture, how did we get cash-cropped out of the picture? Picture post-high school graduation: After 13 years of hard labor we proclaimed our emancipation. So we held our diplomas like slaves clenching limited edition prints of Amendment Thirteen. Suddenly, summer leaves and ALL ABOARD: the Underground Railroad to Opportunity. But my departure was delayed ‘cause I had the wrong numbers on my GPA. And my parents weren’t paid, so my ticket to freedom wasn’t free. ‘Til just my luck, Uncle Sam pulled up in a dented Chevy Venture with a taxi sign on the roof that spelled out: COLLEGE. He rolled down the window and spoke with a grin: “Neph! You’n think you can afford to roll with me? See, for a fixed rate on your liberty, I will loan you thousands of dollars you have never seen. With your degree, you can get you a high-paying job and make so much money your wallet will scream. You’ll be swimming in waves of green from sea to shining sea. Then you can buy you a big house, a Mercedes, and find you a wife to pop out 2.5 babies. You can diet, straighten your nappy hair, dye it, and then brace and bleach your crooked off-white teeth to get that picket fence smile like them stars on TV. And forget bonds, you can invest in your wants and neglect your needs. Then, as you sleepwalk in the chubby smog of your American Dream, you can
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