I am not a number
Don't treat me average or less than
You wouldn't like it if
someone did it to you....

We are people too
with problems and families and feelings.
So soon you forget
you were once like me
and how it felt to be in need.

So defensive you are
so judgemental in how you speak
does it ever cross your mind
you could be talking down to
someone who could be
smarter than you,
or your equal at least.

The slide stays the same
she never asks us what we need
or where we are in our work search.

It is just assumed that none of us
have done anything
so we all
have to listen
to everything.

And my condition has me so irritable
and aggravated that I have no patience
to sit through chatter and assumption.

I find I have little tolerance
any longer for being
lumped in to a group
where i am not the same.
Who do you really see
when you look at me.