PeonNation Chapter 1: What is A Peon?

Now I understand that when someone is called or consider himself or herself a peon, they usually do not wear this moniker as a badge of honor. According to Dictionary.com, their definition says:

peon· [pee-uh n, pee-on]
1. (in Spanish America) a farm worker or unskilled laborer; day laborer.
2. (formerly, esp. in Mexico) a person held in servitude to work off debts or other obligations.
3. any person of low social status, esp. one who does work regarded as menial or unskilled; drudge.
4. a laborer who is obliged to do menial work [syn: drudge]. (This one's a keeper.)

Even Good ole Noah Webster gave his take on what a peon is by defining it as "a person in compulsory servitude to a master for the working out of an indebtness."

Well, there you have it, guys who are well educated and probably well paid that put down definitions of words and one of the designers of the constitution telling me what a peon is. You have got to be kidding me! These guys haven't even scratched the service. I think the best description of what a peon is all about comes from one of the greatest peons of our times, Mr. Al Bundy. When Librarian, Ms. DeGroot, confronts Al about a late book. Al shares these elegant words to her, to paraphrase:

"So you think I'm a loser. Just because I have a stinking job that I hate and a whole city that curses the day I was born. Well that may mean loser to you, but let me tell you something. Every morning when I get up, have my watered down Tang and still-frozen Pop Tart, get in my car with no upholstery, no gas and six more payments to fight traffic just for the privilege of putting cheap shoes on the cloven hooves of people like you. I'll never play football like I thought I would, and I'll never know the joy of driving without a bag on my head. But I'm not a loser. 'Cause despite it all, me and every other guy who'll never be what he wanted to be, are still out there, being what we don't wanna be, forty hours a week, for life. And the fact that I haven't put a gun to my mouth makes me a winner!"

Now that's preaching there! In order to understand the real meaning of true peonnism, you have to live it, breathe it and embrace it. This is what I have done. It is my blessing. It is my curse. Who am I? I am Mr. P. President of the PeonNation.

During my adult life, I have always been a peon. No matter where I went, no matter what I did, I have always felt that I what I was doing was unimportant and insignificant. Man, do I have an uncanny gift of perception. Like every other person in denial, I would always try to fight it, trying to figure out a way to feel a sense of accomplishment or trying to figure a way to make a significant impact. After so many attempts, I have learned to come to terms with my peon pinnacle. Now some might think being a peon would be a pathetic state. However, I have also found that it does have some benefits. Really! It's not all that bad as long as you play the peon card to its full potential. Let me explain.

Being a peon is not just a status thing. Well, it is and it isn't. Status is a factor, but it is not the main factor. There are so many aspects when it comes to being a peon, but I want to stress that not all characteristics hold negative connotations. Like everything else that dwells on this rock we call the planet Earth, there are different classifications and degrees of peons as you will learn as you visit the PeonNation. For now, I want to look at the similarities that peons have and hopefully shed some positive aspects on the concept of peonnism.

First, peons are known to be genuine. They have no reason to try and impress anybody or pretend to be something they are not. That's how the acceptance comes into play. Once a peon comes to term with their peonnicity, it just becomes a lot easier in so many levels. Responsibilities become fewer and fewer along with the stress. All the burden and work that goes into being important or trying to be important are gone from your life. Doesn't that sound wonderful? It has come to the point that so many people are trying to win the rat race that they are losing the human race. Profound, huh? Besides, what is so great winning a rat race unless you're Mickey Mouse?

Peons are also a dependable brood. Ask a person of importance to do something, what do you think they'll do? I would bet money that a good portion of them would turn around and pass the buck to get someone else to do it. And who would that person be? A peon, of course. It doesn't matter if the peon has umpteen things to do. If something of significance needs to be done, the person of prestige knows they can pass it on to a peon to get the job done while at the same time giving themselves a pat on the back and the credit.

Another peon tendency is that we rarely take anything seriously. At times, we are known to be jokesters. The peon logic is that if we aren't taking seriously, why should we take anything else seriously? The few things peons consider a matter of importance usually entails faith, family, and health. Taking every aspect of life critically only gives you stress, tension, and a negative outlook on life. Who wants that? However, it must be a popular thing because a lot of people are experiencing it.

It is also not in the peon's character to be impressed or shocked about anything that happens. To put it simply, we don't care. The peon mentality configures two things: a: it basically doesn't matter what we think because it's going to happen anyway, or 2. it has absolutely nothing directly to do with us. The peon perspective is never considered, so the best thing to do is go about your business like nothing happened. Don't fight it and don't grumble about it because the simple truth is that people of influence don't care. Some might even get a kick knowing that they got to you. Like the commercial says, "Don't let them see you sweat,"

One thing that peons are not and that is we are not a politically correct crowd. We tell like it is when we are asked, which is probably why nobody wants to hear what a peon says. We are not Peonnican Americans, under achievers, nor are we statuslly challenged. We are peons. Plain and simple. It is just too hard and too complicated to keep up with what is considered offensive and what is not at any given week. Besides as peons, we are always offended. We just don't make a big stink about it and we don't take things to heart. We don't have to prove anything to anybody, and we don't have to justify ourselves to anybody except to the man upstairs. To peons, PC means pure crap or peon country depending on the situation.

The most important thing about peons is that we are observers. Because so many people make us no mind and don't consider us a threat, it gives us an opportunity to carefully examine and study, what I like to call, the hierarchy of the human condition. This is what this project is all about. Like the surgeon general warning on the side of cigarette box, I feel obligated to warn you that once you enter this forum, you are entering a place where the unheard will be heard and that the overlooked will make a stand. It might even rattle some cages, but isn't the point of having a blog is to exchange dialogue and ideas? To put it bluntly, I would like to think of this as not only a forum, but a satirical peonnic perspective on life, social issues and this crazy world we live in. Welcome to the PeonNation.