Something I hear a lot of people say about OWS is along the lines of “I like what they’re doing, but what’s their message?”, or “What are they trying to say?”, or “They need to actually have a point if they want people to take them seriously.” Well, here’s what I think OWS is saying:

Look.

Look at us. Look at who we are. Don’t ask CNN who we are, don’t ask Fox News who we are, don’t ask the New York Times who we are, just look. We’re holding up signs telling you who we are, and what we think. Read them. Think about what you just read. Really think.

Look at us, look at  yourself. Don’t look for liberals, or hippies, or tea partiers, or libertarians, or socialists or welfare bums. Just look. Are there differences? Are there similarities? Look at these people we’re pointing at. Are there differences? Are there similarities? Look around you.

How are things? Good? Bad? Don’t listen to what the news says, or whether the Dow is up or down. Look. Ask your friends and neighbors. How are they doing? OWS wants change. Do you? What kind of change? Why do you want it?

That’s the message. Look. Think. What then? Don’t ask OWS, ask yourself. It’s your country.

The difference between amazing and astounding is thin, grayish, and a little unhappy looking. Not in a mopey or complaining kind of way, just a little downward in the corners of the mouth. Moves kind of slowly and deliberately; it’ll pi9ck up a sandwich and just look at it for a while like maybe it’s trying to decide whether eating it is really worth the trouble. Sleeves are always a little too short, or occasionally way too long. Jumps into a conversation talking about the weirdest things at some length, then stops suddenly and gets really quiet when it becomes obvious no one has any idea what it’s talking about.

The difference between intimacy and acquaintance is always smartly dressed, in an understated and practical way. Constantly in motion, and looks straight at you when you’re talking, but never looks at you for more than a second when you’re not. Smokes 5 or 6 cigarettes a day, and always crushes them out with great emphasis. Doesn’t h ave

a favorite movie, or TV show, or band or anything. Hasn’t traveled much except to visit relatives on holidays. Wears a small, plain, gold earring.

When you are looking for work on Craigslist, and you encounter a phrase that strikes you as a particularly egregious use of business-speak, here is a technique you can use to determine if this is mundane BS in common use, or something beyond:
1) Copy this phrase. Search for it on Google, using quotes around the phrase, so that G will look for

the exact phrase.
2) If one of the top results, or the only result, that is returned for the exact phrase, is the very Craigslist posting that you copied it from, congratulations! You have have found an exceptional example of BS.