if i can - you can!

bAd aD. have you seen these interboro ads that are plastered all over the subways? you know, "if i can-you can!" "i am indira and i am interboro." this morning i rode the L train face to face with indira acosta's interboro tale of success. lucky me.

first of all, it's both amusing and awful, that whole "if i can do this, you can" angle they take. no, really, i'm absolutely worthless, i can barely read or write, okay, fine, who am i kidding? i can't read or write, i dropped out of school in the second grade, i've been dealing drugs and selling my body to pay my rent for the last five years, i have attention deficit disorder and can't sit still long enough to have a coherent conversation, let alone follow a lecture, i already have 3 kids and a boyfriend who beats me, especially when i make any attempt to better myself, and perhaps some of the beatings i took from my stepdad as a kid have left me with some mental incapacities, but i can get a degree from interboro, so that leaves you no excuse.

and i love that part in their little about me section of their testimonial when they claim "i'm just like you." i'm sorry, actually, no, you're not. you're telling me you didn't graduate high school and haven't gotten your GED and are finding it hard to get a job without one. you're working 60 hours a week and finding it hard to get ahead? indira, honey, get in line. but, you know what? i did graduate from high school. and college. summa cum laude, as a matter of fact. my problem is that i have a degree in theatre and live in a society where it doesn't pay to be artistic and art is undervalued and underfunded, so it forces young artists like myself to also take on other jobs in order to feed, clothe and house ourselves, all the while trying to find time, opportunity, money and energy enough to pursue our art. on the side. as though it is a hobby and not a way of life. all of which causes a constant battle to retain sanity and inspiration and hope and pushes us to the brink of burnout and desperation. so, no, indira, you're not just like me, as it turns out. but good luck at interboro, i think i'll pass.