Of Strife and Love in Day by Day

Me: He’s gonna make them drag him out of the White House, kicking and screaming.
My husband: Hope they don’t put his stuff out on the curb.
Me: I hope all the poor people who live in the shadow of the halls of justice grab Melania’s shoes.

When I was a little girl, the name of the town bully was Chris H, a big 4th grader (I think he was held back, which they don’t do much anymore). Chris thought he ruled the playground. He made up mean nicknames: Stupid Steve, Bug Eyes, Fat Boy (although Chris had a big belly of his own). Chris beat people up, including my older brother. My parents and Chris’ father made him apologize to Mark and he never bothered him again.

When Susan G, who was deaf and went to a different school, grabbed his shirt when we were all playing on the ball field, and said something to him (she was a bit behind the rest of us because of her hearing disability), he swung around and said, “Quit grabbing at me. Are you retarded?”

Susan was deaf and spoke with the rounded words that deaf people say. She and I played tag and hopscotch on the beach in summer so I knew she was smart. I was so hurt for her. Susan didn’t go to our school, so she didn’t know that Chris was mean.

Susan’s older brother was standing nearby and he was bigger than Chris. He jumped right in to defend his sister and to our amazement, Chris backed down!

Trump is just like Chris: name calling, mocking the disabled, punching the little guy and folding like a deck of cards when a bigger person puts him in his place. I’m glad to see we’re kicking the bully off the playground.
ByeDon2020

“I wouldn’t want to live there. Half the people are bad.” That leaves me feeling sad. There are lots of places I would not want to live, but not for the reason that I disliked their people.

People are universal. There are good people and there are bad people in every country. People look through the same prism, but different facets. I don’t 100% disagree with Republican approach but do agree with less government…however MY less government is getting out of people’s bedrooms, not slashing programs for the poor. I was not 100% in agreement with Obama, either. He should NOT have flung the borders wide open to immigrants who crossed illegally, but I do believe we have a responsibility to absorb the ones who made it. You might have a different viewpoint.

Point #1: what happened in my country happened in Germany in the 1930s. Hitler rose to power by playing to peoples’ fears: another race is secretly plotting against us, super-patriotism, posters that mock minorities, minorities blamed for problems, etc.

This is how normally good people turned against neighbors and friends in the 1930s and it is how it happened in 2016-2020.

When people sleep through high school history class they don’t learn the lessons of the past. History repeats itself. Don’t think it could not happen to you.

Point #2: Trump’s legal threats are meritless. No evidence, no Supreme Court argument, so they can’t rig it. Setting the voting rules is a state right, not a federal right. Our Constitution is very clear on that. Top GOP politicians are silent, including Pence (vice president), and that indicates the GOP will accept the results. Very close votes will automatically go for a recount, but history has proven it doesn’t change much.

Point #3: “Half” the people are not bad. Differing viewpoints are not bad. Our streets are not teeming with protesters. Just as with BLM, there are pockets of unrest.

It is very concerning to see how much prejudice and hate has bubbled up to the surface. I don’t know about you, but there are a LOT more bigots out there than I thought. I also think the extreme right “militias” are small and will be put down easily. Funny how they criticized BLM but now 200-300 have gathered in Atlanta. Two protesters in the background were flashing Qnon hand signals on the news. Let them beat their chests. It’s just Chris H, trying to rule the playground.

I am confident Trump will lose.

There’s other stuff going on. I love how generous my fellow Americans are! We had a client referred to us: 18 years old, kicked out of her house, lives with her aunt trading babysitting for room and board, in nursing school full time and her car conked out! She didn’t have funds to tow the car to even find out what it would cost to fix it. We sent out our tow company and the driver, Elmer (think deep southern accent), called us to say to my VP, “Miss Susan, this is Elmer. I hope I didn’t overstep but when I seen that all that poor girl needed was spark plugs, well, I just fixed it myself.”

It got better. Because he knew that our non-profit partnered with a church, he only charged $100, which we happily paid (having anticipated $1000).

Then things got even better! A girlfriend emailed me and asked if we’d be interested in a car donation. It’s an old Infinity SUV but is in very good condition. Heck, YEAH, we want it! So me and my VP were feeling kind of puffed up by helping one fix her car, costing us almost nothing (but it was everything to our young nursing student), and have another to give to a client who asked if we had a better car than the one we gave her last year. I’d told her we didn’t have a car on hand and then one appears! I call that a God thing. You might call it positive vibes and I’m okay with that, too.

I just know if we stay focused on the far reaching story rather than the chaos that WILL erupt (count on it), the waters will eventually calm and we can put our feet up on the rail, raise our alcohol or non-alcohol cocktail, and toast each other for having weathered the storm.

I’m looking for lakeside cabins in Maine. I want something rustic, authentic but with heat and running water. We prefer a fixer upper as that is our business, so big renovation savings for us. I’m also looking at this:

I still have pictures to share. Maybe another day. I wish you all a loving, peaceful weekend. Love is all there is. It is all we leave behind and it is all we take with us. I love you.