Cafe Hitch-hike

2020-04-21

Stay healthy

All things considered, I'm not doing badly at all. I get restless at home and determined I needed to move my office every couple of days, and to go out even if it's roasting outside. One person here works 6 hours a day remotely, and that's probably more realistic for me than doing a full 8. There's plenty of food in the 'fridge (for now), and I can probably say I'm insulated from a lot (at this time).

My mind is just aghast at what's happening on the outside. I thought of my niece who found out she was pregnant soon before the virus outbreak (and the conditions of the pregnancy are far from ideal), and the pandemic made me think that whatever is on poor or shaky ground is going to show so starkly. I was thinking of individual bases, but it's true on a broader scale. All the cracks are seeing the light, and it's not pretty.

I watched footage of the protests in my home state of Michigan, and I shook my head. So many thoughts stream through my head... The first thing that came to mind was the rural, northern counties and others that depend on seasonal work and tourism for their economy; most of them are draw unemployment during the winter because there's no work. I then thought of the fed building bombing that happened in 1995, and it was tied to a militia group in the rural areas.

100 years ago, these people were struggling to get decent protections against exploitative industrialists who would had treated them like slaves if they had their way. These same people 10 years ago demanded smaller government and draconian cuts in social services and aid, and were pissy because a bi-racial man rightfully earned the office and led the nation. Now they are feeling the effects of their movement, but gosh the blame is badly misplaced. The people who tried reaching across the aisle to work with them had little choice but to stop; anyone would have to be a saint to tolerate the insults and vitriol they received in their attempts. Things have gotten so politicized and splintered that it's near impossible to have a coordinated response, and it's dejecting to see we have a sociopath leading us cares more about the election and the economy instead of its people.

It makes me wonder how we will ever come to a consensus when we are ruled by raw emotion, and underlying it is America's original sins (slavery, genocide, and Manifest Destiny). I'm sure we will, but a lot will probably have to be broken apart first where we have one side grind down the other(s). Perhaps we are only at the start.

But, it's like what I told my bosses about a year ago when they were feeling intense hate towards our Grand Pubah who was really grinding down the building leadership. I told them we were going to have to be our own cheerleaders and give each other props and support if the GP wasn't going to show us any love. My bosses kind of rolled their eyes and muttered, 'yeah, well rah, rah, rah!' Rather than get mad, I left it up to them; what was the other option? We could piss and moan about the GP's lack of regard (and there was plenty of that to go around), but where would that leave us? I'd rather have us support ourselves and each other, and at least that would make things more tolerable (and hell, maybe even manage to help our own morale and feel that we were trying something, and maybe that something would lead to more). There's my answer. As much as it's easy to hate on the haters, well... would I rather inhale gas fumes or fresh air? I'll take the air, and stay healthy.

downwind | upstream