Consequently, I was at least somewhat productive. I dealt with a child crisis this morning. I took the Not-So-Little Drummer Boy to get the replacement phone which he sorely needed. I called the Billing Department for the clinic which handles the kids. I had a very long talk with the NSLDB. I drove Railfan and the Red-Headed Menace home from school. Most importantly, I hammered out a cover letter and a resume for a job that my employment specialist had sent me which would in fact be a very good fit for my skill set. (It took me over three hours; I don't think that's normal.) I didn't even talk myself out of applying.
I feel considerably less powerful now, probably because since breakfast I have only had Nonfat No-Whip Salted Carmel Mochas for sustenance. Eating a relatively early dinner may not be a bad idea.
***************
Speaking of power, there is nothing quite so cathartic as driving along singing obscenities loudly. Thank you, Cee-Lo Green.
**************
It's Friday. I am restless. This is unusual. I don't know what to do. One of the disadvantages of not working (aside from the isolation and lack of a paycheck) is that for the most part Fridays are insignificant.
**************
My cartoon of the month is running around Facebook. I do not know the origin, although it looks like it may have been cribbed from The New Yorker. In it, a woman says to her companion, "My desire to be well-informed is at odds with my desire to be sane." Boy, howdy is that true.
I keep thinking I need to write about what is going on in the world, especially the contraception/abortion debate in several states, but just as I get over my shock at the idiocy shown by the politicians in one state, some other new and more horrible idiocy is proposed. I am rapidly descending into numbed disbelief at some of these people. I am ashamed to admit it, but I am glad I am not twenty, and that all my children were boys. I will still fight this fight, but at least I will not be dealing with the fear I would have had were I younger and unmarried, or if I were watching my daughters facing the "war on women" (and what else can you call it?) being waged in some quarters.
***************
Then there is the Trayvon Martin travesty. I consider myself a Floridian, but sometimes I am heartily ashamed of my home state.
Allowing people to "stand their ground" without any obligation to retreat from potentially dangerous situations is one thing -- not a good one either. But a law stating that if the police find the actions of the assailant "reasonable" they cannot even arrest him is insanity. Such a law provides cover for corrupt, uncaring, or incompetent cops. All they have to do is state that they find that the potential defendant acted reasonably to avoid making an arrest. The determination of reasonableness is -- or should be -- a matter to be determined at trial by a jury, not by a police force potentially subject to political pressures.
Furthermore, the argument that because Zimmerman is (at least partially) Hispanic and therefore would not be racist is ridiculous. In Florida, tensions between Hispanics and blacks can run high indeed, although as I recall that tends to be more in South Florida rather than in mid-Central Florida where Sanford is located.
This whole episode is tragic and infuriating. It is also the logical end to a mindset that says that honor and "not being pushed around" and being able to do what you want to are more important than civil responsibility or even common sense, damn the consequences. You see this in "stand your grounds" laws and anti-vaxers.
Idiots. Dangerous idiots.
*********************
Well, all the idiocy in the world notwithstanding, here's hoping all of you have a pleasant weekend.
*And a new bluetooth headpiece.** I've never had a bluetooth before; I get calls all the time while I am driving, so this is a good idea. Or so I keep telling myself. I would hate to think it would be to be cool. The NSLDB complained that people who wear Bluetooths (Blueteeth?) looked like they were talking to themselves. I responded that I talk to myself all the time anyway; at least this way people will think I am talking on the phone instead of simply crazy.
**Yes, I have seen the Doctor Who episode "Rise of the Cybermen," where all of the people in the world are controlled using Bluetooth-like devices. Somehow, I don't think I run the risk of being turned into a large metal killing machine..
No comments:
Post a Comment