Today I am thankful for critical thinking.
I'm sad that few people I know are utilizing this skill.
Thursday night I went out to numerous thrift shops trying to find a Wii fit and some pregnancy fitness Dvds for my patients.
I work with homeless female addicts, many of whom are pregnant.
I met
I wasn't even looking for them.
The first instance was at the dollar store. I was picking up some personal care items and office supplies for work. At the register, a man and woman were a couple of dollars short for the food they were buying.
At this point, the woman was heard saying, in a panic, "We have to go. The shelter will lock us out if we don't get there on time."
I left my spot in line and tried to thrust my credit card in the slot.
The man refused the money. He basically gave up something he wanted.
There's a thrift store next to the dollar store.
I walked past an elderly man and a young man (maybe a couple...not sure). The young guy asks me for a dollar. I give him a $5 and went inside.
There were no exercise DVDs for pregnant women. I found a used AA book and bought that.
Upon leaving, I saw the two men and asked what they were collecting money for. Without skipping a beat, they said that they were going to rent a room for the night. They were only $6 short.
By this time, the shelter had closed.
I ran to my car to dig around for money. I found $6. There was an old pissed off guy waiting for me to move my fat ass so he could get into his car.
I wish he would have said something (*sadly, most people don't speak up until it doesn't matter any more).
I apologized.....moved.....and got the money to the couple. They wanted to work for me. I don't need anything. I know a place that's hiring homeless folks. Luckily, that organization is two blocks from where we stood. I showed them where to visit in the morning.
Here's the deal.....
None of these people looked homeless. I typically identify long-term homeless people by their teeth. Dental care is usually the first thing to go when one is in survival mode.
The two men shared that they were homeless just a few weeks. They lost their jobs. Covid has taken away all the day labor.
This is a story I often hear from my patients, too.
[In typing this post, I realize where I can find the DVDs I need - it's a thrift shop called "Family Tree" that stocks up supplies for women leaving abusive relationships. Battered women get coupons to shop there. Regular people can shop there, too. All the funds from the sales goes to providing shelter and counseling for the women. They'll have DVDs. I'm going to end this post now to head to the other side of town - when I come back I'll write about the political bullshit that led to this crap, how homelessness is just beginning to explode and all the sheep are waiting too long to bleat - we need the Democrats to move their fat asses and stop curtailing the economy. If we don't speak up now, we''ll lose our window of opportunity for change.]
Next Day Edit
I'm back. The Family Tree/Treasure Trunk thrift on 44th and Harlan shop wasn't open on Sunday so I wound up driving back Monday morning.
Oh, my gosh. That was a very interesting trip.
They were doing construction on 38th Avenue so I wound up diverted a few blocks over. There's a brand new nursery (well...new to me) on 41st and Harlan.
Guess what ???
I'm so excited!!! I think one of the employees thought I was going to keel over from a heart attack.
They sell Irish Moss!! It's a ground cover that grows well in shade and sun. It doesn't take a lot of water and doesn't need mowing. I work so much, it's hard for me to keep on top of the lawn. That's the first thing the local politicians harass me for via Code Enforcement when I start speaking up about their bullshit.
You can get Irish Moss seeds on the internet but they are incredibly light weight, they blow away before they take root. I'd been trying to find starter plants for a long time.
I spent far too much money.
Yeah, I found another nursery close by, too. Now, I've got 6 bushes, 1 tree and several huge containers of ground cover to plant.
Awesome!
Carrying all those plants made me thirsty so I drove over to the Lakeside Walmart to get some tea.
I have never seen so many sheep in all my life....
Seriously....
The Walmart and Targets on the rich, white side of town do not make you stand in line to get into the stores. Apparently they do in Lakeside (wonder what the mayor of Lakeside thinks of that? Word is that he works for the City of Aurora but that could be old news....maybe about a former mayor).
Baaa Baaaa Whaa Whaa
There was this middle-aged, white, male dork muffin at the self-check out lanes who had a cart full of potato chips, sugar soda pop and all sorts of junk food.
About six feet away from him was a Spanish speaking woman who was not wearing a mask.
Do you want to know what the idiot guy did?
He walked within six inches of this woman's ear and started screaming at her because she "didn't care" for people and wasn't wearing a mask. This guy was worse than a banshee.
So much for social distancing.
Mr. Karen started to scream that he was going to get a manager.
I rolled my eyes.
Did I mention that his cloth mask was under his nose? Polis nailed it. Part of me wonders if he holds stock in a mask company. Those things are worthless.
Anyway....
I'm checking out and holding a miniature spruce tree in my hand and ready to poke the asshole with it should he continue to get too close.
A couple of people nearby were loudly talking about how they know the masks don't work but they were them so that assholes don't wind up having fits of rage due to their fear.
The woman left.
I told the guy to learn about immunology.
He's obviously an uneducated, racist (perhaps sexist) prick. It's always guys acting like tattletales bullying women - always. Polis has just given abusers a reason to harass women.
Someone is going to get shot. Maybe not this guy - someone will eventually get shot due to their abusive behavior over an overblown response to a flu.
This guy is going to get sick. Maybe not with Covid19 but if he is eating all that junk food, he isn't going to be living on this earth very long. You have to feed your immune system. It doesn't survive on salt and sugar.
Right now, I'm getting pissed off at the Democratic assholes pushing this fear and the Republican cowards who are too afraid to put a stop to it.
It looks like I owe you all a new post to explain what I'm finding out.
In sum.....Covid19 is giving political assholery cover: No one can go out in public to call out the assholery in person. There is a lot of crap going on in my town. The fear is giving the politicos an excuse to keep everyday people from commenting on their piss poor decisions.
I'll try to thread it together for you. It may take more than one post.
Life is weird.
You might like this, too (it has links to actual studies regarding masks - read those):
https://www.rcreader.com/commentary/masks-dont-work-covid-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covide-19-social-policy?fbclid=IwAR1pLt7B9seORYFrNONEp_KN_AX6RTt6odwS7Nr__NU20tnlrP-N0B6_Pvo
Love,
S.
P.S. Oh - I found three exercise DVDs for pregnant and post-partum women at Family Tree. I'm glad I went! I left some for other people, too.
The best part of my day is the restraint that I showed in NOT going to the music store next to the thrift store. Back in the day, I routinely spent $400 a month there.
Besides, with all the plants in the car, I probably couldn't bring home a saxophone. Thank goodness for miniature spruce trees!