Tag Archives: Current Events

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The Vaccine Debate

I’m very much pro-vaccine. If my doctor told me to get a vaccine, I’m going to trust the person I’ve trusted for 20 years with my health over information on Google or YouTube. When I was pregnant, with my kids, my biggest question was to always make sure that I was up-to-date with vaccinations because I wanted my unborn child to be safe. I might not always be the best when it comes to getting a flu shot, only because it always seemed like an inconvenience to go through. But I try to remember it for myself. I never forget it for my kids, which is the most important thing.

Now enter in the COVID vaccine, which I’ve already written about. It’s not new science behind the shot, mRNA approaches to vaccines have been studied for decades. People are hesitant and the sole reason for that is half-assed research on the internet. Fine, don’t get it. That’s absolutely your choice. I’m all about people making their own decisions, as dumb as I may find them. When I had my newborns, no one was allowed around my kids without being up-to-date on their basic shots. You weren’t going to hold my newborn and give him whooping cough. Nope. If people don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s 100% their choice and right not to.

What I’m not going to say is that because they made this choice, that they should be denied medical care. If they don’t realize the hypocrisy in getting experimental treatment to not die from COVID but are afraid of the “experimental” vaccine, then there’s not point in even reasoning with them. People don’t care about facts or logic. It’s easier to be told what to think than actually trust science that they don’t agree with. Their beliefs hold precedence over anything else. It doesn’t matter what the reality is. But when you start limiting medical care because of one reason, what’s to stop someone from limiting medical care for another reason such as obesity? You can’t claim that you’re for medical care for all but then start talking about who you should limit medical care for. That is just as hypocritical as taking non-FDA approved “experimental” treatments when you won’t take a shot. Both sides are equally wrong and equally bat-shit crazy, in my humble opinion. Science isn’t political; people make science political.

Though, I admit I do have a lack of compassion for people over their choice. I was reading this sad story about how someone was talking about how their wife nearly died from COVID. It was heartbreaking. Then I read that they were both against the vaccine because it’s experimental. Then I was like “But so is the medication that saved her life?” Then I didn’t feel bad. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes I always say. I’m very much a believer in actions having consequences. If you made a choice and you nearly died from it, then I honestly don’t really feel bad. I’m a horrible human being like that.

Would I feel comfortable having someone over my house that wasn’t vaccinated? Absolutely not. If they got sick from COVID and even died from it, I don’t want that on my conscience. I don’t want my unvaccinated nearly 9 year old to be put at any more risk than he has to be. I might even only have a family-only birthday party for him because at least I know that they are all vaccinated. You can make your own choice about not getting vaccinated. That’s your right. But just as I respect that right, it should also be respected that I’m going to be extremely cautious around you. It goes both ways. I’m not a sheeple and if you think that I am, I’m going to say you’re also one because you’re just following what you saw on the internet. At least I’m following the advice of medical professionals that I trust.

Mask or don’t mask, your call. Vaccinate or not vaccinate, your call. I’m biased and think basing your opinions on a vaccine based on not educating yourself properly or listening to people who are actually vaccinated telling you that it’s bad for you, it’s something that doesn’t impresses me. I don’t think you’re brave for that choice. I think you made a choice and that’s that. Do I judge people who spread misinformation? Absolutely. I’ve heard very valid reasons for people not vaccinating their kids and themselves and I respect the educated decision. I don’t respect the decision of “Fox News/Newsmax/QAnon Politicians told me not to, so I won’t” or “I saw on the internet…” because that’s insane to me. Ignorance is a choice. It’s one that should be accepted because if someone is at that point, they aren’t going to listen to any arguments to convince them otherwise. I’ll still be friends with you and support your decision, even if I roll my eyes at it.

That’s what we’re supposed to do. Because we can’t fight for liberties of making own own health decisions while telling other people what their health decisions should be. Do I personally believe in having an abortion? Nope. I couldn’t do it because of my own beliefs. Does that mean I think no one else can because I don’t personally believe in it? Nope. Their body, their choice. But I just ask that you remember the “my body, my choice” excuse that you’re using now about this vaccine should apply to other people for making their own decisions about their body.

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A New School Year is Nearly Upon Us!

Parents, rejoice. It’s nearly time to send the monsters back. At least in my school district. We have exactly 2 weeks before the schools open up for everyone but grade K. Even my oldest well be headed off to college for his move-in date on the 29th. It’s exciting, but with everything going on it’s still very anxiety-inducing. What can we expect from the school year?

Our school system hasn’t voted on whether or not they will be enforcing a mask mandate. They said they would base their opinions on the health department, who said “Yes, mask mandates for all”. A school councilman then said in an interview essentially, “enough with the masks, I’m tired of the masks”. So am I. But yet, I still have to wear one in busy locations because people made it a political statement rather than consider things like reason and facts so here we are. One teacher came up and started to talk about how the masks deprive the students of oxygen, and I just hope my kids don’t have to learn science from her because those are false talking points, not reality. I did what I was supposed to do. I wore the masks. I got vaccinated. But the people who don’t are the ones who talk in class when the teacher threatens to give everyone extra homework. And the people who listened to facts and science are the ones left with the extra homework. Doing the right thing sucks most of the time.

My son’s college has a mask mandate in place. If our children are going to school, vaxxed or not, have a mask mandate do we know who’s fault it is? That’s right, the people who aren’t wearing masks or getting vaccinated. Also, coincidentally, are the same people complaining about mask mandates. It’s actually a cycle that I can very easily explain. If numbers are high, then masks get mandated. When a sick person wears a mask, you are reducing the amount of aerosol in the air which, shockingly, means that there’s less virus in the air. Less virus in the air means that people are less likely to get a virus. Now, when a non-sick person wears a mask, this not only serves as extra protection for them but it also protects others should that non-sick person be an asymptomatic carrier. I’m not even particularly great with science and I know that. Also, I don’t trust politicians or news “personalities”. What I do trust is the doctor that I’ve trusted with my health for many years. What I trust are my friends who are medical professionals.

Does this post sound a bit judgy? Do I sound condescending and snide? I hope so. I guarantee that this tone is on purpose. I’m annoyed that this thing could have been over and done with. I’m annoyed that It’s been a year and a half and we’re still arguing about this. Maybe… just maybe, people need to stop getting their news and science information from journalists who specialize in propaganda and just maybe listen to medical professionals that aren’t willing to sell themselves out for a lot of cash. Many of these people are the same ones that laugh at anti-vaxxers, but are looking at the same pseudoscience that a doctor cashed in a big paycheck to write just because it fits in with their beliefs rather than facts.

Will there be a mask mandate? Probably. And you really only have yourselves to blame for that. We should be at a point when we can live with this virus. We could co-exist peacefully with it, letting our lives move on and being done with it. But no. You guys are right to listen to a vaccinated Tucker Carlson who probably wears a mask to work telling you guys not to do either because “medical freedoms”, while also taking away medical freedoms of women. But you’re right. Muh liberties.

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The School Committee Debate: Too Mask or Not to Mask… Also, Those People.

I’m a naturally skeptical person. I openly admit that when I hear “so and so said something racist”, I roll my eyes. Half the time I admit that something is probably an overreaction after a careful thought process. I’m a reasonable person. I saw a post from a member of the school committee member about how someone was able to go on a racist rant during the meeting without being cut off. I get it. You don’t want to be seen as infringing on one’s right to free speech. I decided to watch the moment for myself because, “No, it can’t be that bad.” I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I audibly gasped multiple times and I still don’t even know what his point was. I mean, I guess I do. Maybe?

What’s first shocking to me is that you would go up and speak on public access television and give your address and then give a speech about “those people”. I should rewind a minute. When you start off about “Black people were the most literate group of people between the years of and now look at ‘those’ people and how illiterate they are now…” Then you repeatedly refer to this group as “those people” in a tone that is somewhere between disgust and condescension, before talking about how white people ripped black babies from their home and put them into a program called “Head Start” and why do we pay teachers to not educate “those people” and I’m white and I’m not sure if I’m racist or if I’m extra racist because I have a white savior complex that allows me to sit here and lecture you teachers on how you failed “those people”. (Paraphrasing of course, with absolute condescension in my tone.)

I guess I kind of see a point here, as outlandish as this person was in his rant about the shortcomings of the schools. The schools in poorer neighborhoods in some areas aren’t as well funded and therefore are underserved. Somehow, I’m pretty sure that’s not his point because his point seemed to be “white people are purposely keeping them down so that they can’t use the excess of advantages they get just for being one of ‘those people’ that we don’t get as white people”. There is a conversation that needs to be had about those communities that aren’t getting the proper education to succeed. But that’s a failing of policies and other things, not some democratic ploy to keep “those people” down.

I should have started with that I will be mocking this individual throughout this entire post by using his emphasis on the phrase “those people”, because I think it’s so ridiculous that he repeatedly used this phrasing and I wanted you to feel the cringe every time that I say it too. As I said on Facebook when commenting about the video after watching it: “I was expecting him to toss out some slurs and talk about how ‘those people’ end up on welfare mooching my tax payer money. But I guess the upside was that he didn’t?”

Now, to address a couple of things here. Yes, we as a society need to do better to lift these underserved communities. Yes, we need to make real change so that everyone has access to a quality education. These are facts that no one can really dispute. If kids get this access, then they will be less likely to continue the cycle of poverty. You reduce poverty, you can start reducing crime. These are basic social facts. This isn’t just a problem with one race; there are people of many backgrounds that live in poverty. Helping people get the necessary education and develop important skills is a wise investment into lifting those who want a better life up.

The other thing to address is freedom of speech. I’m conflicted as to whether or not I think he should have been cut off. On one hand, at least he didn’t drop slurs. But on the other hand, there’s the argument of what he was talking about seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with anything on the agenda. I failed to see the line in the agenda minutes about “Those People”, “How Schools are Failing Those People”, or “Addressing Racial Inequality”. I saw something about mask mandates in school. But, nothing about “Weird Old Man Goes on Racist Rant for 3 and 1/2 Minutes”. But, opening the floor to the public means that the public can have their say. But, I mean. Not even to comment about it? I definitely heard someone else gasp while he was talking, presumably a school committee member that was mic’ed up. But that’s it? Surely a public official should say something like, ‘His views do not represent the views of our city.” Even if they don’t mean it, but something? Aside from the school committee that mentioned it, which led to this blog post.

Is this just me ranting about local politics again? Yes. But the fact that we’ve come to a point where a person can just go off on a rant about minorities like that out of left field makes me scared for my own family. Was this guy a racist? I’m not sure. I don’t know him. Did he maybe have some valid points? Perhaps. But it’s so hard to see it with how he said it. He came off as a racist and that’s how he’s going to be defined. Is that fair that he’s going to be defined as a racist because of what he said? I would argue that you put yourself at a disadvantage in making a point when you single out a specific race in a rant that would arguably described as “uneducated potentially racist rant about how those people are uneducated”.

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It’s Just a Mask

I have frequent sinus infections, some so bad that I do end up going to the doctor’s so I can get some steroids to make me feel better. Sometimes to the point I can’t even leave the bed because I get so sick from them. Pre-COVID, when I would go to the doctor’s office, they would give me a mask while I sat in the lobby and waited to be seen. Why? Because if it’s not a sinus infection like I think it is and it was a more serious respiratory infection, the mask was for the protection of others in the space. Pre-COVID, this measure was merely seen as a precaution and was accepted with no issue. There were other people wearing a mask, presumably for the same reason. Did we judge each other? Did they throw a toddler-level tantrum over it? No. They understood that them wearing a mask was in the best interest of everyone else in the room. It was just a mask.

It seems silly to me that today a mask is a political statement. If you wear a mask, you’re a sheeple that wants to be controlled by the government. As said by the sheeple, who blindly follow conservatives trying to sell this as fact. The problem isn’t the mask; the problem is the extremists on either side of the debate. The worst part is? The rest of us reasonable people are suffering as a result of this. I did the right thing. I wore my mask on the rare occasion I left the house. I sometimes still do, depending on where I’m going. I got the vaccine. I stayed away from family and friends, for my weak-ass immune system’s protection and for my family’s protection. If everyone else did the same instead of making it into some political hill to die on, we’d be out of this mess already. But people so stubbornly hold on to whatever Newsmax/Tucker Carlson conspiracy and MSNBC talking point that they want to. The harder that one side pushes, the other one pushes back.

No. I don’t believe that you’re a martyr for not wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. I’ll still be friends with you and not be an asshole. I’ll stand by my thought that “play stupid games, win stupid prizes”, but it’s a person’s right to play those games. Whether or not they do, not by business. I’ll still be there pulling for you if you end up in the hospital. But you’re not winning any martyrdom prizes from me. I will blame these stubborn ideals for the fact that we’re going to be dealing with this thing forever because people want to take their medical opinions from Google, the same place that turned people into anti-vaxxers that won’t give their kids a measles shot and oh look, what are we dealing with now? Measles. At least that was the talk of the town until a global pandemic hit us in the face.

It’s just a mask. If I go up to an establishment and they say “masks mandatory” or “masks encouraged”, I do what a reasonable human being does and pull a mask out from my purse. It’s just a piece of material that goes over my face, so that all the people throwing a fit about it can just seem my eyes roll, rather than me snickering at their childish tantrum. Will the kids probably need to wear a mask at school? My oldest son’s college already said there was a mandate. I imagine that the elementary and secondary schools will follow. It’s just a mask. My youngest never throws a fit about wearing one. If the parents make it seem normal, the kids follow along easily. It’s just a mask. I really don’t know how many ways to say it or how many more times I need to say it: IT’S JUST A MASK.

Asian countries have been wearing masks for as long as I can remember. They wear them when they are sick and out in public as to not get other people sick. They don’t see it as a political statement. Hell, even if COVID was done by cold and flu season, I was absolutely going to keep going on with the masks during that period to not get others sick and to give some small level of protection for myself. Why? Because it’s just a mask.

We learned a valuable lesson, one that if the survival of humanity is dependent on selfless acts of others, we’re doomed. If people can’t even wear a simple mask to “be of service to fellow man”, how can we expect them to do something more than than?

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Women in the Workplace

Prior to going to college and working from home as a writer, I worked in the hospitality industry. It was, honestly, soul crushing work to the highest levels. I did learn some very useful skills while working at the hotel/restaurant. For one thing, I have mastered how to listen without actually listening. This is an essential skill for anyone who works in a customer service-related industry. This is where you can smile and nod convincingly, while catching enough of the Karen’s complaints in front of you to appear that you care and are going to do everything in your power to make things right. You won’t, because you’re a minimum-waged employee that has no real say in anything and just has to bow down to the whims of management and customers. But, at least you’ve convinced the Karen that you’re useful. Interestingly, this is also a skill that is very useful as a mother.

When you’re a teenaged single mother, keeping your job is essential. This puts you at a disadvantage of being young and desperate. You take it when you get your butt slapped while waiting tables, having someone give you their number as a condition for getting tips, or just having people hang around in a sleazy way for you to finish your shift, despite the fact that you’re not finishing your shift because they are lingering around like lecherous predators trying to make a play for a barely legal teenager when you just want to get home so you can try to make it to school on time the next day. I was fortunate enough early on in my hospitality career that my chefs treated their waitresses like daughters. The waitresses were sisters who would watch out for each other. When the chefs happened to be around, you would just tell them what was going on and they’d come out with their dad face and those lecherous customers would disappear fast. Even Grampa Bobby, the MC/Banquet Manager could straighten out anyone who got out of line in protection of his waitstaff.

After I was promoted to the front desk at the hotel, I foolishly thought it would be a different experience. I still had to wait tables/do banquets in addition to full-time front desk work, because single mom and it seemed like less protection at the front than it was in the kitchen. You’re the face of the hotel. The first person that guests come across. Which would lead to frequent conversations such as when I would ask “Is it just you in the room, sir?” and they would respond “Depends, are you joining me?” They would creepily wink as if they were trying to pass off that comment as a harmless joke… unlesssss… I would always raise my eyebrow at them and then program the key, hand them the key, and then say “One key, it is then.” It never stopped getting uncomfortable when that happened. But that was just something we’re told to suck up because it’s going to happen. Women are told to change our reactions, while the men aren’t being told they shouldn’t be lecherous predatorial creeps.

Eventually our banquet manager left and a new one was hired. The kind of manager that if you didn’t want to sleep with him, he wanted to make sure your life was miserable at the workplace. The kind where if you didn’t flirt back, he would figure out ways to replace you with someone that would. You don’t develop a thick skin or a higher tolerance for these things. You just end up accepting things because what’s the alternative? Back then, even 18 years ago, you didn’t really have any options. They instantly fired a male housekeeper that made me feel uncomfortable with his advances on me. But a manager? The manager’s indiscretions were just ignored because he was him? Maybe he was good at his job when he wasn’t drunk, high, or hitting on the barely and not legal staff? Even then, I just accepted my fate of being the target of unwanted advances and the ire that the unrequited nature of them caused.

The final straw came right before I decided to go back to college. Back when we were in high school, there were these gel bracelets that we had. If someone had a cool color, we’d trade one of our cool colors. It was fun. It turns out, in some areas those bracelets were offered in exchange for sexual favors or were used as a coupon for future ones. Not our school. It was just friendship bracelets being exchange for other colors. There was this one that I was particularly fond of that was blue and glittery, given to me by someone who was going off to college while I was going to spend forever working at this hotel. I wore these bracelets to work, because it was the only joy I had some days. I could look at them and remember who gave me which ones. How did I learn that these bracelets weren’t so innocent? A customer came in to check in and saw the bracelets. He goes “which one does this one get me?”, or something along those lines, as he grabbed my wrist and broke my beloved one baby blue glittery one and put it in his pocket. He laughed at me as he let my wrist fall down to the desk and smash because my body went limp in terror. He continued to lurk around the desk for the rest of my shift. But since it was a Sunday, it was just me on site. No manager. No owner. It was a slow day so housekeeping was already gone. It was just a twenty-something year old sitting alone hoping that she was going to be safe for the rest of her shift. I don’t remember if I tried calling the manager about it. I remember just being terrified.

I did end up leaving right after that incident, after serving a few shifts and being completely terrified while doing so. I had to wear a wrist splint for a couple of weeks because my wrist had been sprained. The last thing I signed as an employee there was the incident report that was filled out 2 or 3 days later when I realized that I had to go through worker’s comp rather than my own insurance. My manager, who was the nicest person and who tried really hard to do the right thing, told me that she was going to send the customer (I remembered his room number) the medical bill and a request for the bracelet back.

Why did I tell this incredibly personal story? Because it’s relevant. Not just because of what’s happening to Activision/Blizzard. But because this incident was 18 years ago and still haunts me today, probably to the point that I’m too terrified to work outside of the home because of it. Because these are stories that women today are still telling about their experience working and getting nowhere with it. Because we’re expected to change our reactions instead of having them being told that they need to change their behaviors. Because we’re afraid to speak up because we can’t afford to lose our jobs. We’re victims of having people take advantage of us and our uniquely vulnerable situations. That’s why women not only need to speak and men need to listen, but men also need to speak out. Speak up when they see something. Listen to the stories and offer support so that they have the strength to do something about it. Everyone needs to do their part to make the change.

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I Love My City… But…

Okay, that’s probably a lie. My entire life I fantasized about getting the hell out of this town. I imagined myself in a loft, childless, writing and getting paid just enough to make ends meet. My goals were to be anywhere but this city. Then I became a pregnant teen and leaving this city wasn’t going to be in the plans anymore. As a parent and an adult, I see the appeal now. Relatively low crime, depending on where in the city you live. You live close enough to everything. Decent enough schools, especially when it comes to their special needs programs. You didn’t have to pay for trash and still technically don’t if you can manage to fit a week’s worth of trash in those obscenely small bins. (I can barely get away with not having extra in my recycling. Wonder when we’ll get charged for that too.) You get municipal electricity and now fiber, if you’re lucky to live in one of the areas that got it during the ridiculously slow roll out of the program. There were plenty of things to love about this place as an adult.

But I mean, there are plenty of things especially now that annoy me. I’m annoyed that half the time we can’t get out of our driveway because of illegally parked cars that cops just drive by and ignore, despite saying “we know there’s an issue, we just never see it.” I can’t have parking in front of my house because the apartment people hate their parking lot. Our city spends money and we end up facing tax increases because they are incompetent in how they spend their money. I mean, how much money was spent on an auditorium that they aren’t going to use anymore, but yeah let’s give them a raise during a pandemic when people are struggling, but don’t worry the raise won’t take into effect yet. Our teachers are working hard, to get insulted at every turn for how they did things during a pandemic. Who is standing up for them? I certainly don’t see a lot of public officials doing that.

It’s a city that sometimes I wonder if I even want to live in, though I know I’ll stay because it’s familiar and there are/were some benefits to it. But it doesn’t make me happy. Maybe it’s the neighborhood I picked, an affordable part of the Fairview-ish section so my oldest could stay in his current school district and because at the time my youngest would potentially need speech and autism services. So, I picked the same exact school district that my oldest went through because that elementary school is stellar. Many of my neighbors are great and aside from illegally parked cars as the bane of my existence and worrying about people coming over because they have to park halfway down the street to visit me, I like where I am. But I fantasize of something better. I only stay because the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side. That shouldn’t be the only reason I stay here.

I wish that they cared more about the taxpayer and not the rich people that fund their campaigns. But, that’s politicians. They don’t care about the people who voted them there, only the money that got them there. I wish that when a cop car drives by a car parked on a yellow curb that they would stop and do something about it. I wish that I had more encounters with the cops that would make me feel safe/not fly into an anxiety attack about calling them when we can’t leave our driveway because cars are parked on both ends. I wish the teachers got praise for everything that they did this year. I would love the lunch staff to get so much praise for how they’ve stepped up/continue to step up in serving food to the community. Do something to honor them. Not do victory laps because you put up a pride flag during Pride Month or an autism flag for Autism Awareness Day. I’ve always thought mayors were nothing but people who loved photo ops, and I don’t think I’ve been proven wrong yet. Well, at least photo ops at private schools or events for people who support him. I don’t recall seeing our mayor pose for pictures in one of the public schools with students, though I would love to be wrong here. And I’m not counting graduations or one photo op outside of the preschool.

Most importantly, I think I wish that one day I could be proud of this city. Not want to laugh because we make the news for ridiculous things like being the worst Walmart on the planet or because our government officials spend a fortune on something that they won’t even use. Then, they will likely spend even more money for something else to replace it once we forget about our outrage. I don’t want to roll my eyes because we make the news for having an outdated charter that makes it impossible to remove city officials that have no place being in office still. I just want a city that I could be proud of.

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The Role We Play Today

Originally I had this blog scheduled for today that I ultimately pulled last minute (which is why I’m late today). As a writer with an audience, I have to be selective about the hills that I want to die on. The original topic was a conversation inspired by an interesting discussion on the local forums about a hypothetical on a school committee member and if it would be acceptable for them to work at a dispensary in the city. This inspired me to discuss my own thoughts on legalizing drugs, which I’m aware is a very controversial stance. But was I passionate enough about the topic to eventually post it? Not passionate enough to potentially argue about it. I believe in my stance, but there are more interesting and important hills to die on, and I didn’t think that was the one.

But in pulling that post, it made me realize that people who have voices play a major role in the world today. An even bigger role in what I would argue has been the slow downfall of humanity. Fear mongering, misinformation, hate, partisanship. Fighting against those things are hills that I would die on over and over again because voices against these things should be enhanced.

There’s a reason why even though there are plenty of political memes that impact me, I don’t share them. Whether I laugh about it or it invokes thought, I leave it. It’s not because I wasn’t entertained. It wasn’t because it inspired me to research the topic and learn more about it, including whether or not it’s a full truth, a half-truth, or a not truth. That’s probably the most important part. Doing your own research rather than getting your news and outrage from memes. I don’t post them because I don’t want to feed into this culture of hate, fear mongering, partisanship, and misinformation. I want people to think for themselves rather than to go off in a world of false outrage. I don’t want to be a part of what’s destroying our culture.

People like Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow have made millions upon millions doing that. They make their voices the loudest to get people to blindly follow them without any regard for facts. And the worst part is: People do. People find it easier to just follow than question. They find it easier to just react rather than think. It’s just easier to blindly believe and follow every word of those people that we trust for information. That’s why journalism is nowhere near the prestigious path anymore. Because news organizations don’t care about facts. They know that we trust them for information and they take advantage of that. Whether it’s for profit or to spread their own belief systems like wildfire, we let them take advantage of us with their biased viewpoints. We eat that up with a dessert of cheeky memes that we agree with, sharing it with others to spread whatever propaganda we’re buying into. That’s the role that we play.

It’s time to change the role that we play in this cluster that we’re dealing with right now. Instead of accepting it, fight it. Instead of following blindly, question it. It’s easy to sit back and complain that the world is gone to crap, but it’s another thing to realize the role that we’re playing in this downfall.

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As Pride Month Nears the End

As Pride Month nears the end, I couldn’t help but to consider something. What’s the big deal? What’s the big deal if a gay couple wants to get married? How does that impact YOUR life? No one is saying that you have to be gay and marry your partner; they are simply saying if you can marry the love of your life, why can’t we? It’s a fair argument. What’s the big deal if someone wants to be known as different pronouns or wants to dress a different way every day because they don’t conform to a gender identity? How does that impact your life? The answer is: it doesn’t.

I’ve always wondered, as any rational being would, why some people fight so hard for freedoms and complain about their freedoms being trounced on while they proceed to trounce on other people’s rights. Wearing a mask = muh freedoms! Gay marriage and trans rights being denied acceptance = my religious/moral beliefs are more important than the freedoms of my fellow Americans. It’s a self-centered view to have, if you really think about it. Which makes sense, because many people are only willing to fight if something directly impacts them. Or is told by propaganda media that something impacts them. Then, they will charge into a state or federal capitol building without an issue.

This Pride Month should celebrate how far we’ve come, but it disheartens me to say that I’m not sure we’ve really come as far as we should have. I’m fortunate enough that I live in a state where gay couples can get married and start families of their own through adoption. But not everyone is as fortunate. I wish my loved ones who are in the LGBTQ+ community could experience the life that they want to live, without fear of other people hating them, injuring them, or even killing them. I wish that at least 52 years past the Stonewall Riots that people could live their lives freely without memes mocking trans people for being “ugly wannabe girls” or at least get married without jumping through a million hoops. When I got married, I showed up to City Hall, got my marriage license to be signed by our JP, and called it a day. It’s not lost on me that even interracial marriage wasn’t even federally legal until 1967, and it saddens me that the road for the LGBTQ+ community is so long to get to equality.

We’re supposed to be kind and accepting of others. That’s what the Bible says, if you are religious. If not, aren’t we supposed to be fighting for all Americans to be able to achieve “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as stated in the Declaration of Independence. You spend so much time saying being forced to wear masks infringes on your rights, but does it not infringe on the rights of others to not be able to marry the person that they love? It infringes on your rights to be forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but it’s okay that trans people are forced into identities because they have no legal protections otherwise? I’m not sure what the argument is here. Is it that the government must be small enough to fit into the bedroom? You can’t tell me what to do or what I can’t do or be, unless I’m different from “societal norms”, then infringing on one’s rights to live their lives is perfectly acceptable.

We’re not truly free if people keep telling us who’s allowed to have rights and who isn’t. Straight women have freedoms, as long as they don’t want abortions or birth control or equal pay. Straight white men can do whatever they want. Gay men can’t exist and trans people are just pedophiles in disguise waiting to assault our unattended children in bathrooms. Did I get all of that right? It’s confusing to me, so you have to bear with me.

The last paragraph was 90% sarcasm. Pretty much everything past “We’re not truly free if people keep telling us who’s allowed to have rights and who isn’t” was snide commentary, though not snide enough because the hypocrisy is so loud. I say that we just let people live their lives. How does them being happy impact you? You don’t have to change your life. You don’t even have to like it. You just have to accept that others have the right to be happy, and as long as they are consenting adults that are contributing to society in a positive way, what’s the big deal if they are LGBTQ+ or live some lifestyle that you wouldn’t live? Spoiler: it’s not a big deal. You just have to accept that they have the same freedoms that you have to be happy.

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Pride Month 2021

While I admittedly toe the line with my political ideals as an independent, one thing that you will never sell me on is discrimination of another human being. When it comes to social issues like LGBTQ+ rights, I will always be on the side of consenting adults doing whatever they want as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. I believe people have the right to be happy and in love. They have the right to be married and enjoy the perks that come with that. People have the right to live their lives as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. Have a problem when a gay couple is holding hands? Don’t look. What they are doing has no impact on your life. Have a problem with them making out in public? I have an issue when straight couples do as well, and I just don’t look. My not wanting to see any couple of any orientation making out doesn’t mean that they don’t have the right to do it. Just do you. If people want to be called by specific pronouns, just do it. How does that have any effect on you? Spoiler: it doesn’t.

They will always have to fight just to get an inch while the “normal” people have miles ahead of them. They have to fight for the ability to love who they love. They have to fight to be who they want to be. Who cares if someone identifies as trans? Just let them live their lives to the fullest as you have the right to do. The Stonewall Riots took place back in 1969 and this group is still fighting to be recognized as human beings. To have the same rights that other people have. They just want to be happy and comfortable in their own skin. Why should they be ostracized for that? How is their right to happiness detrimental to you? I just don’t understand the problem. I don’t understand how religion can preach about love and honoring thy neighbor, except if your neighbor isn’t the same religion as you or if they have a different lifestyle than you. I spent a lot of time in CCD and I don’t remember any of my readings saying “Love all people… with the exception of….” I remember love thy neighbor. I remember how important it was to be a servant to the community and offer support and kindness to those who need it. Not those who need it except for ______. How can people be religious and believe that only God can truly judge, while taking it upon themselves to play God and judge and make laws that limit the rights of a group of people that are different than they are?

I know. I normally say that people should just live their lives and if it doesn’t impact other people, why does it matter? But it does matter when you work your entire platform to hate others. That does have an impact. Hate should never be acceptable. People have the right to religion, but not to push their religion on other people and make laws based on those beliefs. Especially when your religion is known for hiding pedophile priests who prey on boys while still saying homosexuality is a sin.

It makes me think that not too long ago I wouldn’t have been able to marry my husband because of laws based around hate. It was just in 1967 that interracial couples were legally allowed to marry according to federal law. Why is this any difference? Just because I am straight? Why does it matter who I love as long as we are consenting adults that love each other and are committed to each other?

The point of this is I am an ally. I will always be an ally. If someone needs a place to be who they are, they can share mine. I will always stand up for people having the right to live their life in a way that makes them happy as long as they aren’t hurting anyone and are consenting adults. We all have the right to be happy and live free and sexual identity or sexual orientation shouldn’t be the exception to that.

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When Research Isn’t Enough

I’m a bit of a geek. I like to read about everything. It’s a thing. I get it from my dad. I end up down rabbit holes sometimes and find out I’ve wasted 3 hours of my life because one thing that I researched led me to about 20 different things. I find it helpful to know as much as possible about things because it makes me feel good that I can chime in and show off. Plus, I just like to know things. Knowing things is probably one of the best defenses against the lies that the media and the “media” want to push on you, knowing that most people are only going to research other similarly biased websites. Education is so important.

I understand why people are hesitant about the technology behind the COVID vaccines. They believe that this is rushed science and seem to only read information that backs that. The thing is, even with just a quick Google search you can find studies that go back a bit further than just last year/this year. For instance, this study that was dated back in 2018. I’m not very well-versed in science, but the basis is that they were using new technology for mRNA vaccines that show it could potentially be very effective against viruses. But the research data goes further back than that. This study from 2008 shows the potential of mRNA and how it can be used for vaccines in the future (we’re now in 2021). Another study from 2006 discusses how these can be potentially safer. The point is: this isn’t some new technology scientists pulled out of their butts when COVID hit. This has been extensively studied for a very long time. This was used for vaccines that were tested out for Zika, rabies, and a few other viruses and COVID just happened to be the first thing that they could really apply this technology to successfully.

Another reason why people are hesitant about the shots is because they track the VAERS data. While I’m sure this can be a useful tool, I’m not entirely sure I trust a tool that can be updated by anyone without any real validation of that data. I could say that the vaccine transformed my DNA and turned me into a man with dog ears and a tail and they would have to list that. Then, the alt-right would say “The vaccine turns people Trans” and it would be a whole thing. But, I don’t trust data that hasn’t been verified. I can’t say I even looked at VAERS data just because I don’t want to know if the COVID vaccine will make me stub my toe more.

The fact is that you are responsible for making your own medical decisions. I pay my doctor to keep me alive, so I typically listen to her. If she tells me it’s safe, she’s not someone who likes to mess around and will tell you exactly what she thinks. She thinks I should get it, I get it. I did my research from various science sites that are trusted. I don’t find anything worrisome and in fact, I am excited to see that this technology could be used for cancer vaccines. Can you imagine that?

I get my second Moderna shot on Saturday. As someone who has a very questionable immune system (at best), even an “untested and microchipped” vaccine is better than what would happen to me if I ended up with COVID. I managed to walk away from this pandemic with my sanity intact (primarily because I am a loner anyways), without sacrificing too much despite a loss of income, and managed to not get sick with COVID, the flu, and only had 1 cold. I’ve even decided to follow the Asian traditions of mask wearing during the cold/flu season in the future because I just enjoyed only being sick because of my own body’s failings, not from an illness. I’ve decided to trust the science and I appreciate other’s for finding science that disproves my research and following that. I don’t judge. If they ask my opinion, I give it. If not, I can be happy with my vaccinated self and move on.

People make the beds that they chose to lay on and as long as they can sleep soundly at night, there’s not much else you can do. You can’t hate people because they don’t believe what you do. We’re not supposed to agree on things. Science may be divided by politics, but people don’t have to be.