Coffee, Tea, or Me

For reasons I will not disclose, I cannot drink coffee anymore.

I like to  travel and I absolutely depend on Starbuck's free WiFi,  and I NEED lattes with 2-3 extra shots daily.   Coffee shops are my home away from home.

"Coffee?  I don't drink coffee.  Do you have any tea?"  SLAP!
SHUT UP!  Hear that little superiority dance in their voice?  I don't want to be THAT PERSON.  I already annoy people enough with my goings on, "Oh, I have such a delicate disposition.  Is it gluten-free?"  I gleefully bore people to death with my rambling monologues about the glorious future for each and every one of us if we just embrace organics!

So
      I
         am
               drinking
                              tea.
If I could make that sentence droop and fall off the page, I would.

Bitch. Bitch. Bitch.
 Moan and complain.
Here's the thing.  I have everything I need in this life and mostly everything I want.  What's a little coffee in the larger scheme of things?

EVERYTHING.

SHUT UP!
ok.  That's my brain going off the rails for a moment.
Like sports, coffee is a great social lubricant.  Everyone can talk about coffee.
Except those assholes who only drink tea.  AND I'M ONE OF THEM NOW!

I expect to get slapped upside the head any day now.

Glimmers of Hope

I have been mired in a cynicism that has colored my political views since 2000 and truly, I have had little hope for the future of our nation since the Republican theft of the highest office in the country.

My senior co-worker danced in hate-filled glee across the lobby in my former Silicon Valley business, and all I heard was the sound of checkbooks slamming shut across the country and the crash that swallowed us alive.   Republicans had the reputation of not being particularly supportive of tech.

I was accused in a thread, here on Facebook that I profess to abhor this country.  I do not profess to abhor, I yearn for better.

The two Supreme court rulings have changed my view from here.
 I feel hope for the future.  I feel hope because Bernie Sanders exists and is bringing out record crowds who also yearn for better.

I do not believe people should be left on their own.
We are screamed at that unions are bad and welfare recipients cause the deficit.  We distrust each other.  People are struggling across this country in numbers unseen since the Great Depression. I believe it is government's role, and mine as a taxpayer to care for the weakest among us.

I get in these baffling conversations here,  in the Midwest, that one needs to hoard what one has and defend oneself against their brothers and sisters who need it.  I feel these deep set fears are controlled and manipulated by the corporations that keep wages so low that all are living on edges of economic ruin.

Bernie Sanders is correct.  Minimum wage is starvation wages.  No one should live like this in these United States.  All this economic uncertainty leads to the misplaced fear among us.  Immigrants!
It must be ILLEGAL immigrants.  NO WAIT. ISIS!  Liberals!  It's liberals all wanting FREE health care.  And it has to come out of MY POCKET! SOCIALISTS!


I MUST keep what's mine because I WORKED FOR IT!

and I make $7.25/hour.

How does a person feel after working for decades and all they can make is $7.25/hour?

You are worth $7.25/hour.

How does that make you feel?

Fear.
Misplaced fear.
The politics and exploitation of fear.

For the first time in 15 years, a true feeling of hope glimmers inside of me that change is in the air.

What Does Trust Look Like?

"So you like white socialism? Seems a little racist."
And another.  "Mostly White, lest we forget." followed by "Do you believe there are characteristics pertinent to different breeds of Canis Lupis?"

These are just a couple responses on my wall to my recent postings about Denmark and in extension, Bernie Sanders.  I find that last statement, comparing people to dogs most egregious, although implying that a society can only work well is based on gradations of skin color is downright insulting.

What if there was a country where everyone is trusted to make good choices?  What does a country look like where it is a built in understanding that people will do the right thing?
What does that society look like?
It looks like Denmark.

The default is trust.

There is a lot of foot-stamping in America.  "My tax dollars are paying for HIS healthcare?!! SCREW HIM."

The overall feeling in Denmark to that is, So What?

Our economic uncertainty has fueled a distrust of each other.  We have fits over how and who we should help.  We should help everyone. All citizens deserve this.  In a country as powerful as the U.S., we deserve our basic human needs met.

Social policy in Denmark makes sure that almost no one falls into economic despair.  Healthcare is a right of citizenship.  Childcare, 2 year unemployment benefits, and education are all part of the system that protects Danish citizens.  College, graduate school, and even medical school are all free.  An educated populace is a productive populace.

Imagine that here.

During my trip, the people I encountered were fit and healthy.  They were calm.  Their children were calm.  Even in the best restaurants, families with children were present.  I notice these things because I don't want children in my restaurants, airplanes, or hotels.

Yeah, I'm a horrible person.  I work with the little snots so I can say these things.

No, but really, in every situation that I encountered with families, the children were happy and chatting with parents.  Not a cell phone in sight either.  What we perceive as poor parenting here is a reflection of our overall stress as a society.

What if?  What if a parent never had to worry about how to pay for their child's care?  What if we never had to worry or debate the right to healthcare?  What if we knew we would receive 90% of income during 2 years of unemployment?

What if we could live together without guns?  What if we didn't feel the need to arm ourselves against each other?

Trust.
I live in a country without trust and it reflects in everything here.