I am still coughing my fool head off, with this "bronchitis," or whatever this creeping crud is. This is the second MONTH of dealing with it, and frankly I am fed up. Sleeping upright sucks. Sitting in the sauna every evening to try and squeeze the toxins out of me sucks. Taking more pills and cough medicine sucks. The doctor gave me an even stronger cough medicine than the codeine, (it makes me very drowsy), and tomorrow I'm going to have a chest x-ray. If the results come back normal, then it's just a viral thing they can't do much about, and it has to run its course. If the results say I have lung cancer (having NEVER SMOKED A DAY IN MY LIFE), or some other god-forsaken disease, then I can promise you, somebody's head WILL truly roll. Come bail me outta jail, will ya??
In the meantime, this is a true story that happened to me over Labor Day weekend....I submitted it to the Huffington Post as a blog idea today. Thought I'd share it with you here too. I"m going to lay down now and take a short nap before Pete comes home from work. We'll be going to visit his mom later this evening for her birthday too, so I'd better rest a bit now while I can....bye for now.
Love, Rebecca
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Strange how one brief moment that seems inconsequential can change a person. It saddens me to think of how polarized we have all become. How will we all be reacting to each other after the election?
True story: Me and an older woman in a rest stop bathroom. It was during Labor Day weekend, and I felt ashamed. She said,"Oh, you may not want this stall--there are no seat covers left...but I guess you could use toilet paper to sit on...that's what I did." My reply, "Ok, thanks." nice, polite, quick, with a smile, like my mom taught me.
My instant thought, however, was something I never expected: "Go live your life in fear somewhere else, you obvious conservative Republican! Worried about ME catching a disease that YOU just LEFT me, just like GW Bush left a huge mess for President Obama, but with no real way to FIX the "disease" that YOU fear because YOU want to take my health care AWAY? Telling ME what to do and how to live? Telling me what I can and cannot do with my own naughty bits, and UTERUS? While at the same time, totally ignoring the FACT that not ONE person has EVER caught a disease off a toilet seat? Get the hell OUT of my FACE!"
Instantly I was jolted. WHAT THE HELL? Where did THAT come from?
Sure, I've been angered about women's rights being challenged, children's health care taken from them, and LGBT communities being attacked, you bet. I've been sickened by how ludicrous the Republicans have been acting, and how the only "platform" they seem to have for "fixing" this country is to target others in the middle class whom they decide are second-class citizens and who should not have the same rights as the rich do. It is truly the most bizarre and surreal thing I've ever heard from politicians, EVER, and I don't think I'm alone in saying they are ALL a bit crazy.
I shuddered and thought, "wow, did I just think that? Did I, an open minded LIBERAL person with the chronic "save the world syndrome" just pigeon-hole this nice, considerate lady so angrily, unfairly and judgmentally?" I pondered, shocked at myself for immediately jumping to a conclusion that has no basis in fact! I have no clue what her political views are. The fact was, she was just being NICE.
Irony: I am a former employee of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, and I have taught K-12 kids about TOLERANCE issues, prejudice, stereotypes, and the dangers of racism and hate that can lead to genocide. I created a web site for kids about these issues! (www.Tolerance4Kids.com). How can I ever teach kids about these issues, if everyone around them--including myself ---reacts so vehemently and shockingly to a simple, innocent situation like that?
This seemingly innocent moment has affected me very deeply.
If I were a raging conservative myself, (God forbid), would I have reacted the same way, I wonder, assuming she was a bleeding heart liberal who believed no one could think for themselves & needed a nanny-state bathroom? It made me feel truly ashamed.
I hope I can overcome such a polarized way of thinking, and I hope we can all overcome the poisoned polarization of politics, no matter who wins the election.
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