I woke up this morning looking forward to some springtime air and its cold as hell outside. I have to come up with a new joke for days like this other than the one about Al Gore being pissed off. It's one of those days that will confuse you because it's beautiful until you step out of the door and the wind hits you. I may be exaggerating how cold it is because I was planning on doing yard work but now I have an excuse to stay inside and watch NCAA basketball all day. That’s what I'm doing even though my bracket was destroyed by Northern Iowa yesterday. After the Saints Super Bowl triumph I find myself pulling for teams like Northern Iowa. That three point shot at the end of the game was their Tracy Porter intercept type of moment. It is not going to be that kind of moment for Gonzaga because Syracuse is killing them right now. Cornell is still in the tournament and in the basketball world is probably the biggest underdog left. I would pull for them like I did for Northern Iowa put since they are an Ivy League school and most of their players will probably be making more than me in a few months or will eventually end up Secretary of State or something like that they can deal with not winning a basketball title. I think I will pull for Wisconsin today.
There were at least five murders in the metro area during the weekend and most of them were in broad daylight. If this is what we have to look forward to during the warmer months then I want it to stay chilly until June. I am not in the mood for the everyday killing. Nothing drains the community's optimism like senseless violence. With so many other things going on the crime situation doesn't feel as bad as it usually does but its still there and going strong.
You could also watch the health care debate unfold right before your eyes. I won’t be watching that and getting a headache trying to figure out who is genuine about what they are saying and who is not. The saddest part of the entire process has been the ignorance of so many middle and working class Americans. They truly believe that they have freedom and choices when it comes to their health. Your choices are as good as the HMO plan your employer can afford without going bankrupt and laying you off. I guess it won’t hit them until that guy who has been working at their job for 20 years is let go and replaced with temporary employees or part time workers that don’t require any benefits. There’s too much division between people that are all part of the same system. When you get right down to it we are all one bad management decision from being one of the same people we think are getting over. Forget politicians and corporate executives. Your ignorant neighbor is the real reason there is no progress because their opinions are easily persuaded by talking points. It’s all good for me though because I have insurance and as soon as my community gets a hospital open things will be good. Health care reform will kick in four years from now if it passes and maybe the state of Louisiana and local government would finally have a plan for a new hospital in New Orleans by then. All we have to do is make it the next few years without getting sick and quality health care will be at our doorstep. I can hardly wait.
It may appear from that rant that I am upset or angry about something but I can assure you that I am no more upset than my usual everyday bitterness. My only real concern is remembering to go to the post office and mail my mom the pecan eggs we bought for her down here because she can’t find them in Memphis. I don’t know what grocery chains are popular in Memphis but they have to be second rate because they don’t sell Elmer’s Easter candy. They probably carry nothing but nasty ass Marshmallow Peeps. That’s the candy you put in the basket of the kids in your family that you don’t like so much but you have to give them something because everyone else has a basket. You can tell how people really feel about you if they put Peeps in your Easter basket and if they give you all the black jellybeans then they really hate you. Jellybeans are the only thing in the world that will ever make me utter the words, "Give me anything but the black ones."
4 comments:
This one was an absolute delight to read. The last paragraph had me laughing out loud it is so well said.
I'm sitting here wrapped in a blanket and trying to focus on a little vase of sweet peas. I can't face any more television about the health care bill, either. You just made my day.
"Your choices are as good as the HMO plan your employer can afford without going bankrupt and laying you off."
It's a mystery to me why people don't readily grasp this. I can see missing the point if you work for Microsoft or Google, but no one else is safe. I learned this first hand back in the 80s when the company I worked for started to go south. It changed providers and suddenly I had to jump through hoops to get just about anything covered.
This taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten: That my insurance is anything but my insurance. It belonged to my employer and the insurance provider, without any room for me.
I'm going to be that dad that always says "give me the black ones".
It was nasty out there today. Hard to get anything accomplished. I hope it's not contagious all the way to DC.
What? No black jelly beans? I only like the black jelly beans. Years ago, one could find Elmer's candy in Memphis. It was only after Elmer's reopened and chose to limit their territory than they became as scarce in the rest of the US as a decent poboy.
Always enjoy reading your musings. "Be of good cheer." Hot weather will arrive in the 9th soon.
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