And if you take more of those, you will get an overdose.

  It's Thursday, for what that's worth. I really don't have much to roll with, so we'll just try to fill the space. As we do. Ever since I got the idea for this blog's purpose, nothing's been banging to be written about. Y'all help a poor boy out, huh? There's got to be a bit of esoteric knowledge someone would like more information on.

 Anyhow. A couple of things come to mind. One, there seems to be an issue restaurant owners and managers are having finding workers. They can't get people to work for them, either because they've found something else to do that pays better and/or is more fulfilling, or because they're living good enough on the stimulus check that's a couple of months old. They can't figure out why people don't want to come back to these jobs, be it working in a kitchen, waiting tables, or cleaning dishes.

 Well, for one, they're shit jobs. I've spent the bulk of my adult life working in kitchens and even at the best of times, for someone who actually enjoys cooking, it's a goddamn miserable job. The actual chefs I've known have told me some horror stories about putting in 80 hours a week, but even working a normal 40 is killer. You're on your feet for at least six hours with little or no break, it's hot and you burn yourself no matter how careful you are, and if you cut anything you will wind up slicing a finger open.

 Furthermore, health insurance is almost non-existent even with the ACA. If your boss doesn't shell out for it, it's still probably more than a worker sees each paycheck. And forget about taking days off if you get sick, most bosses aren't down with that at all. And that's in the best of times, not when we're trying to wrestle down a pandemic that could, if not kill you, could permanently scar you if you don't get quality health care. Don't bet on it.

 However, it seems to be beyond the pale to maybe look at raising wages and paying someone enough to live on. People say "these aren't meant to be careers," but I really don't think everyone is interested in a "career." Some people want to spend their free time hunting or playing ball or building guitars or knitting or running RPG's, and the job they hold down just keeps the power on and their bellies full. Hell, most of the time I was a cook it was because I was trying to break into writing somehow or another.

 Look, y'all, the paradigm has changed. Last year caused a lot of scales to fall from the collective eyes. "The way things work" just doesn't work. Capitalism or socialism, it really doesn't matter, things have to change and if employers want people to do the work that makes them money, they're going to have to give a little more than they used to.

 When FDR brought forth the New Deal and when LBJ created the Great Society, they were reacting to circumstances wherein had they left stuff alone, the lower classes would have started slitting throats. People want to claim either were socialist heroes/villains, but that's what it boiled down to. I really believe we at that point now. Billionaires made out like bandits during the pandemic while most of us were wondering if we'd get through the month. Shit's going to have to change.

 Speaking of shit that must change, a kid named Adam Toledo was shot by Chicago police last month. He was 13. At the time, the cops claimed he had a gun and they had no choice. Turns out, the released bodycam showed that not only did he not have a gun but that he had his hands up when he was shot. A cop tries to do something to save the kid's life and he's shown crying at his failure as his bodycam was shut off.

 So there's that there then. In the wake of George Floyd and Daunte Wright, we're still having the discussion over whether or not something needs to be done about police shooting people. One thing that continues to amaze me is how many people are, not to put too fine a point on things, are completely fine with police having the carte blanche to shoot and kill whoever they want whenever they feel like it while rarely suffering any consequences if said shooting victim wasn't actually doing anything that a reasonable person would agree that was worth shooting.

 A lot of it is racism. This is a racist country and we really hate Black people as a country. We're not disputing that nor do we wish to downplay it. However, what's notable to me is how many people would be fine with such behavior being done to them or their loved ones. Think about that, they would be fine with being shot and killed - or their loved one - by police, even if it was a mistake. 

 Whether they really mean it or not, that's what they live by. They think that's how society should be and how authority should treat the rest of us. I don't know what to think about all that nor what to do about it. The same people who howl about the First Amendment are fine with Their President/Congress shutting down speech or limiting the ability to protest.

 That's built into the American character, as part of our natural psyche as thinking we're right about everything or that the story's all about us. I really don't know what we can do about that.

Take a little trip with me.

  It's the first of April. I never have cared for April Fool's Day mainly because most folks are neither all that funny nor all that clever. I've only seen a couple of April Fool's tweets today and they've been blatantly obvious. I guess living in the bizarre reality that has been the last four years has sapped most people's tolerance for bullshit.

 The Derek Chauvin case is going into its fourth day. Here's a pretty good Twitter feed called Unicorn Riot that's been following the trial. The defense's strategy seems to be not only painting George Floyd as a danger but also that the cops were being threatened by the cops. It's going to be interesting to see what the defense brings because the prosecution is eating them up. A former supervisor of Chauvin has said he went too far.

 Another... interesting take on it is how guilty the witnesses all seem to feel over it, as if they're blaming themselves for Floyd's death. Particularly the young man who originally thought he passed a fake twenty. He was hard to listen to, bless his heart, and it goes a long way in explaining why this sort of thing keeps happening, why police brutality is so commonplace.

 You'll see these arguments online where people who support police brutality and inevitably someone will ask them, "Well, what if it happens to you or someone you love?" Once they get over the claim they'd never do something like that, the pro folks always say something along the line of, "Well, I/they probably deserve it." Think about that. Our culture has this worship of authority so ingrained that we think we deserve to have punitive measures used against us whenever said authority deems it necessary. 

 That's something about our culture we maybe should think about. It doesn't remove or explain away the racial aspect of police brutality or the other aspects of White Supremecy that, but I definitely think it has a structural component to this all-American comment of daily life. Same thing with yet another mass shooting. We for some reason think we deserve like this or, at least, it's a reasonable sacrifice. It should also be noted that the same people who think the cops are justified with what they do are the same ones who lose their shit when they get a ticket for parking in a handicapped spot. Go figure.

 Moving on, we've all had to consider Matt Gaetz's "oh-face" way too much this week. It's come out that he's given to show nude pictures and videos of his sexual conquests to others, even fellow Congress critters while on the floor of the House of Representatives. That's just creepy and gross. I mean, that'd be creepy and gross if he was 21, but for a member of the U.S. legislative body, it's almost beyond the pale. Even if the sexual trafficking of minors charge is bogus, he ought to be bounced just for that. For cryin' out loud, man, try not to act so much like the privileged frat boy douchebag you so obviously are.

 And that's about that. It's been cold but an otherwise lovely day and we finally got high-speed fiber-optic internet. It is nice to rejoin the 21st century. I've been buying more harmonicas, including a PowerDraw harp that I'm extremely looking forward to messing with. Maybe after my birthday, I'll buy myself one of these Lucky 13 harps that are tuned for bass playing.

 I'm having a lot of fun relearning harmonica and guitar. Maybe the best thing about learning or relearning anything - from a musical instrument to a sport to something like painting - is when a hurdle or a block that's been hanging you up and frustrating your progress just melts away. You figure it out and it becomes second nature. It's like discovering you have a super power.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

  Well, it's still raining, alternating between misting and pissing down, but always raining. It's cold and grey, and the world is getting increasingly weird. Not in the fun, cool "man, that sky is so blue, have you ever thought about hands" kind of weird. A disturbing weird, a weird that doesn't know if you're actually necessary anymore.