Last night while waiting for the bus to go hang out with bcguitar33, an old woman came out of TJMaxx. She first asked me if I would be willing to sit on the other side of the bench, for reasons I wasn't entirely sure of, but it had something to do with the tree overhanging that part of the bench, which would have made sense where it during the daylight hours, but this is irrelavant. After sitting down on the bench, we started chatting. First she wanted to let me know that she can never buy anything at TJMaxx, though she goes there regularly, because the clothes are all "too flashy". I was slightly amused, as I pictured this woman in her 60's or 70's in some jeans laden with glitter. Our small talk continued for some time, and then it turned to her problems.
She started to tell me about her woes. The new Medicare D plan, and how she can no longer afford the medications she needs. Suddenly she is stuck with either paying $90 for her prescription, along with her monthly fee, for something she fought for in her youth. This stuck with me, the more I thought about it at least, but that discussion is for another blog. After expressing her sorrow over her situation, she then proceeded to give me advice on life, motherly advice as she called it, saying she was going to be my mom for 5 minutes. Her first bit of advice, run with the right crowd. If it weren't for her sincerity, I might have laughed aloud. Instead, I responded by saying that bit of advice is something I already govern my life with. And that by "running with the right crowd", life was much easier. Though her understanding of what the "right crowd" may differ from mine, the concept is the same but must fit the individual life.
She then got off the bus, asking the driver to lower the step before leaving.
Perhaps her words have stuck with me because of what I've obseved over the last couple of years, but there seems to be a great desperation in this country taking hold. People are deperate to be free, to fight, for food, for shelter, for love, for life, for peace ... this list could go on and on. Deperation, to me, means that there's a great disconnect between those in charge and those subjected to their rules. To those who are desperate, Viva la Revolution! To those who don't take that advice, your desperation is only words without action. The computer age has driven us as a society away from being a people of action, to a people of words. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but man is an imperfect creature, and the pen sometimes must write with blood as its ink.
I don't know, I've got politics on the brain this morning. I'm looking for the rebirth of this nation. I'm finding an overwhelmed people. I continue to think back to an essay I read once, saying that the only form of govt. that can actually function well and really take care of people, is a benevolent dictatorship. Being human, there is no way such a govt. could exist, though the thought comforts me. Perhaps someday I'll have my own country, and I can imagine myself as benevolent.
Now for something completely different ....
-aaron
She started to tell me about her woes. The new Medicare D plan, and how she can no longer afford the medications she needs. Suddenly she is stuck with either paying $90 for her prescription, along with her monthly fee, for something she fought for in her youth. This stuck with me, the more I thought about it at least, but that discussion is for another blog. After expressing her sorrow over her situation, she then proceeded to give me advice on life, motherly advice as she called it, saying she was going to be my mom for 5 minutes. Her first bit of advice, run with the right crowd. If it weren't for her sincerity, I might have laughed aloud. Instead, I responded by saying that bit of advice is something I already govern my life with. And that by "running with the right crowd", life was much easier. Though her understanding of what the "right crowd" may differ from mine, the concept is the same but must fit the individual life.
She then got off the bus, asking the driver to lower the step before leaving.
Perhaps her words have stuck with me because of what I've obseved over the last couple of years, but there seems to be a great desperation in this country taking hold. People are deperate to be free, to fight, for food, for shelter, for love, for life, for peace ... this list could go on and on. Deperation, to me, means that there's a great disconnect between those in charge and those subjected to their rules. To those who are desperate, Viva la Revolution! To those who don't take that advice, your desperation is only words without action. The computer age has driven us as a society away from being a people of action, to a people of words. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but man is an imperfect creature, and the pen sometimes must write with blood as its ink.
I don't know, I've got politics on the brain this morning. I'm looking for the rebirth of this nation. I'm finding an overwhelmed people. I continue to think back to an essay I read once, saying that the only form of govt. that can actually function well and really take care of people, is a benevolent dictatorship. Being human, there is no way such a govt. could exist, though the thought comforts me. Perhaps someday I'll have my own country, and I can imagine myself as benevolent.
Now for something completely different ....
-aaron