I stuck with this day. I mean, not that I had any alternative... leave work, come back here, lie under the covers? That's not my style. What I'm trying to say is I hit a sorta bummer, bored-feeling afternoon, but I ended up having a pretty killer day after all.
First of all, I found out our pay-raises (the city did this job analysis job-ratings-adjustment-survey thing over the course of several months) are enacted in a week.
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Secondly, I found something to write about at work. When I say this is a good thing, I mean as far as having something to write about here, and in emails (hi, Jilly!), although it wasn't good in the sense that, for the first time at work, I read something so sad I cried.
If you've been reading this for a while, you'd know I've seen some pretty sobering stuff at work, while going through the books for old/ damaged material. I've seen books on the first Gulf War, WW2 (POWs, concentration camps, fire-bombing victims, war crimes), racial issues, 9-11 and terrorism... today, I was looking at the official commemorative book of the Oklahoma bombing, In Their Name, compiled by Oklahoman press and officials with proceeds sent to a charity for survivors.
It is so fucking sad to look at the end of this book.
It has pictures of people killed there, with little notes about them:
Tevin Garrett, 1 1/2 years old-- loved to ride his Lion King bike
Chip Fields, 48-- had just told her mother "I'm happy with my life"
Laura Garrison, 65-- "She will always be here," write her three children
Diana Day, 36-- "She was the laughter of our family," says her brother, Bill
Antonio Ansara Cooper Jr, 6 months-- just learning to crawl and say "dada"
Kimberly Clark, 39-- her wedding was to be the Saturday after she died
JK Martin, 34-- kept every note his wife, Diane, ever gave him
Johnny Wade, 45-- "I still can't believe that Johnny won't be coming home," writes his wife, Jeannie
Zackary Chavez, 3-- mother wanted his grave to be close enough for her to visit every day
and many, many dozens more
Many of these people were in a Social Security office. All they were doing was trying to get a Social Security Card. Many of the children were in day care. They were here one second. Then they were gone.
I encourage anyone with a library to seek out this book, or one like it concerning 9/11. You really see what America looks like and what a waste it is for people to attack these people in the misguided belief that theyre somehow attacking a government or country. These are people, they arent an abstract constitution or military or lines on a map. Its something pretty powerful, emotionally, to see. We all know this, of course, cuz were not political/ fanatical freaks, but its something else again to see these people up close, who were executed for the crime of being in wrong office, in day care, going to work, living their lives, being human.
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Okay. Well. So the funny thing about the end of the day at work was- there were troublemaking kids. But this was no problem, because they werent intermingling with adults. It was just kids at the computers, so there was nobody to complainso some of them were carrying on a bit, but in particular this girl and boy were arguing over a computer (a, *sigh, computer with no internet or games on it, just the library catalog and databases.) then they actually started hitting each other. It wasnt a big deal, but this boy was aggravating these girls to the point where (at least) 3 different girls were punching him. It was the first time I remember getting in the middle of actual fighting, but it was funny because 1) they seemed to all know each other, 2) the main fighters mustve been 7 or 8 years old. The boy is a mess. He comes in and asks for a computer, but he seems to never grasp that he just wants the ones with Magic Schoolbus CD-ROMs built in. He gets on an internet one, then ditches it after 10 minutes, then tries to sign up again. Ill try to steer him to the right ones in the future.
Lastly I got CDs and trinkets from Jilly! ! ! Thank you beau coup, hon! I must wear these tikis on a string! I had a similar tiki from my friend Adam from New Zealand when I was in elementary school in London. I love the stickers. JACKASS! MISERY!
Also, I got my things from the official site of Emily Strange (or Emily the Strange, whichever) and Emily dingies via Amazon, and my Paypal went through to pay for your sticker, honthought you might dig that! I won it for $3; as Christopher Lowell would say, How cool is... that?
Okay, the above sentences were for me and Jillybut be happy for us, we are in GOTH TCHOTCHKE HEAVEN! ! !
First of all, I found out our pay-raises (the city did this job analysis job-ratings-adjustment-survey thing over the course of several months) are enacted in a week.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Secondly, I found something to write about at work. When I say this is a good thing, I mean as far as having something to write about here, and in emails (hi, Jilly!), although it wasn't good in the sense that, for the first time at work, I read something so sad I cried.
If you've been reading this for a while, you'd know I've seen some pretty sobering stuff at work, while going through the books for old/ damaged material. I've seen books on the first Gulf War, WW2 (POWs, concentration camps, fire-bombing victims, war crimes), racial issues, 9-11 and terrorism... today, I was looking at the official commemorative book of the Oklahoma bombing, In Their Name, compiled by Oklahoman press and officials with proceeds sent to a charity for survivors.
It is so fucking sad to look at the end of this book.
It has pictures of people killed there, with little notes about them:
Tevin Garrett, 1 1/2 years old-- loved to ride his Lion King bike
Chip Fields, 48-- had just told her mother "I'm happy with my life"
Laura Garrison, 65-- "She will always be here," write her three children
Diana Day, 36-- "She was the laughter of our family," says her brother, Bill
Antonio Ansara Cooper Jr, 6 months-- just learning to crawl and say "dada"
Kimberly Clark, 39-- her wedding was to be the Saturday after she died
JK Martin, 34-- kept every note his wife, Diane, ever gave him
Johnny Wade, 45-- "I still can't believe that Johnny won't be coming home," writes his wife, Jeannie
Zackary Chavez, 3-- mother wanted his grave to be close enough for her to visit every day
and many, many dozens more
Many of these people were in a Social Security office. All they were doing was trying to get a Social Security Card. Many of the children were in day care. They were here one second. Then they were gone.
I encourage anyone with a library to seek out this book, or one like it concerning 9/11. You really see what America looks like and what a waste it is for people to attack these people in the misguided belief that theyre somehow attacking a government or country. These are people, they arent an abstract constitution or military or lines on a map. Its something pretty powerful, emotionally, to see. We all know this, of course, cuz were not political/ fanatical freaks, but its something else again to see these people up close, who were executed for the crime of being in wrong office, in day care, going to work, living their lives, being human.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Okay. Well. So the funny thing about the end of the day at work was- there were troublemaking kids. But this was no problem, because they werent intermingling with adults. It was just kids at the computers, so there was nobody to complainso some of them were carrying on a bit, but in particular this girl and boy were arguing over a computer (a, *sigh, computer with no internet or games on it, just the library catalog and databases.) then they actually started hitting each other. It wasnt a big deal, but this boy was aggravating these girls to the point where (at least) 3 different girls were punching him. It was the first time I remember getting in the middle of actual fighting, but it was funny because 1) they seemed to all know each other, 2) the main fighters mustve been 7 or 8 years old. The boy is a mess. He comes in and asks for a computer, but he seems to never grasp that he just wants the ones with Magic Schoolbus CD-ROMs built in. He gets on an internet one, then ditches it after 10 minutes, then tries to sign up again. Ill try to steer him to the right ones in the future.
Lastly I got CDs and trinkets from Jilly! ! ! Thank you beau coup, hon! I must wear these tikis on a string! I had a similar tiki from my friend Adam from New Zealand when I was in elementary school in London. I love the stickers. JACKASS! MISERY!
Also, I got my things from the official site of Emily Strange (or Emily the Strange, whichever) and Emily dingies via Amazon, and my Paypal went through to pay for your sticker, honthought you might dig that! I won it for $3; as Christopher Lowell would say, How cool is... that?
Okay, the above sentences were for me and Jillybut be happy for us, we are in GOTH TCHOTCHKE HEAVEN! ! !
Congratulations on your raise. It sounds like your job is pretty draining emotionally.
The game is Redskins vs Buccaneers