I Had a Point to Make Earlier

I have since forgotten it. So let's move on.

I ordered cable television today. Some months back, the gf and I bought a digital antenna to see if we could get free digital television. Really, I just wanted to get KQED and KTEH so that I could speak intelligently about what was on the stations for which I work. Needless to say, it was a miserable failure. We mounted the Batman-symbol-esque antenna onto every wall in the house, even contemplated suspending it from the ceiling, but ultimately decided it was not worth it. If I wanted television, I was going to have to buy into the monopoly of Comcast. But Danielle, isn't DirecTV cheaper in some areas? Yes. But sadly, we can't mount anything outside of the apartment. Not out the window. Not on the public balcony. Nowhere. So we are codemned to cable. I wouldn't mind if it were the better out of many options, but it seems unfair. But it doesn't bother me enough to not get it, apparently. Anyway it's only $15 a month.

Today is Sunday. In fact, the last Sunday before the NFL season starts. Every Sunday from now on for the next 4 months will involve sport watching. I look forward to it, but I must remind myself to leave the apartment for my indoor soccer games. I don't want to be that girl with the unsightly beer gut. I don't think it would ever get to that point, but one can never be too careful.

Tomorrow, I will be going to the library to write a long email to a friend I have not written to in some time. I told him that I would write him an email before I could resume writing letters as we had previously done because I had things to say that couldn't possibly wait an extra three weeks. Now that it's only a week before the cast comes off, however, I wonder if that is truly the case. Is my life so important as to warrant a long email tomorrow? Unlikely, but I will do it anyway because I'd like to think of myself as a woman of her word.

Ok, I don't think I have anything more to add. Already listened to my favorite podcasts- This American Life, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and The Moth. I think that constitutes a day. It's time to go for a run. Cheers!

A Country's Emotions

This week, I attended a Town Hall Meeting with the lovely Congresswoman Anna Eshoo from California's 14th (CA-14 for those of you following along at home includes Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and hugs the coast all the way down to Santa Cruz). For a better map than my description, visit her homepage. I wanted to go and be a part of it all and see what all the media outlets were talking about. Well, sorry to disappoint, but no one brought a gun, there were no fights, and the protesters were sedate. They stood there respectfully, the single-payer 'Raging Grannies' sang a song, the real nut jobs passed out silly flyers, there was a guy who tried to tell me to think like him in order to think for myself, Oraganizing for America people were there trying to get me to volunteer, and there were police maintaining the fire code. I was laughing all the way into the crowded auditorium. People are nuts. Had it been for an issue like school vouchers, no one would have showed up. Two years ago, if we had started having town hall meetings, I would have guessed that no one would have come for a healthcare discussion either. Maybe they wouldn't have. In any case, they are coming out now.

The hall was packed. The auditorium held about 900 people, and there were very few open seats by the time I arrived a few minutes late. Local television crews were inside I later discovered, because apparently it was on the news that night or the next day. The San Jose Mercury News covered it if you would like to read a little more. Originally I had intended to meet up with Planned Parenthood to make our voices heard about the necessity of including women's health options in the public plan, but I did not get a chance to meet with the group. I asked a question, however, and though it didn't make it to her at the meeting, I hope someone will read it and get my point. No surprise, it was about abortion and contraceptive coverage. One of PP's questions made it to her and she answered it, focusing not on contraception or abortion but mammograms and maternity leave. No one gets upset about that.

I sat in the progressive peanut gallery, next to a doctor, a couple who lamented the loss of the single-payer idea, and an aged hippie to my right who took the time to clap and scream at the crazy conservatives at the opposite end of the hall. My mom asked me if most people there were for or against the public option. I am unsure, but my guess was that most were for it, though those against were indeed very loud.

Rep. Eshoo scored a lot of points for her liberal base, talking about how she had voted against the Iraq War, the costs of which dwarf what we will spend yearly on healthcare reform, speaking kindly about Medicare as a public healthcare option (that most in the audience already had), and generally towing the party line while probably not convincing anyone who came in there disagreeing with her already.

Overall, my conclusion is that minds are not changing. Either public healthcare is a socialist takeover or a long-awaited human right, with most people falling somewhere inbetween. My other thought is that people are afraid of the unknown, which includes both a new government program and a black president. Much of this has to do with race anc ethnicity. The other part has to do with class.

The vehemence with which people are holding onto their deepest fears and prejudices is alarming to me. This country seems to be getting way out of control. I think the healthcare debate is at a boiling point and has been for a month or so, but other things are happening around the country too. People are angry, scared, and stressed.

A few coworkers recently expressed to me their displeasure with management, convinced that no one cared about them and their bosses were only out for themselves. Voices were raised. Unions were discussed. At a recent live television event KTEH had called "Facing the Mortgage Crisis," I received emails from people watching at home who were upset and angry about the economy and were desperate for help. I recently saw a clip of the football player from Oregon punch that kid from Boise State and then erupt to the point at which the police had to escort him off the field.



He's been suspended for the entire year, by the way.

I've noticed that I've been angrier lately, too, and more likely to fly off the handle. Breaking my hand was a consequence of that. I'm scared of the future, of my gf not being able to find a job, of not being able to afford a house, of going into debt, and I feel a stronger sense of personal insult. I have been feeling more stress, and I'm getting a little worried.

My concerns are minor compared to what most people in America are feeling, and people are scared and angry, not knowing to whom they should direct their anger and frustration. For one thing, we no longer live in an accountable society. Maybe we never did. But now, we spend our time obfuscating the guilty culprits, generalizing about Wall Street instead of individuals, so that everything seems systemic and therefore unable to fix or blame. Is this really the case, or are there some individuals whom we can hold accountable?

But maybe now is not the time for that. With the national temperature as high as it is, it may not be a good idea to point fingers. Perhaps what we really need is healing. I guess that's where healthcare comes in.