A Flash: Word Count 952
The most important question in all of this: how much is our humanity worth? Communism is seen as a big scary word due to its association with Russia and China. The conservative population is correct that taxes are communism, that political correctness is running rampant and interfering with daily lives, and that we have too many undocumented immigrants. What I take issue with is the disdain that always laces their comments. A change from the way of life you knew is not necessarily bad simply because it's new.
On communism: For me, an extra $20, or even $50, out of my paycheck is acceptable if it means I know a struggling family has food on the table; that the five year old I see walking to kindergarten every morning never has to worry about having a roof over her head or where her next meal will come from. Having quite a few high school friends/acquaintances whose families were stuck on welfare for a significant portion of their childhoods, I am forever thankful that the program was there to keep them on track to enter my life. Not to mention, many who are against such support networks don't realize that they themselves are dependent on them. Communism is could be wonderful if it means your fellow Americans are taken care of.
On "that PC bullshit": They call it political correctness, I call it human decency. We don't get to decide what genuinely hurts others. All we can do is apologize for the unintended harm and do our best to make up for it going forward. It costs nothing to be a kind person. I was asked by my grandmother over winter break about my feelings on being told we can't use (insert derogatory term that I'm blanking on at the moment, or possibly pronouns?). My response to her was something along the lines of "I'm not a member of this group, and therefore have no room to comment on their experiences/preferences. It costs me nothing to be a nice person, and if it makes the other party happy/more comfortable then why not?" Having a few close trans and non-binary friends personally, I was prepared for a fight fit to ruin Christmas for the next few years. However, for the first time ever, the most outspoken woman I know was left speechless and just nodded. I'd like to think she wasn't expecting such a well thought out and articulated answer from her "liberal snowflake" almost-21-year-old granddaughter, but it's more likely that the passing of her mother (my great-grandmother) just a few weeks earlier had her re-evaluating some things.
On immigration: There are two DMVs in my area. Over winter break I had the misfortune of needing to get my license renewed, but it would mean I'd have my horizontal license for my 21st birthday so I braved the crowds. The closest location had a wait slowly creeping north of two hours, so I drove the 45 minutes to Hagerstown where I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. Within 5 minutes of entering the building, the older gentleman in line behind me struck up a conversation about what each of us was doing there. He was nice enough, but being a lone female I was a bit uncomfortable chatting with a strange man. Not a huge deal as he was easily in his 60s and walked with a cane, seemingly harmless. Upon complaining about the wait in Frederick (as to why someone from Walkersville was all the way out there), he responds with, "Ya know why I don't like Frederick?" Having lived there virtually my whole life, I could think of a few reasons, mostly to do with the snotty rich kids in Urbana. I simply raised an eyebrow. "It's all those damn Mexicans." I was in absolute shock and his wife smacked him with her purse. Having witnessed a poor man attempt to get his license at the same time I was applying for my permit a mere 5 years earlier, and seen him get denied due to his lack of SSN, I knew there was a heavy immigrant population. The look of utter sadness and hopelessness on this man's face as my dad struggled to rapidly apologized in spanish for not being able to help still breaks my heart (He had asked us for assistance with the kiosks - english was clearly not his first language and Dad was in his fire department uniform. This tends to draw both respect/trust - the purpose in this situation - and requests for assistance from the general public). I had never met anyone so ballsy as to voice that type of opinion in public, and to a complete stranger no less! The ugly truth is that undocumented immigrants are a symptom, not the disease itself. Many, if not all, would gladly be fully accountable and contributing members of society if not for the near impossibility of navigating the US immigration system.
I can thankfully say that they're not all bad though. To end on a good note: A close friend of mine from high school actually immigrated to the US from Romania with her parents when she was two (legally). While working at Staples two summers ago, she was asked by a gentleman coming through her check out line, "Where are you from?" An innocent enough question. She responded with the name of the town our high school is in. He glanced at her name tag ("Ioana") and goes, "No, where are you
from?"
"Oh, uh... Romania?"
This man, with the sweetest smile and most genuine tone, says, "Welcome to America! We're glad to have you!" We all still chuckle about it on occasion.
In conclusion: "Okay, Boomer" 😂
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Group photo from our last day of Senior year, because I miss seeing everyone's beautiful faces (Personal Photo - May 25, 2017)
Back Row from Left to Right: Noni Hill, Katheryn Acker, Ioana Draghici (feature in story), Brittany Doster, Kylie Andrew
The absolute buffoon who decided to lay down on the cafeteria floor in a dress and heels: That would be me! :) |
Drabble: Word Count 100
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that:
A) Political parties aren't government institutions
B) The constitution specifically calls for a separation of church and state
C) It's okay to not associate with someone over their political views if said views show a blatant disregard for the fact that you and/or your loved ones are, in fact, human beings
D) When one is elected, their duty is to all of their constituents, not just those who voted for them or "play nice"
E) Use lower concentrations of DHA in your fake tan to avoid turning orange
Author's Note:
So this isn't technically fictional writing. I made the mistake of getting on Facebook recently and I just needed to rant a bit. This is mostly @my extended family. I basically just brain dumped and then classified them based on the final word count.
