Why, hello! Another Friday is upon us. Honestly, next time we do this, I would just skip the Monday holiday. Or extend it to Memorial Week with no remote learning or work in general. No one had any idea what day it was this week. I mean, worse than usual even. Besides—someone asked me what I was doing or the holiday, and I was like, Madam, what the fuck are you even talking about?
One pretty big thing that happened is that I went back to work yesterday. The store is opening back up on June 1, so we went in to fix the space up in a socially distant manner. Oh, you guys. I know I’ve been pushing the masks in this space, and I will continue to use them even if they are awkward and feel weird. But wearing a mask for 8 hours suuuuuuuuuucks. It’s hot, and you’re just rebreathing your own air. I switched purses this morning, and my mints didn’t make it into the new bag, so after I ate tacos for lunch, I put my mask back on and smelled carnitas the rest of the day. It could have been worse. There was the time I wore the mask to the grocery store and hadn’t brushed my teeth.
I don’t mean to complain. At least I can breathe.
God damn.
So much terrible shit happened this week.
We will do a small amount of escaping, and then a bit of work. Here we go.
1.) So my daughter’s overnight camp got cancelled, which sucks, regardless that it was the right thing for them to do. I hated to tell her the news, but as a child of 2020, she was expecting it. I asked her if she would like to go camping with me over the summer, which sounds like an excellent way to social distance, if a challenging project considering a.) Scott does not camp b.) Neither does Kai c.) I’ve never camped where I was in charge of the camping. But Facebook seems to have come to the rescue, having overheard this conversation and sending camping-related items into my feed. And thank goodness, because we are for sure going to need a pair of these portable folding hammocks! Then I started seeing ads to win a Sprinter van that’s been customized like a tiny camper! OMG, it’s the coolest thing. I have no place to park it and would use it like once a year, but I’m super into it. In fact, maybe if I win it, I’ll sell my minivan and drive around in my tiny house, boiling hot water on the custom-built stove, just looking for a place to deploy my hammock. Also, check out this kickass leopard print tent!
2.) No one:
Me: Want to see some pictures of a teenaged Melanie Griffith playing with her grandmother’s full grown lion named Neil?
3.) Speaking of animals, if you haven’t seen this video of the rocket scientist who made a Ninja Warrior course for the squirrels in his backyard, you need to. The entire family was riveted, even Kai, who, at 13, is too cool to be riveted by anything his mother has to show him.
4.) I bought this light for my zoom calls, because I always have to go to the darkest realms of the house for zooming to avoid the children screaming at the Roblox or the Minecraft or just into the void.
I mean, okay. Every little bit helps.
5.) So…you can see I’m a white woman. That’s not a shock. I do season my chicken breasts, but one cannot escape the fact that I am, in fact, white, and white people are…problematic. I don’t use this space often to get all that serious about things besides advocating for kids with special needs, but I also have a platform and the responsibility to use it. I’m scared and anxious because I want to be an ally and I don’t want to fuck it up. But I watched the video Christian Cooper made, and am following the George Floyd story. I have wanted to respond to anguished posts from friends of color, but I do not know what to say. Like I said, I don't want to fuck it up. Probably that statement is itself a fuckup. I clearly have things to learn and work to do. This helps.
Read it.
And here are some anti-racism resources for white people.
We have some work to do, even if you think you don’t. So let’s get after it.
I’m sorry. This is awful. I’m listening.
XOXO
-PDM
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