The Free Deal

So I'll lay this out there and let you ponder upon it for a while.

The San Francisco City Health Department came out in the past 24 hours and said....yes, we are supplying all of the homeless folks staying temporarily in hotels during this crisis period....with booze, nicotine, weed, and 'other' substances.  You go to the hotel deal....you get the free stuff.  You still live on the street.....no free stuff.

Obviously, a lot is going through your mind.

First, how is this free?  Someone.....within the city department is using taxpayer funds (city revenue) to pay for this.  How is this possible?

Second, where are you buying the weed, and whats the cost factor?  If I need four joints a day.....will you give me four joints?   If I need seven joints.....will you give me seven?

Third, who signed this paperwork, and how did they gain this 'power'?

Fourth, what exactly are the 'other' substances?  Are you referring to heroin or cocaine?

Fifth, once you admit this.....why can't regular people get the same deal?

Sixth, on this booze topic....are you saying an entire bottle of cheap vodka ($12)....per day?

There's something wrong here, but as long as they keep it in some hellhole like SF.....I don't really care.  But this is free stuff, and it shouldn't be.

How to Agree to Disagree

Forty years ago, this wasn't something that you needed to talk about, preach upon, or lecture on.  Today, some folks need a bit of structure and lecture.

So imagine yourself on a front-porch where sixteen cars an hour will pass.....all at 30 mph, and their windows open.

Then imagine that someone has stopped by....a cousin, neighbor, work associate, fake-love lady, church friend, etc. 

Upon this front-porch....the two of you settle on rocking chairs, and engage in conversation.

The general rule is that you simply agree to disagree.  You can have some position on cattle mutilations, slutty women, sugar content in Mountain Dew, Latino dance moves, horse racing, flirtatious folks, bad Nicolas Cage movies, Nancy Pelosi ice cream, Fleetwood Mac being the best band of all time, and dispatching demons via a Catholic spell.  Your associate can have agreed views, or disagreed views. 

The key thing, you don't want to get so far off the topic....so angry....so frightened....that folks in the cars pick up on the conversation or think that you are in some full-scale debate....well, this is a pretty wicked mess then.  A front-porch debate?  Really?  Is this so necessary?

Another point here.....once you reach a stage where your man or gal (that you support) is 'Jesus' and the person 'Satan'.....where exactly can this debate go? 

Think about the nutty conversation....going on for hours....Jesus and Satan chatter. 

So your general goal....in this porch conversation situation....is simply to agree to disagree.  Nothing more....nothing less. 

It's ok to believe aliens exist, or to persist in believing without evidence, there are no aliens.  It's not going to change much of anything.  Life goes on. 

People That Worry About Microaggressions

Lets get the definition correct here, and this is my particular wording.  Somehow....you make a verbal or written comment.....or perform some action (lifting a coffee cup in some way, or rubbing your hand against your jaw....that in some way (maybe even unconsciously)...that shows some type of negative or perceived outlook on some marginalized group (religious, cultish, ethnic, style of home, tattoo group,  nutcase clan, etc).

The key to this....someone seems to recognize this in a prejudiced way (maybe not me...the guy who made the move....and maybe not even the guy who I perceived against).  So this might be the third guy/gal in the room.

Note also, that both me, and the perceived 'victim'.....might be standing there and then wondering if the third guy/gal had too much weed, or had four shots too much of gin.

Note also, that the perceived 'victim' might have done a double-reverse microaggression against me, while I was microaggressing against him. In eastern Tennessee, this would be a 'double-micro'.

Note also.....don't bring any of this up....with six people in the room (other than the guy/gal who started this) and all of them might have shown multiple microaggressions in a 30-minute period, and the witness lady might be so freaked out....she'd have to slip out of the room and find a 'safe' space to worry about our fates in life.

So here's the thing....buddy, if this is your chief worry in life, you haven't done many adventures, and you might be living in some kind of weird and perverted universe, where dogs and cats sleep in peace, or Democrats actually vote for Trump.

Yeah, I'm suggesting that your worry-business on microaggressions indicate that you haven't worked much, traveled much, or been in difficult troubles.

Go take up a minimum wage job and try to survive for six months with that.  Or go and buy a $2k car that continually needs $300 a month in repairs.  Or go and live an entire summer without air conditioning in Louisiana.  Or go and limit yourself to Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for an entire year (not the good stuff).  Or go and have a car breakdown along the interstate of Birmingham, Alabama at 10 PM....with the gas station guy telling you that this ain't a safe part of town to just stand and wait for dad to arrive.

My advice.....go slip out of the sphere for twelve months and live around real people.  This microaggression thing will chill off pretty quick.  You'll find bigger worries.