Well, it’s Thursday…so you know what that means…thoughts.
First things first—muchas gracias to those of you who reached out with kind words regarding my soon-to-be-new employment situation. You really do read this, and to quote Sally Field, “you like me…you really like me.” Love you too. But you already know that.
Right now I’m thinking about the continued gun violence in the US and this week in particular three really f-cking mind-blowing shootings, namely:
the 16-year old in Kansas City who went to pick up his siblings from a birthday party, knocked on the door of the wrong house, and was shot twice by the 84-year-old homeowner (last Thursday),
the 20-year old in New York who was shot and killed by a homeowner after the car she was riding in with three friends mistakenly turned into his driveway (Saturday), and
the two cheerleaders in TX shot after one of them opened the door of a car she incorrectly thought was her own in a grocery store parking lot, late at night after practice (yesterday).
To call these “senseless acts of violence” seems a dramatic understatement. Who hasn’t done 1, 2, and/or 3? Seriously, what are we supposed to do? We can’t go out. We can’t stay home. No place is safe and nothing is sacred. Don’t tell me that nothing can be done and don’t tell me that these shooters were within their rights…don’t try to dismiss these three events on any grounds whatsoever. We’re in a shitshow of our own making and if the pious gun-loving lot among us keeps standing on greed and principle, it may not be the death of us all but it well may be the death of someone we love.
And that’s unacceptable. Something’s gotta give. Pretty sure the 2nd Amendment wasn’t intended to legalize shooting anyone who comes on or near one’s property and/or is a person one simply doesn’t like the looks of. WTAFF?
So I’ve been thinking about that a lot. But I have plenty of other stuff going on upstairs too. My primary focus is getting and staying relaxed before I start my new job, a full-time job in and of itself (🤦🏼♀️), but even so my brain is on overdrive.
Here’s some of what’s been occupying my head space of late:
They have done a lot of work where I live to make things safer for pedestrians, which I applaud for several reasons, among them that I directly derive the benefits of them as I walk around town a lot. The two big things are: flashing signs on either end of frequently used crosswalks that alert motorists that the crosswalk is in us and the other are signs all around town that let you know how fast (or slow) you’re driving relative to the speed limit. The thing is, not all of those signs work the same. Some simply tell you your speed and leave it up to you to decide if your driving is acceptable or law-breaking. Some “yell” at you when you’re as little as one mile per hour over the speed limit, flashing messages letting you know you’re a scofflaw. Others give you a big old smiley face if you’re at or below the speed limit. Depending on which sign you drive by and how fast, you either get your speed reported to you, get yelled at, or get a veritable sign party thrown for you…and that varying behavior has proven to be an interesting experiment with this driver, a data point of one. And I’ll tell you what. The signs that blink furiously “TOO FAST!” and “SLOW DOWN!” piss me off when I am going 31 or 32 in a 30 zone. They make me angsty and annoyed and do not motivate me to pump the brakes one bit. On the other hand, when I know I’m approaching one of the smiley face signs, you can bet that I’m going to manage my speed to get the warm affirmation of that dotted digital smile. Larger lesson here for me and those dealing with me is this: positive feedback when I am performing as desired (going the speed limit) works much better than negative feedback when I am barely behaving in an undesirable way (going one mile per hour too fast; that feels kinda needlessly nitpicky). Saying nothing and letting me decide how to self-adjust to the signs is just fine too. Long story short, watch out for pedestrians, look both ways whether you’re on foot or behind the wheel, drive safely.
Speaking of driving…it takes a special breed of person to fire up a butt in a car with the windows all rolled up. Can you imagine going for a ride with them? Can you imagine what they smell like? 🤢
I have great friends. I could just leave it at that, because I do and it’s that straightforward. But since something specific prompts me to say it now, I won’t leave you hanging. (I’ve already done that by telling you (last week) that I got a new job but am being superstitious and making you wait until after I start for particulars.) One of my college friends recently gifted me with Red Sox tickets for this past Friday night. Another college friend subsequently reported she’d be in town that weekend and asked us to go to dinner the same night—we had to decline on account of the Sox game. Well, Kerri ended up sick (🤒) so as it ended up I sat in those front-row seats (thanks, friend!) with that other friend (and my sis and bro-in-law). It was a gorgeous night, so fun to catch up, and the Sox won. Top that.
Speaking of sports, how about those Celtics and Bruins? Playoff fever! Hope it warms up enough and they stay in it long enough for us to have some fine viewing situations out back. The Bs game last night was a rough one though. Bring it Friday, boys. Yay sports. Yay summer.
Also on a sporty note…congrats to my Boston Marathon-running friends, especially those who raised a shit-ton of money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I commend your commitment, grit, determination, hard work, and mental fortitude. And I thank you for your efforts to cure an awful insidious disease.
Speaking of the Marathon, on the 10-year anniversary of the bombings…I was able to support the continued needs of those affected by that terrorism by attending a fundraising concert headlined by Zac Brown Band at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway Sunday night. Great cause, great show And great new venue.
Speaking of money…how about that Fox News payout to Dominion Voting Systems? Pretty sure paying out $787.5M but not apologizing doesn’t leave you looking innocent, though Fox News seems to think that’s the case. My thought? If every company that has $787.5M set aside for “just in case we try to destroy democracy and get caught” used some of that extra money to better society we all might be a bit better off. No?
As always, I appreciate you sharing this space with me, and more importantly I appreciate your continued support and friendship. Go Bruins. Go Celtics. (And go Red Sox, but…long season…it’s early…prospects are dim…but still I believe…)
Happy Friday Eve.
Love you too.
Stream of consciousness
“It takes a special breed to fire up a butt in a car with closed windows…” 🤣💀