Take it from someone who grew up in South Florida and suffered through dozens and dozens of tropical storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes: common sense is the last resort of Americans who have nothing left to buy or hoard. Unfortunately, that resort is at the end of a very long block of greed, panic, and fear. We have only started walking through this neighborhood, but we will get to that resort. Slowly and painfully, we will arrive at that last small plain house and realize it had everything we needed: kindness, patience, service, and abundance.
***
There are three supermarkets in this area of South Beach. One is Trader Joe's and I'm scared of going in there during normal times. The second one is Publix which is for families so...Imma stay away from that. The third one is Fresh Market...a very niche supermarket for tourists and bachelor-type residents. I went to Fresh Market this morning and looked around. Things seemed normal. The only barren shelf was the pasta section and maybe half of the basket with fresh-made bread were empty...and one section of red wine had been stripped clean. So now we know what ppl's priorities are on SoBe: pasta, bread, and red wine. I never thought a full shelf of toilet paper would be such a beacon of sanity (yes I know tourists are largely staying in hotels where the toilet paper is provided and they're not staying long enough to engage in hoarding, but don't harsh my vibe here for Fresh Market.)
***
O ne of the advantages of living in a hipster neighborhood: ppl don't know/care about crisis hoarding. The bodega across the street from my apt still has all the usual supplies. No one is running in there to buy all the toilet paper b/c...well that's stupid. Coronavirus doesn't give you diarrhea and hoarding toilet paper just means you spent more money to creates a supply shortage that will cause the price to skyrocket for everyone else: a lose-lose situation.
My most extravagant expense in the last week has been getting two electronic oral thermometers (one online and one in a store). I keep one thermometer at home, and I carry the other one in my bag. I check my temperature and the beginning and end of each day and -if I feel funny- I can take out my traveling thermometer and check. My temperature remains at 97.2 degrees. I wash my hands a lot, have one sensible bottle of hand sanitizer, one pack of disinfectant wipes, and the usual amount of cold/flu medication.
In other words, panic is not necessary. Just take the suggested precautions, be careful, maintain good hygiene, and stay away from people if you're feeling sick. I'm susceptible to allergy coughing even when I'm fine so I use a sugar-free throat lozenge when I'm in public so I don't get punched in the face for a pollen-triggered sneeze.
Earlier this week I had a painful decision: I could see what was happening in slow-motion and I have a very good friend in Vermont who let me use his barn 2 yrs ago to do a month-long meditation retreat. It did occur to me that I could just drop everything and go to Vermont. Shut down my communications, turn off my phone, spend a month in isolated meditation. And then I thought 'I could do that, but it would sort of be a dick move to float away on a pink cloud amidst conflict and strife under the guise of a spiritual practice. Meditation isn't an escape from the world, but an exercise to better engage with the world. The 1st Panchen Lama Lobsang Chukyi Gyeltsen was doing a meditation retreat when war broke out in Tibet. He could have easily stayed in retreat and said he was 'healing the world through meditation' and his mind was powerful enough that it would be true to some extent. But he immediately ended his retreat, ran out to the battlefield, and stepped in between the two warring armies. He threw his own body into the middle of a battle and stopped the destruction of Tibet. This story is told in De Lam classes to make a point. Despite all the emphasis on mediation, don't use spiritual practice as an escape from the war outside. In some ways, the war outside is the spiritual practice and some times you must throw yourself into it...fully. All the meditation and prayer is just practice for how we are going to act in the middle of a crisis. So I am throwing myself into it. I did the dramatists guild writers' group over the weekend, getting ready to review proposals for grants, meeting with ppl via skype, had a conference call meeting on Sunday with two young writers who wanted advice. Now is not the time to run away. Now is the time to step and stumble and fall and stagger into the middle of chaos and uncertainty. This won’t look graceful and zen but growing never does. It is messy and humiliating and humbling and confusing and absurd and tragic. That is the walking/living/moving meditation.
***
I'm watching the Hillary docuseries on Hulu brought me back to my childhood. We are all the product of our time and I grew up in the 80s and 90s. I remember watching the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearing after school and having that first gender epiphany: oh, it really sucks for professional women. You will be abused, questioned, knocked around, harassed, and not even get support from the majority of women. You will be doubted by all-male panels and turned into a power-hungry Lady Macbeth bitch, idiot, or slut. Anita Hill got the 'power-hungry bitch' treatment in a way that was so obvious to me -as a young child- that it felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. It was the first time I got to see male patriarchy - both Dems and Republicans- unite to destroy someone who was so obviously telling the truth and prop up a nominee who was such a blatant liar (fast forward to Kavanaugh).
A year later, the same machine kicked up against the Clintons in '92. To me, it was shocking how effortlessly the 'power-hungry bitch' theme was taken up in the DNC primary (even though Hillary wasn't running) and continued throughout the general election. Taking aside the imperfections that Clinton and everyone has, I don't know how I would react under similar circumstances. I don't know how I would react if every day, in every action I took, I was viewed as being a 'power-hungry bitch' who was deserving of violent psycho/sexual assault to put me in my place. As a black person, I do understand being viewed with suspicion and as a threat, but not with the gender threat of being raped/humiliated for speaking. I don't know how I would react if every time I gave a speech or tried to take a stand on something I knew there was 40-50% of the ppl thinking 'what a power-hungry lying asshole.' And in some ways, I get why older black women supported Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly. Because black women get the double whammy of being hated for race and gender. In every facet, there is a large percentage of people who just...don't want them in the room.
And now I look at this recent primary coverage of Elizabeth Warren (stuck-up), Kamala Harris (power-hungry), Amy Klobuchar (power-hungry) and it's hard to not feel like the same monotonous bullshit keeps getting proliferated.
Inexplicably and despite the 30+ yrs of mudslinging, I like Hillary Clinton. And I do like Bernie Sanders (chill out, Bernie supporters), Kamala Harris, and I really like Elizabeth Warren. And I guess I will deal with Joe Biden if he's the nominee and hopes he puts Stacey Abrams or Harris as his VP.
***
BERNIE BLUES
Wednesday morning...
BOOMER: “Ok boomer” what now?!?! WHAT NOW, HUH? You like that?!? Next time we’re gonna get someone who is 90 and can barely keep soup in his mouth and vote for him!! We are going to ride till the tennis balls fall off our walkers!!!
MILLENNIALS: ok...
BOOMER: Ok what? Ok what?!? Say my name, say my name like Candyman!!
MILLENNIALS: ...ok...boomer...ok...
GEN X: you guys are so dramatic.
BOOMER/MILLENNIALS: Fuck off!
GEN X: we already did.
***
There are three supermarkets in this area of South Beach. One is Trader Joe's and I'm scared of going in there during normal times. The second one is Publix which is for families so...Imma stay away from that. The third one is Fresh Market...a very niche supermarket for tourists and bachelor-type residents. I went to Fresh Market this morning and looked around. Things seemed normal. The only barren shelf was the pasta section and maybe half of the basket with fresh-made bread were empty...and one section of red wine had been stripped clean. So now we know what ppl's priorities are on SoBe: pasta, bread, and red wine. I never thought a full shelf of toilet paper would be such a beacon of sanity (yes I know tourists are largely staying in hotels where the toilet paper is provided and they're not staying long enough to engage in hoarding, but don't harsh my vibe here for Fresh Market.)
***
O ne of the advantages of living in a hipster neighborhood: ppl don't know/care about crisis hoarding. The bodega across the street from my apt still has all the usual supplies. No one is running in there to buy all the toilet paper b/c...well that's stupid. Coronavirus doesn't give you diarrhea and hoarding toilet paper just means you spent more money to creates a supply shortage that will cause the price to skyrocket for everyone else: a lose-lose situation.
My most extravagant expense in the last week has been getting two electronic oral thermometers (one online and one in a store). I keep one thermometer at home, and I carry the other one in my bag. I check my temperature and the beginning and end of each day and -if I feel funny- I can take out my traveling thermometer and check. My temperature remains at 97.2 degrees. I wash my hands a lot, have one sensible bottle of hand sanitizer, one pack of disinfectant wipes, and the usual amount of cold/flu medication.
In other words, panic is not necessary. Just take the suggested precautions, be careful, maintain good hygiene, and stay away from people if you're feeling sick. I'm susceptible to allergy coughing even when I'm fine so I use a sugar-free throat lozenge when I'm in public so I don't get punched in the face for a pollen-triggered sneeze.
Earlier this week I had a painful decision: I could see what was happening in slow-motion and I have a very good friend in Vermont who let me use his barn 2 yrs ago to do a month-long meditation retreat. It did occur to me that I could just drop everything and go to Vermont. Shut down my communications, turn off my phone, spend a month in isolated meditation. And then I thought 'I could do that, but it would sort of be a dick move to float away on a pink cloud amidst conflict and strife under the guise of a spiritual practice. Meditation isn't an escape from the world, but an exercise to better engage with the world. The 1st Panchen Lama Lobsang Chukyi Gyeltsen was doing a meditation retreat when war broke out in Tibet. He could have easily stayed in retreat and said he was 'healing the world through meditation' and his mind was powerful enough that it would be true to some extent. But he immediately ended his retreat, ran out to the battlefield, and stepped in between the two warring armies. He threw his own body into the middle of a battle and stopped the destruction of Tibet. This story is told in De Lam classes to make a point. Despite all the emphasis on mediation, don't use spiritual practice as an escape from the war outside. In some ways, the war outside is the spiritual practice and some times you must throw yourself into it...fully. All the meditation and prayer is just practice for how we are going to act in the middle of a crisis. So I am throwing myself into it. I did the dramatists guild writers' group over the weekend, getting ready to review proposals for grants, meeting with ppl via skype, had a conference call meeting on Sunday with two young writers who wanted advice. Now is not the time to run away. Now is the time to step and stumble and fall and stagger into the middle of chaos and uncertainty. This won’t look graceful and zen but growing never does. It is messy and humiliating and humbling and confusing and absurd and tragic. That is the walking/living/moving meditation.
***
I'm watching the Hillary docuseries on Hulu brought me back to my childhood. We are all the product of our time and I grew up in the 80s and 90s. I remember watching the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearing after school and having that first gender epiphany: oh, it really sucks for professional women. You will be abused, questioned, knocked around, harassed, and not even get support from the majority of women. You will be doubted by all-male panels and turned into a power-hungry Lady Macbeth bitch, idiot, or slut. Anita Hill got the 'power-hungry bitch' treatment in a way that was so obvious to me -as a young child- that it felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. It was the first time I got to see male patriarchy - both Dems and Republicans- unite to destroy someone who was so obviously telling the truth and prop up a nominee who was such a blatant liar (fast forward to Kavanaugh).
A year later, the same machine kicked up against the Clintons in '92. To me, it was shocking how effortlessly the 'power-hungry bitch' theme was taken up in the DNC primary (even though Hillary wasn't running) and continued throughout the general election. Taking aside the imperfections that Clinton and everyone has, I don't know how I would react under similar circumstances. I don't know how I would react if every day, in every action I took, I was viewed as being a 'power-hungry bitch' who was deserving of violent psycho/sexual assault to put me in my place. As a black person, I do understand being viewed with suspicion and as a threat, but not with the gender threat of being raped/humiliated for speaking. I don't know how I would react if every time I gave a speech or tried to take a stand on something I knew there was 40-50% of the ppl thinking 'what a power-hungry lying asshole.' And in some ways, I get why older black women supported Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly. Because black women get the double whammy of being hated for race and gender. In every facet, there is a large percentage of people who just...don't want them in the room.
And now I look at this recent primary coverage of Elizabeth Warren (stuck-up), Kamala Harris (power-hungry), Amy Klobuchar (power-hungry) and it's hard to not feel like the same monotonous bullshit keeps getting proliferated.
Inexplicably and despite the 30+ yrs of mudslinging, I like Hillary Clinton. And I do like Bernie Sanders (chill out, Bernie supporters), Kamala Harris, and I really like Elizabeth Warren. And I guess I will deal with Joe Biden if he's the nominee and hopes he puts Stacey Abrams or Harris as his VP.
***
BERNIE BLUES
Wednesday morning...
BOOMER: “Ok boomer” what now?!?! WHAT NOW, HUH? You like that?!? Next time we’re gonna get someone who is 90 and can barely keep soup in his mouth and vote for him!! We are going to ride till the tennis balls fall off our walkers!!!
MILLENNIALS: ok...
BOOMER: Ok what? Ok what?!? Say my name, say my name like Candyman!!
MILLENNIALS: ...ok...boomer...ok...
GEN X: you guys are so dramatic.
BOOMER/MILLENNIALS: Fuck off!
GEN X: we already did.
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