Discussing the plight of service workers with my friend, Becky, I shared what I’d learned from Kate Raworth’s book, that the stock market performance did not equate to better circumstances for low-paying employees. Becky wondered aloud (paraphrased), “if the well-paying factory jobs are not returning, how will these people’s well-being improve?”
Edith Andersen
Welcome to my blog of ruminations and essays.
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When Tim and I moved into a 1,100ft2 flat in Colorado, it took some getting used to. Actually, it was frightening. Everywhere I looked, behind me, left, or right, there was my husband. “Tim,” I said, “this is not going to work.” Instead of agreeing—though surely he must— he said, “well, let’s see how it goes.”
Why do we cry? Sitting with a group of women, my friend, Ruth, commented on the recent impeachment hearings. She said that seeing women step up and speak to power brought tears to her eyes. The rest of us didn’t respond right away. We lacked the words to describe how her words affected us — a feeling plucking at our heartstrings.
Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist, says that “time and again our mind makes up all kinds of shit that has no basis in reality.” Our perceptual world, how we see things, is dramatically influenced by our brain and filtered by experiences.
OK, Boomer, a catchphrase and now an internet meme, landed on my radar, not with a thud but intrigue. A few days earlier, Isobel, my 17-year-old granddaughter said, “They should not say OK, Boomer to you. You are one of the good ones.” The #OKBoomer was spreading like wildfire encouraged by strong winds and high temperatures. I wanted to know more. But first, who are the Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y? They are our children or grandchildren born between 1980 and 2000.
Some of my women friends don’t want anything to do with the feminist label. One friend ended our relationship after she learned I took part in the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. They equate feminists to man-haters. But can they explain to me why it doesn’t ruffle their feathers when boys are told not to act like a girl? What’s so bad about girls? When you combine pink and blue, you have purple. Can’t we be purple people?
You’ve probably heard the expression, dog eats dog world. A phrase on a popular t-shirt in Michigan was Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten. That’s not my perception of humans or a world I embrace. So how do we counter the dog eats dog world?
