I drove to the drive-up window of Dari Mart this morning for a half gallon of half and half creamer for my coffee (Not all in one cup). A drive-up window is so handy when you aren't presentable for a grocery store, you want your cup of Jo, and you used the last of the cream last night. (No fake creamer, it has to be half and half. Well, in a pinch, I'll use whipping cream.)
Long ago, when I worked for a dentist, 8 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday, a long morning, I would be starving around 10 o'clock, so I resorted to coffee and powdered creamer. One day, my boss filled my cup with a heap of dental plaster that was the same color as the creamer, stuck a tongue depressor in it with a sign attached: "Coffee gone bad."
I miss that guy.
Back to the drive-up window: The servers at the window give out doggie treats, and on an auspicious day it might be a piece of bacon or a sausage link—those days renew hope for Sweetpea, as most windows give out dry, stick in the throat dog biscuits that she buries under her blanket.
I gave the lady a five-dollar bill, and she handed me one penny.
I stroked the penny with my thumb and forefinger, and thought of Marie Forleo, who said she always picks up a penny from the sidewalk—to honor money—so it won't be treated as something to throw away.
As I rolled the penny around, I thought, if every person who has clicked on my website paid a penny for it, I would have $10,000. Wish on white Horses hit one million page views last week. And I have all you guys to thank for that. Thank you, thank you for sticking with me.
Of course, that doesn't mean one million people have checked in; it means I have kept at it long enough to chalk up page views.
No matter—I love my readers.
I try to give you something of worth—we'll see what happens today.
I would like to know how you guys are faring out there. People are perking along, while off in the distance, I hear the sound of freedoms crashing against the sidewalks of the United States.
I want to go on with my life, to believe in the goodness of people, that we care about our fellow men and women ("Red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. We used to sing that in Sunday School.)
The stalwart souls I'm talking about knew that people came to this country in search of a better life. ("Send us your tired, your poor, your hungry masses yearning to breathe free"). Those stalwart souls fought hard to give Immigrants—yes we can use the word Immigrants, it isn't a bad word, the freedoms they wanted for themselves.
I remember seeing an ad containing a picture of a beautiful little girl. The caption read: "A brain is a terrible thing to waste."
So, we fought for women's right to read, to be educated, to vote. We fought for Women's right to have equal pay for equal work. Lo and behold, we found that women made good doctors and other professionals. We fought for Birth control and the right of a female to own her own body when men were laughing and answering the question, "Do you have any children?" with a "I don't think so."
“Ha ha, boys will be boys.”
We knew that people came to this country so they could practice their preferred religion without incrimination. Some said, "There are many roads to God. You don't have to be a Christian to love God." Some said that the Almighty Spirit that give us breath is a loving God with no ego problem. He doesn't require adoration or sacrifice. Would He be offended if you didn't believe in Him? The same source that knows about atoms, and Quarks, and how to sling the stars in the sky.
We saw that some of our fellows were mistreated, so we marched, we lobbied, we formed a Civil Liberties Union, we kept on until we had an integrated society.
We had opposition all along, but we kept going. We saw that the immigrants were doing our hard labor, bringing food to our table, and we supported their cause.
We saw that there were Gays among us—as it has been since the dawn of humanity (read the Iliad), and we said, "Let them be how God made them."
We fought against wars we thought were unjust. We fought for animal rights, we fought against the slaughter of wild herds, and for humane animal handling.
We are good people.
And then we forgot.
P.S.
You see, how hard it is to go on when there is crashing and banging in the background?
Don't let them do that to you—Don't let them fill your brain with so much noise that you lose heart. And then you forget that there is joy in the world.
When that happens, they’ve got you.
I was going to talk about being an entrepreneur, doing what you want, and getting paid for it. We do need money to live after all.
That will have to wait for another day.
