Before I say what I sat down to say, some background info.
I have been in the corporate world since I was 15. Non stop. The only time I wasn't working was when I had babies, and I took my whopping 8 weeks off, and when I lost my job in 2009 with everyone else. I have a degree in Small Business Management, and have worked in mom and pops, huge corps, and everything in between. I have worked in oil and gas, accounting, marketing, administrative, legal, communication, the arts, retail, wholesale, trucking, international trading, financial, and agricultural services. That just about spans the gamut of the facets of business.
I have been an artistic person for ever. And artsy people don't always mix well with the corporate world. I have been very successful doing so, thanks in part to my die-hard work ethic, chart full of Capricorn, and my experiences as a divorced/single mom supporting her kids. I have HAD to bite my tongue so friggin much over the years. And because I started working so young, I think I learned very early on that my opinion was not wanted. Often my opinion would be spoken by others (usually others who are male) and received with adulation. But at any rate, I learned as a young woman to shut up and do my job. That also resulted in my shrinking myself down to fly below the radar. My being small made other people happier.
It worked fine until I was in my 40s. I started shedding hair and fucks at an equal pace.
And at some point I just couldn't get in the box anymore. No matter how "safe" or "stable" the box appeared to be, I couldn't cram my glittery ass in to it anymore.
So even as I've developed this brand of mine, this brand of "give no fucks" and speak your mind, and own your inner bitch...I censor myself so much in order to make other people comfortable. I catch myself doing this and sometimes I even bounce it off of my partner, Patrick. Should I shut up? No one cares...
His reply: "fuck it, babe. You do you."
So to that end, here we go. I know that everything about Covid-19 is somehow controversial. Is it real or a fake conspiracy? Do masks help or are they useless? Or are they even harmful? Should we stay closed or open? Is the government benevolent or evil? Is it a vaccine or a plot? People literally argue about every fucking thing. And I'm kinda over it. Ultimately, the kind thing to do is not always the easy thing to do. Kindness sometimes means thinking of others before yourself, even if you don't like it. You don't have to bite your tongue like I did, but you also could just simmer the hell down and do the kind thing.
I am so tired of people talking about oppression and losing their rights.
To be clear, do people even know what “oppression” means?
Your freedoms haven’t been stripped. You can believe and preach and discuss whatever you want. Churches have had drive in and virtual services. Your freedoms are intact. God ain’t goin anywhere and isn’t attached to an address.
Honestly the way things are opening makes zero sense - some restaurants are open. I saw an open antique store downtown ...wtf is essential about that? But hairdressers are a no?
So I get that some people are pissed and frustrated. It’s all weird and random.
Let’s talk about “censorship”. Yes Facebook is taking down some posts and it’s stupid AF. breastfeeding women are bad. Discussions of the patriarchy are bad. But half naked women are ok? No! Fb is on crack.
But Facebook isn’t your only means of communication y’all. You can have a blog or a website and say whatever you want. The state isn’t filtering your “news”. Our news is delightfully and ridiculously unfiltered and unedited (and often unintelligent. Lol)
But my point- let’s stop throwing around chatter about oppressing our rights and censorship
We are still the free-est friggin country in the world. we are still a bunch of rebels who push envelopes. And that’s what makes us ‘muricans. But let’s stop whining so gd much.
There’s a big difference between “oppression” and inconvenience.
It’s Memorial Day. People laid down their lives, and continue to, so that we can say and believe whatever the hell we want. God bless our nutty country.
Don't agree? Ok. Don't care? OK. Love you anyway.