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9:58 a.m. - 2005-03-04
I'm not sure I pledge allegiance...
J-Di, you are so right that I did not update this. Sorry. -J-Do.

Everyone else: Today I had a brief visit with a man sho looks and talks like Mr. Rodgers. It was strangely comforting. I felt like I should put my hair in pigtails and have a snack of carrots and peanut butter. It's this dude my dad knows from a class he took at my parents' church and this guy was their group leader. Well, he happens to work in my building and so I popped up there this morning to introduce myself. He was even wearing a cardigan. Is it called a cardigan when a man wears it, or is it simply, then, a sweater?

Anyway, he had this calming presence about him and when I left I felt like I'd been to the therapist or confession or something. Perhaps I'll pop in for a visit again.

Last night I went to The Person (Citizen) of the Year Award dinner for a local municipality. The Citizen of the year was actually an organization: The American Legion. So there was a lot of praying for the safety of our troops (good) and rhetoric about the importance of this war (bad) and a lot of words like "Freedom" and "Liberty" being thrown around.

Yesterday was the first day in years that I was prompted to do the "Pledge of Allegiance." Maybe this topic belongs in the social justice blog or maybe someplace else entirely, but I just have to say that I didn't feel right saying the pledge. So I didn't....To the republic, for which it stands. What does it stand for now? Anyway...probably no one feels like talking about this and probably everyone's already thought of this before...but it was the first time in years I've been put in that position and it caught me off guard.

On the topic of being caught off guard, when I ordered a club soda at the "Cash Bar", I was shocked to be asked for a buck fifty. Are you kidding me? It's soda water?! They don't even charge you for that in a bar, usually. I looked at this woman like she was nuts, and then she asked "Are you on the tab for US Steel?" the obvious answer to this question is YES. Except that is stealing. Damn that conscience. So I had to leave my refreshing beverage there while I went back to my table to fish two bucks out of my purse. Got stopped by the mayor, had a chat, got stopped by the president of the school board, had a chat, got stopped by the magistrate (what a magistrate does, I have no idea, but everyone always says "If you ever get a ticket..." Apparently the magistrate is the dude who "takes care of it" for you if you know the right folks) had a chat....by the time I got back to my refreshing sparkly beverage, the ice had melted, the sparkle was gone and it still cost me a buck fifty. Keep the change, lady. Grrrr.

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