Here's the deal.. we see every faction of individuals proudly promoting their uniqueness. We see the Gay Pride Parades, the Million Man March on Washington, the KKK demonstartions...just about every contingent of different group wants to have a march or a parade to show their solidarity.
Where is the Traditional American Monogamous Heterosexual Hike to the Capital? Where are we "Americans of Heritage" and why don't we have a parade in our honor?
I have asked many folks about this. I have had a variety of responses...all of them in grand support of the idea. A few have voiced concerns that were "we" to hold such a grand display that we would necessarily invite every neo-Nazi in the country. Which, of course, would not be the idea. The only idea behind this would be a proud salute to what it means to be a traditional US citizen.
I have been thinking about who we would have as a parade Marshall. I can imagine the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, Micheal Phelps, or my friend Mike at the feed store.
Mike even has a slogan for the festival, he wants it to be "Let's Take Back America".
I think it's a good slogan, it seems we as Americans in the search for more have given away so much. Our commitment to freedom and democracy may have just let a few of our freedoms slip.
Don't get me wrong, I am still happier to be in this country than anywhere else. I just would like to have a faction to belong to and I don't. I am just a lowly, run-of-the-mill, heterosexual, monogamous, non-Hispanic, non-Mideast extremist, non-Afro person. No, I'm not a racist. I just have concerns that everyone else gets to have a parade but me.
I just want a group to belong to. A group of my very own that will speak out proudly about how much they like everyone else we are while being so different.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
I have a wonderful masseuse. She is a young lady from India. She is a single mother of two, a 17 year old daughter and a 20 year old son. She is a highly qualified and conscientious massage therapist. Which comes in handy for me as I have a variety of painful musculo-skeletal issues.
The other day she was working on my knotted and sore muscles and she started to make her recommendations. This has happened to me before. I find a masseuse, usually on the recommendation of a friend or family member. On the first visit we discuss my herniated discs and my arthritic spine. They commiserate and do their best to relieve the tension in the tight muscles. By the second visit they start to offer a few tips here and there. By the third visit the pressure is on.
I had a holistic massage therapist one a few years ago that talked me into sending off samples of my pubic hair to be tested. Which, the scientist in me knew it was a rip off but I honestly liked this woman and I didn't want to hurt her feelings or make it seem like I wasn't trying to make myself better. I researched the FDA info on the lab where the samples were sent and found out they were really not legally allowed to run analyses on hair samples in an attempt to identify or make recommendations about medical problems (something about a federal lawsuit several years ago where this particular lab got busted for ripping people off with their hair mineral analyses). What I got back from this lab was an astonishing amount of paper work. The analysis they gave me read verbatim what I had answered on their questionnaire which I returned with my sample.
For example, on the questionnaire it asked if I drank alcohol, I said yes. I said beer. The hair analysis showed, among other things, that I had extremely high aluminum levels in my blood from - you guessed it, drinking beer out of aluminum cans. Only the joke was on them cause I only drink beer from glass bottles.
Of course the lab had hundreds of dollars of supplements (formulated and packaged by them) to sell me to clear up all my mineral and chemical imbalances.
No. I did not purchase any of them. I do draw the line at some things. And I was glad I sent them my pubic hair, it almost seemed sort of fitting.
So this new masseuse. A heart of gold. Very concerned about her clients, very well intentioned. But after a few visits I figured it was time for the pressure to be applied. Here was her tactic. She explained to me during my massage this past week that "research has proven that the leading cause of death in the US is not heart disease and cancer, it is the drugs used to treat heart disease and cancer." As my mind started running for a place to hide I believe I heard her say something about it was the antibiotics used to treat those diseases that was killing everyone. She went on to say it is so sad that "...doctors don't care about curing diseases, they only care about making money."
Then I had to listen to her describe her wonderful homeopathic doctor that can cure all her illnesses with one drop of a special herbal mixture. It doesn't cost much, only $113 per visit. And the really good news is her homeopathic doctor does happen to travel to our city every Thursday so I can get an appointment with her easily.
I need to go Google and find out if homeopathy is a "real" medical degree of some sort.
I want to believe that western medicine is where the largest amount of research is being done and as such they have probably looked at a lot of different things for treatment of illnesses, including herbs and vitamins and minerals. I want to trust that medical professionals want to cure diseases because they and their families also get diseases...so why wouldn't they want to find cures? I also believe that part of the reason more people die of things like cancer and heart disease now is because, thanks to modern medicine, we are living longer than we did hundreds of years ago. We live long enough to not only get aging illnesses but to also pass our disease-prone genes along to our offspring. Its the gift that keeps on giving.
My masseuse hasn't suggested I see her chiropractor yet, but she will. I know its coming. Maybe on the next visit. Even if I say I already have one I know hers will be better.
All I wanted was a nice, soothing massage to help my tired, sore muscles relax.
The other day she was working on my knotted and sore muscles and she started to make her recommendations. This has happened to me before. I find a masseuse, usually on the recommendation of a friend or family member. On the first visit we discuss my herniated discs and my arthritic spine. They commiserate and do their best to relieve the tension in the tight muscles. By the second visit they start to offer a few tips here and there. By the third visit the pressure is on.
I had a holistic massage therapist one a few years ago that talked me into sending off samples of my pubic hair to be tested. Which, the scientist in me knew it was a rip off but I honestly liked this woman and I didn't want to hurt her feelings or make it seem like I wasn't trying to make myself better. I researched the FDA info on the lab where the samples were sent and found out they were really not legally allowed to run analyses on hair samples in an attempt to identify or make recommendations about medical problems (something about a federal lawsuit several years ago where this particular lab got busted for ripping people off with their hair mineral analyses). What I got back from this lab was an astonishing amount of paper work. The analysis they gave me read verbatim what I had answered on their questionnaire which I returned with my sample.
For example, on the questionnaire it asked if I drank alcohol, I said yes. I said beer. The hair analysis showed, among other things, that I had extremely high aluminum levels in my blood from - you guessed it, drinking beer out of aluminum cans. Only the joke was on them cause I only drink beer from glass bottles.
Of course the lab had hundreds of dollars of supplements (formulated and packaged by them) to sell me to clear up all my mineral and chemical imbalances.
No. I did not purchase any of them. I do draw the line at some things. And I was glad I sent them my pubic hair, it almost seemed sort of fitting.
So this new masseuse. A heart of gold. Very concerned about her clients, very well intentioned. But after a few visits I figured it was time for the pressure to be applied. Here was her tactic. She explained to me during my massage this past week that "research has proven that the leading cause of death in the US is not heart disease and cancer, it is the drugs used to treat heart disease and cancer." As my mind started running for a place to hide I believe I heard her say something about it was the antibiotics used to treat those diseases that was killing everyone. She went on to say it is so sad that "...doctors don't care about curing diseases, they only care about making money."
Then I had to listen to her describe her wonderful homeopathic doctor that can cure all her illnesses with one drop of a special herbal mixture. It doesn't cost much, only $113 per visit. And the really good news is her homeopathic doctor does happen to travel to our city every Thursday so I can get an appointment with her easily.
I need to go Google and find out if homeopathy is a "real" medical degree of some sort.
I want to believe that western medicine is where the largest amount of research is being done and as such they have probably looked at a lot of different things for treatment of illnesses, including herbs and vitamins and minerals. I want to trust that medical professionals want to cure diseases because they and their families also get diseases...so why wouldn't they want to find cures? I also believe that part of the reason more people die of things like cancer and heart disease now is because, thanks to modern medicine, we are living longer than we did hundreds of years ago. We live long enough to not only get aging illnesses but to also pass our disease-prone genes along to our offspring. Its the gift that keeps on giving.
My masseuse hasn't suggested I see her chiropractor yet, but she will. I know its coming. Maybe on the next visit. Even if I say I already have one I know hers will be better.
All I wanted was a nice, soothing massage to help my tired, sore muscles relax.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I Blame Gloria Steinam
This past week in Houston, two mothers locked their infants in their car. Both children died as a result of being in excessive August temperatures. Both of these mothers apparently "forgot" their children were still in the car.
My friends and I have discussed these shocking events, could you imagine the horror?! I forget a lot of things but I never forgot when my son was in the car seat. It seemed to be an overwhelming item in my life. But as I sit here and think about it I wonder what is going on. This apparently is a much more common event than we think it is. Someone told me that last summer in Houston we had 8 children die because they were forgotten and locked in a hot car.
I blame all this on Gloria Steinem. In fact, I blame a lot of things on ol' Gloria. I blame her for the fact that I have to work. I blame our high unemployment rate on her. I blame her for the fact that there so many men don't understand their role as men anymore. Our society changed after the Women's Lib movement. For many it was great. And intrinsically I believe I agree with the fact that women should be able to do whatever they want to. And for whatever they do they should be paid and appreciated for it. I believe there should be no glass ceilings. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if we women did ourselves a favor by burning our bras.
Motherhood has always been, albeit an honorable and life fulfilling job, a somewhat stressful job. When you add the stress of holding down a job on top of it it can be too much for one human brain to manage. Especially single mothers. They have so much on their plate. They can be responsible for all the bills, all the care and maintenance of the family, the health care, the entertainment, the living conditions. All the while spending 8 - 10 hours a way from the family while they hold down a job to pay for it all. Even for mothers that do have husbands I am not sure that always reduces their responsibilities or if in many cases it adds to them.
Don't get me wrong, I know there are a great many wonderful mothers, husbands and families. But a great many of mothers are on a hard road. I think I can see how someone could forget their child in a car seat. It makes me sad and I hope those mothers can find peace.
But I blame Gloria Steinem.
My friends and I have discussed these shocking events, could you imagine the horror?! I forget a lot of things but I never forgot when my son was in the car seat. It seemed to be an overwhelming item in my life. But as I sit here and think about it I wonder what is going on. This apparently is a much more common event than we think it is. Someone told me that last summer in Houston we had 8 children die because they were forgotten and locked in a hot car.
I blame all this on Gloria Steinem. In fact, I blame a lot of things on ol' Gloria. I blame her for the fact that I have to work. I blame our high unemployment rate on her. I blame her for the fact that there so many men don't understand their role as men anymore. Our society changed after the Women's Lib movement. For many it was great. And intrinsically I believe I agree with the fact that women should be able to do whatever they want to. And for whatever they do they should be paid and appreciated for it. I believe there should be no glass ceilings. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if we women did ourselves a favor by burning our bras.
Motherhood has always been, albeit an honorable and life fulfilling job, a somewhat stressful job. When you add the stress of holding down a job on top of it it can be too much for one human brain to manage. Especially single mothers. They have so much on their plate. They can be responsible for all the bills, all the care and maintenance of the family, the health care, the entertainment, the living conditions. All the while spending 8 - 10 hours a way from the family while they hold down a job to pay for it all. Even for mothers that do have husbands I am not sure that always reduces their responsibilities or if in many cases it adds to them.
Don't get me wrong, I know there are a great many wonderful mothers, husbands and families. But a great many of mothers are on a hard road. I think I can see how someone could forget their child in a car seat. It makes me sad and I hope those mothers can find peace.
But I blame Gloria Steinem.
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