I live in America, where we love us some good hate. Liberty for those who are like us is what we want, and death would be a fitting end for those who offend our pure sense of an archaic aesthetic. It’s tragic how this works for every racial/ethnic group on Earth in some way. Everyone is different and not like us unless they belong to our cult. There’s almost a hint of comedy in these groups that speak of great individualism and true freedom while practicing conformity that has no room for freedom outside of strict guidelines.
Humanism is my brand of wackiness where, delusionally, I have this half-baked idea that we are better off embracing one another, sharing knowledge, and enriching each other’s lives. Of course, I could be naive, and the conveniences of modern life could be had by enslaving minions who have no other options, but what do I know, as I’m not a white supremacist? Why is this even here on my blog today? Because Caroline found this sticker on a lamppost in our neighborhood while we were out walking in the morning.
Normally, we just walk around the block, and I tend to avoid the businesses and offices along our route as they hold nothing that appeals to me. Yes, the shops in our area are mostly worthless to us. For example, we have a local Department of Economic Security office that is a near-constant shitshow. I know this sounds harsh, but prior to the COVID shutdown, if I were to drive by (because in those times, I’d never walk along this particular stretch of road), the people who would loiter and cavort in the parking lot were not of my social group. (Hmmm, this sounds nearly as dismissive as the right-wingers I was just writing about in the paragraph above.)
So my bias and contradictory bullshit obviously put me in some kind of elitist position in which I think people of lesser means are below me – though that’s not right as I certainly believe everyone needs some help from time to time – but back to the shitshow comment before I explain the photo. My reference is about the fact that on any given day (prior to COVID), there was an obvious modus operandi at work at this facility where meth, alcohol, lack of birth control, poor education, and poor choices all around are part of the DNA of many of the applicants. True, there are always extenuating circumstances due to abuse, violence, brain damage, fetal alcohol poisoning, and various other traumas that might be influencing things, but that doesn’t excuse our society from putting people through even more bullshit by forcing them to congregate at the Church of Begging for Assistance or CBA.
This has gone way off track and is indicative of me drifting from one thing to another with little to connect the disparate elements of my wandering. Back to the photo: On the other side of the CBA is the Child Care Administration. I didn’t know this prior to walking up to check out all the signage. That’s when I was struck that between the signs about social distancing and not coming in if the visitor or their child has any symptoms of illness or respiratory distress was the sign informing visitors that guns are not allowed.
Here, you are visiting a place to request help for your children, but maybe you are packing a weapon just in case you have to leave empty-handed. You know what you came for, and you ain’t leaving without it, so you brought a loaded weapon in the off chance you have to waste the scum asshole at the desk who could deny you cash right in front of your child. The plan was to pull out the .45 and shove a bullet in their head in order to maintain self-respect and teach your child who’s the boss, except that’s not allowed here, and there’s a sign that enforces this rule.
If it wasn’t for the bees, flowers, clouds, cacti, trees, sky, stars, birds, lizards, and even the pesky flies, I’d be overwhelmed by our lack of compassion, common sense, intelligence, and passion to better ourselves. The bee is bettering the hive by selflessly taking many trips to random flowers and then tediously flying up to the uncaring stamen to collect some, not all, of the pollen. Packed onto her hind legs, the corbiculae are delivered back to her mates, where the feast ensues. At the hive, she will allow the other bees to suck the nectar she drank along its journey from her stomach, draining water and adding enzymes until only honey remains. This cooperative existence of sharing abundance works for an insect with a brain 20,000 times smaller than ours and is a testament to just how stupid we humans are.