Friday, July 10, 2020

Rules? What rules?


Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week 6 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

My “Secret Subject” is:

We enter a second quarantine, this time with you only being allowed to have essentials items sent in by drone. The drone can only deliver a week’s worth of food and it can’t weigh more than 20 lbs. What is the drone bringing you?

It was submitted by: https://crazymamallama.blogspot.com/


****I just want to clarify that I know the person sending this in didn't intend to rile anyone up, and it's an interesting prompt. And I do probably sound angry. I'm angry at my state government. I'm angry at my family. I'm angry at the federal government. I'm angry that people keep dying at the hands of cops.  I'm angry that last week I saw someone shot to death at a protest and a few days later the live streamer I watched got hit by a car going 80 mph...while there were hundreds of people tuned in and then they had to make their account private because people kept cheering over another protestor's deaths and wishing death on them. I'm angry that so many people willfully ignore why protests have to happen and care more about whether they're inconvenienced slightly than why the police kill Black people at 2.5 times the rate of white people, and that it opens the door for people to be openly and grossly racist and kill or attempt to kill protesters creating a cycle of violence.

I'm not ok. We're not ok.
_________________

I live in Georgia.

I suppose what we're in right now is a second wave of coronavirus, but our numbers never really dipped enough for that to be realistic. Our governor, who stole the election in the first place, waited until too late to take things seriously which both influenced the populace to also not take it seriously and made it harder to control our numbers. And now he's pretending everything is fine even as we increase 3400 cases a day.

The point is that even under the strict circumstances outlined in this prompt, I would give anything to have an actual quarantine at all, for businesses to close until it's safe and for allocating my 20lbs a week to be my biggest source of stress since I need more weight than that in dog and cat food and cat litter alone than to be worried about dying and leaving my kid with no one.

But I'm not going to get that.

I have to worry every day about some asshole who won't wear a mask meaning my death. Mask wearing isn't about wearing one to protect yourself. It's about fucking wearing one to save everyone else and so we can get back to some semblance of normalcy. Other countries have done it for a long time to prevent an individual from getting others sick. Why don't we wear them during flu season, you might ask? I don't know maybe because we value individual feelings and faux freedom over the safety and freedom of everyone. Other countries have been doing it since their populations actually, you know, give a shit about other people. I don't know how to explain to callous, selfish pricks how to care about other people enough to shut the fuck up with the conspiracies and whining and politics and Wear. A. Goddamn. Mask. You. Soggy. Piece. Of. Toast. How did we get an entire couple generations of adults who are basically ready at all times to do "whatever it takes" to protect America unless that means wearing a mask?

If you think I'm talking about you, I probably am.

20 lbs? I am poor. I cook a couple times a week with few ingredients already because I have a tight budget. 20 lbs a week to feed my family is nothing. This week alone I've made two big meals (taco stuffed peppers and chili mac) that pretty much last all week long and for much less than 20 lbs given what I already had on hand. That part--the budgeting and scrimping and creativity--is what poor people have always done. Ribs, brisket, lobster, cereal, grits...we've always made do with what we could get and made it taste so amazing that within a generation everyone wants it and the price is driven up. Lobster used to be a poor man's dish. So give me 20lbs just for food and I'm good. I got this. I will make these rules my bitch.

But pet supplies? COFFEE? Oh god I have to have ginger ale. Got to have weed....

Honestly, you let me go without coffee too long while my pets slowly starve, and I'm going to beat the shit out of the first rich person I can find and make them let me have their deliveries. We all know they won't face the same stipulations anyway. Put people in a bind like this, and they will fight for life. I would.

Fuck around and find out.

_________________________



Baking In A Tornado  https://www.bakinginatornado.com/2020/07/word-play-or-nay-secret-subject-swap.html?fbclid=IwAR3c8aQ_ZewSsCUsTCgTH3EsQkuK22FRfm2815zLcDez7K0Otj0xg5qPxHc

Wandering Web Designer https://wanderingwebdesigner.com/blog

A ‘lil HooHaa https://hoohaa.com/?p=14917&fbclid=IwAR373-TroknNunp-Mb8oLnGaV8jIEj9ki-e51nA8afoSEUpaoZ9TFbJ20Lo

3 comments:

  1. Amen. To all of it. I live in a state where there never was a shut down, our numbers stayed low until public outrage resulted in private clinics testing, public testing started and just when we started to see where we really stand, they started closing test sites. It's disgusting what we've become (or what we've always been, maybe it's just that my eyes have been semi closed). I knew there were these kids of people in our country, I had just grossly underestimated their numbers.

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  2. 20lbs is only 9kg, not much food for an entire week. I guess I would have to plant my own produce, and quickly. Coffee is non-negotiable, and I know if you have pets you will put them first.
    Hang in there, Jenniy ♥

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  3. This is me standing up cheering *loudly*! Oh God this is why I love you. I could not agree more. I am so shocked and stunned and really pissed. You know where I went today? To get a Covid test. I've worn my mask everyday. I have washed my hands until they are raw and this week I got sick. The only thing I can think of is my landlord stopped by and didn't wear a mask. I"m furious. I'm angry about the state of our country. I still have nightmares seeing George Floyd beg for his life, or Aubry taking an afternoon jog. I wish I could move to Canada, but like you I'm stuck living in the means of my income. 20 lbs we'd be eating like kings!

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