Countdown

Well, this is it, the final few hours before life as we know it ends tomorrow... It sort of feels like that, anyway. I kind of feel like taking tomorrow off work and staying in bed under the covers. It won't help, but I'd feel better if I did. Kind of like curling up with a hot water bottle and chicken soup when you're feeling lousy. Because I'm feeling lousy right now. And I bet a lot of other people are too. I wouldn't blame the Obamas at all if they just slopped around in their pajamas and didn't go anywhere tomorrow.


About 600 Canadians are on their way on buses to march on the White House, ostensibly to champion women, but probably also to just protest Trump. And much as I dislike him myself, I don't feel good about people from one country protesting the outcome of another country's democratic process. a) It's not their business, and b) the natural result of democracy is that sometimes you pick a winner and sometimes you pick a lemon. But the process is the point. We're lucky to have a voice and a choice, and although you may be unhappy with the outcome, you still have to respect the process. So I'm not joining the march or wearing a pink hat or any of the other things that are going on, even though some may say that means I don't support the cause of women. I still believe in treating women kindly and respectfully. I believe in treating all people that way. Including, I suppose, the incoming President. If you start picking and choosing who to treat nicely or who to treat differently, you diminish yourself.


The best sermon I ever heard was given by a twenty-something young man who had struggled with addiction, mental illness, and homelessness. He stood up in church and said simply that we needed to love everyone and treat them kindly and not pull away from them just because they may be a little bit dirty, or a little bit drunk, or a little bit sad. I'd never really thought about the way I viewed homeless people before, but after that brief but powerful talk I have looked at homeless people---all people---differently. I watch for that boy's face in their faces. They are all my siblings. They are all me. And even though it gives me the shivers to think it, so is Donald Trump. So I need to try to be kind and hopeful and compassionate to all the people around me who are also feeling lousy about tomorrow.


I still might take the day off, though.