This Is Why Donny Is POTUS

As much as I'd like to believe that the country will heal itself from the current state of affairs, I'm constantly let down by humanity when I read about bad decisions made by my fellow countrymen and women. The latest disappointment is with the folks in North Carolina who just gave their absentee ballots for the midterm election to a woman who showed up their front doors asking for them. Since when do election ballots get picked up at your door??? Uh...never? But the folks who handed their ballots over without ever questioning the woman who came to collect them are just another reason why Donny is POTUS. People aren't thinking about the decisions they're making, they're not educating themselves on how government works, or they're just plain apathetic. Why should I take my ballot to the mailbox or post office when there's a nice white woman here to collect it for me? It really is sad. There's such a wealth of information out there now, definitely more available to people via the Internet than we had access to when I was younger, yet people seem to be dumber than ever. The terrible writing skills that I read on a daily basis when people tweet or comment online are enough to make me shake my head in pity. Yes, I'm being harsh, but a little harshness is needed right now. We can't crawl out of the hole we've created for ourselves until we understand the problems at hand and work to rectify those problems. Believe what you want, but understand why you believe what you do and educate yourself on how the world works.

Widows

I saw the film Widows over the weekend and enjoyed it mainly for the backstory involving Chicago corruption. (The widows were good also and a shout out to Viola Davis's canine companion, Olivia, the Westie that stole every scene she was in, but I digress.) Although I'm not a native of the Chicago area, I've lived here for five years now after leaving Brooklyn and I've grown to understand more and more how the Chicago machine works. There's corruption and then there's Chicago-style corruption. There are too many people vying for power in this city. The whole story line in Widows that involved the white alderman going against a black candidate for control of a ward was good stuff to watch on screen and had more than a ring of truth to it. I remember during the primaries when I got a text from some Democratic organization asking if I'd support JB Pritzker for governor. I promptly texted back that I wouldn't because JB was part of the "machine" along with Rahm, Blago, and others. Not surprisingly, I didn't get a text back. I didn't vote for JB in the primary, but he ended up being the Democratic nominee anyway. (Enough already with the millionaire candidates.)

Post-Thanksgiving Greetings

I returned to my hometown of Detroit over the Thanksgiving holiday and had a nice time visiting family and eating my way through the Motor City. One thing I was glad to see during my visit was work being done on the streets in my old neighborhood. It's good to see tax dollars at work paving streets that are in dire need of repair. Good things are happening in Detroit, albeit slowly. Still, any progress is a step in the right direction.

In other news, I saw two movies recently, one via Netflix and the other at the actual movie theater.

Can You Ever Forgive Me is the true story of a writer who started forging letters by famous people in order to sell them for cash. It's a great movie starring Melissa McCarthy as writer Lea Israel. McCarthy is wonderfully terrible in the film and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I told my sister that the moral of the story was that New York real estate will drive you to a life of crime! When you need to make the rent and you're short on funds, desperation sets in. Take it from someone who lived there. The rent is no joke in New York. Oy!

The second movie I saw was The Greatest Showman. I only really wanted to see this to watch the always attractive Zac Efron, but I was left disappointed by the film. There was too much bearded lady and not enough Zac. Plus, Zac got beat up near the end and his lovely face was injured. He should have yelled "not the face" when the mob came after him. Aside from Zac being beaten, the music wasn't great either. It was far too "Disney-esque" for me. There wasn't one song I liked or even remembered when the movie ended. Well, they can't all be winners, can they? I'd like to see Zac go against the grain and do something dark and gritty. Maybe in his later years he'll do that. One can hope.

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve and Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone since I doubt I'll post tomorrow. Enjoy the holiday. Hopefully you'll spend the holiday with people you enjoy and/or doing something you enjoy. If you enjoy sleeping and eating and have a day off (as I do), then good for you. I had a stressful beginning of the week (I really need to think about getting a new day job...but that's another story for another time), but I fully intend to shake that drama off and enjoy my time off from work. I also plan to get some writing done. The book I've been working on has been sorely neglected and there's only one person to blame for that: ME. But that also is another story for another time. For now, I'm going to enjoy being thankful, relax, try not to think about annoying things like Donny T., and try to enjoy a little down time.

Cashless

I read an article today on NY Magazine's site about restaurants that don't accept cash. These businesses are card-only. I recently went to a restaurant that also only accepted credit and debit cards: Dos Toros! (Tasty tacos folks! If you're in downtown Chicago and you like hearty tacos, check them out!) I'm not someone who likes the idea of a restaurant or any business refusing to accept cash. As someone who's old enough to remember when debit cards didn't exist and credit cards were used for large purchases like appliances and furniture, I still feel weird about using a card for a purchase that's under $20. I really don't like to use a card for lunch. I do it on occasion (and at Dos Toros!), but I feel that small purchases (like a burger and fries, a sandwich, or a latte) should be paid for with cash. Not a card. Not Apple Pay. Cash. How can businesses legally refuse to accept legal tender? Apparently they can, but I don't get it. The NY Magazine article touched on the fact that some people don't have debit and/or credit cards or Apple Pay because, for whatever reason, they're unbanked. Yes, now you can go and buy yourself a pre-paid credit card at Walgreens or CVS, but those cards usually come with a fee. The card costs money. I recently purchased a $25 Visa gift card for someone and ended up paying nearly $30 for it. So imagine someone who lives primarily on cash and probably doesn't have much of it on hand to pony up an additional fee just to get a pre-paid credit card. The article made a point that many of the places seem to be putting forth the idea that not everyone should have access to their goods. Cashless places aren't for the unbanked. They're for people who have credit and debit cards and Apple Pay.

Call me old-fashioned (I don't care), but I like paying cash for some things and now, with all of the skimming devices, I'm back to paying cash primarily for gas. Forget that pay at the pump stuff. I got skimmed at a gas station in Michigan a few years ago and someone made a replica of my credit card. If I had just paid cash for gas during my Thanksgiving trip that year, this wouldn't have happened. I'll be heading back to Michigan for the holidays and, once again, I'll be paying cash for gas. (Yes, I could still get ripped off in some other way, but it won't be for gas!)

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

One of the good things that came out of Tuesday's election was that Kentucky Kim Davis wasn't reelected to discriminate against same sex marriage seekers in the state. I can't even express how happy I was to read that news. This woman who, unfortunately, shares a name with me, should have stepped down or been booted from her position a long time ago but there's sweet justice in seeing her voted out of office. Good riddance to bad rubbish and let's hope Kentucky Kim fades into obscurity and stops defaming my name.

Vote!

Are you ready for election day next Tuesday, November 6? I know I am! I'm just ready for the campaign commercials to stop airing. Oy! I can't even watch the news without being inundated with political ads. But, in spite of the annoying ads, we all must do our part and vote. I voted a week ago via early voting in my city, but if you can't vote early, then definitely get out and vote on election day. Send a message! Have your voice heard! I can be overly cynical about a lot of things, but I'm not cynical when it comes to voting. It's a right and a privilege. Do you know how many people live in places where they can't vote? No politician is perfect and no government can do all things for all people, but we have a system of government here in the United States that's a lot better than it is in a lot of other places. We're very fortunate to live in a democracy. (I almost typed democrazy and I know it feels like Crazytown around here a lot of the time lately especially with Donny T. at the helm, but I digress.) Get out and vote on Tuesday!