Overheard at Table 4: Father's Day

Lucky Moran: I hate Father's Day


Otis Redwing: Why?  All you get are ties?


Lucky: No.  Nobody's bought a tie since 2005.  At least not for anything but job interviews or funerals.


Otis Redwing:  Which you have said before are much like the same thing.


Lucky:  Yeah, every time I go on a job interview I'm mourning the loss of the hope of all advancement.  But the reason I hate Father's day, really is because of all the deadbeat dads out there.


Otis:  How so?


Lucky: Because they make everything so freaking aMA-zing.  For Father's Day my kids are like, "gee dad thanks for sticking around all these years"  I mean, my 17 year old last night said, "Thanks dad for never beating us" and I said, "Most dad's don't beat their children, son" and he said, "You'd be surprised"


Otis: Actually, he's right.


Lucky: See?  So that's why I hate Father's Day.  I get lauded for just doing the basics, the bare minimum, and guys who are totally crap dads probably get some sort of recognition for being a little bit less of an asshole than they normally are.  It's sucks.   It's like why have it anyway.


Otis: Damn, man you're depressing.


Lucky:  So what are your kids getting you for Father's Day.


Otis: They're going in on a new Sea-Doo.   It's my present for always telling them the Wi-Fi password.

Overheard at Booth 3: The Father of Saudis

Saw on Twitter this weekend a discussion about a picture of the Saudi King, who had some guy changing his slippers to shoes right before Donald Trump came in.   Really interesting, how one person tweeted that the old guy should be able to change his own shoes, and then there was this long string of replies about how Saudi culture respects the elderly, how the king is considered Father of the Saudis, how it is an honour to serve the king, how you have to understand Saudi culture to understand the depth of their gratitude and their love.


Man, I wanted to jump in but I just couldn't.   There was a cultural divide that I couldn't bridge.  I wanted to say that the difference is that here in America we do not bow to a King, we only bow to the the One True God.


But then, I realized that's just a fantasy that I believed when I was growing up.  A fairy story that they taught us to keep us in line and to get us all choked up on the Fourth of July.   Now, we just worship money and power.


Sort of like the Saudis.  But at least they still have the comfort of their fantasy.  And that must be nice, on some level.

Overheard at Table 2: This Schniz

4 young ladies sitting at the table, one points to her phone screen:


1: Check out this schniz


2: That IS the schniz


3: Total schniz.


4: Right .... wait.  OK, what exactly is schniz, anyways?


2: It's ... well, it's ...schniz


3:  Yeah, right.  Schniz is schniz.


1: [points to her phone screen] THAT ... is the schniz.


4: [shrugs] OK.  If you say so.

Overheard at Table 3: M and E Discuss Mutant Jeans

M: It's Friday why don't you wear jeans?


E: I don't have any jeans.


M: Yes you do.  Everybody has jeans.


E: I got a little too fat, so I outgrew all my jeans/


M: You know they make jeans in all body types.  Plus you DO have genes, in every cell of your body.


E: I want mutant genes.


M: Like Jean Grey.


E: She had very nice mutant genes.  But you know, I never thought they casted her right in any of the movies.


M: I thought Famke Jannsen was a good cast.


E: But Logan, wow, that was good casting.


M: Yeah, he was made for that role, but man after playing Wolverine for 20 years don't you think he got tired?


E: I think he made his last.


M: I couldn't stand how all the movies start to run together.  One is called "Wolverine" and another is called "THE Wolverine," after awhile you can't tell them apart.


E: I was telling my son, when I was his age and reading the comics I never thought they could come to the big screen, but I guess technology finally caught up to the fantasy.


M: Yeah, and now we can't tell which is which!

Overheard at Table 2: SB4 and Profiling

M: So, now with SB4 as law, all Texas cops get to profile anyone driving while Hispanic.

K: People profile all the time.  It's normal.


M: No it's not.  Why should an Hispanic have to drive around with their papers while white people like us don't have to.  Everyone should do it or no one should do it.


K: Who are the majority of the people here illegally.


M: [a pause]


K: Thought so.  If that's the target group, then the ones who are here illegally have to put up with the inconvenience. Sorry.  It's just like who we leave our kids with.  We're much more easy to leave our kids with a woman than with a man, even if it's family.  Why?  Because men commit most of the crimes of abuse against children.  So, we automatically profile if Cousin Freddy offers to watch our kids, we're much more willing to say, no thanks I'll ask Aunt Barbara.  Is that fair to Cousin Freddy?  Hell no, but he's got to put up with it because of all the other men out there who've ever beaten a child.


M: Women can commit child abuse.


K: My point is that we automatically PROFILE.  I didn't say it's right on an individual case-by-case basis, I'm saying it's a necessity for the whole of society.


M: Well, society sucks.


K: Suck it up, buttercup.  You enjoy living here, don'tcha?

Rise up

It is time now to rise up.
Raise your voice.
Lift your hands to the sky.
Get to your feet and stand for something greater than yourself.


When you rise, you do not rise for yourself.
You rise for those who cannot speak for themselves.
You rise for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
You rise up for those who live in the shadows.


Rise up.
Now is the time is
now.
















MR
2017-0516

The soft light through the window upon the open pages...