Overheard at Table 3: Do you drink?

"Do you drink?" she asked.


"If there is alcohol in the vicinity," he answered.


"Do you drink more than two nights in a row?" she asked.


"I want to be a writer," he answered.  "Of course I drink more than two nights in a row."


"If there is alcohol in the vicinity?"


"Yes.  If there is alcohol in the vicinity."

Overheard at Table 1: Gaza

It's a strange thing to be alive today, in Houston, so far from the Middle East, from Israel, from Gaza, and to hear the news, the strange news, the strange news, about the deaths of protesters, the deaths of children.  Protesters, armed with slingshots and rocks, being gunned down by soldiers with bullets made in the US of A.   ....

and then to hear the news blame their deaths on Hamas.  Hamas, the terrorist organization, that has long called for the death of Israel.  Terrorist organization, yes, definitely, certainly, there's no good there.  None.  We get that.  It's settled. 

But Hamas didn't put an American bullet in a child's head.  Hamas didn't force the Israeli soldiers to fire on the crowd.  Heck, it seems like even this time, Hamas didn't even really incite the protests.

The protests were incited by the US of A moving its embassy to Jerusalem.  A move that is merely symbolic.  A move that sends a message to the Palestinians, very clearly, that every word every American ever said about peace in the region is a lie.  A flat out lie.

Palestinians knew it was a lie, surely, but they had hope.  For a long time, they had the thinnest amount of hope, that possibly, just possibly, the US of A would talk to Israel, to have them observe some modicum of restraint.  To stop building so many illegal settlements, to stop killing protesters, all the time.

All that is gone now.  Gone now that the Trump's pretty blond daughter and Trump's money man opened the embassy.  So strange how the main representatives of the US Government were the daughter of the Commander-in-Chief (with no qualifications of her own) and the Secretary of the Treasury.   The Treasury.   Surely that means something.

It's all about the Benjamins, amirite?

But now, today there are people dead.  Some say 28, some say 58, some even say 90.   Some say 6 are children.  It's really hard to know how many people are dead, but we just know that they ARE dead.  And they would NOT be dead - most likely - if what has happened on THIS day had NOT happened.

Had the US of A not moved their embassy, these people would not be dead.  At least not on this day.

Tomorrow they will be forgotten.  Next week there will be some other tragedy.   But there will be families that will always remember the dead on this day, and on the lessons learned.

And at the end of it wall, what does it say about the message of Love and Salvation of Jesus Christ.

It says nothing at all.

What it says is that Christ does not love Palestinians.  What it says is that the people who proclaim Christ feed Israeli soldiers the bullets and the guns and the missiles and the tanks and the airplanes that they use to kill Palestinians.   That's all.

And Christ is mute in the Holy Land.

This Holy Land that slides into the sea under the weight of Palestinian blood.

Overread at Table 2: Poem "Caravan"

Overheard at Booth 4: Facebook Postings

A Mom, a Dad, and their Daughter are seated at Booth 4.

All three are on their phones.

Mom suddenly says, "Oh my GAWSH!  Look at this!" and she passes the phone to show her daughter.

Dad says, "Show me."

Mom says, "No, you can't see it."

Daughter says, "Oh my GAWSH!"

Dad says, "Why can't I see it?"

Mom says, "Because you don't need to see it."

Daughter says, "It's just a woman sliding down a water slide and her pants come off."

Dad says, "Right, like I've never seen a woman with her pants falling off!"

Mom says, "Honey!"

Daughter says, "Dad!  Eww!"

Overread at Booth 5: LinkedIn Messenger

LinkedIn Messenger




A message from a friend,
through LinkedIn.  Hadn't heard from him in years,
but he responded to my prompted "congrats" on the
work anniversary.
He's still in Shanghai, the wife has a good
job with GM there,
they've been there for ten years.


He says they don't really want to come back,
what with everything on the news these days.


I tell him about how my wife's co-workers,
engineers, professionals, guys she's worked with
for five years, suddenly speaking in unencumbered voices,
about how the Hispanics should all go back to their countries.


My wife doesn't speak out at work anymore.
Her Latin American accent would be like a flare
shot into the powder keg of these dark skies.








MR
2018-0321

Overheard at Table 4: Daughter and Dad

Dad: So, how was your 21 party in NOLA?


Daughter: It was wild, Dad.  I really don't know how you took Mom there.


Dad: When the sun went down, we hid in our hotel room.


Daughter: I mean, it was wild!  Even too wild for even me!


Dad: You're not going to go into details with me, right?


Daughter: Of course not!  But it was kinda funny, when I checked into our hotel in the French Quarter, I asked the lady where was the nearest Chik-Fil-A and Target.  She said, "Girl!  What suburb are you from?!"


Dad: Yes.   Daughter, nothing screams WHITE GIRL like asking for Chik-Fil-A and Target.  My God, you're in New Orleans!  Some of the greatest restaurants in the country?


Daughter: But it's all fish and crawfish!  I'm allergic to seafood.


Dad: They have non-fish gumbos, all sort of things.  And Target?  What the heck?


Daughter: I forgot my hair straightener.  I wanted to pick up another one.


Dad: I'm amazed you were able to make it there and back.

Overheard at the Counter: MR talks about St Patrick's Day 2018

MR:

 

OK, so it's La na Phadraig and I’m at Home Depot buying wood for slats for the bed in the guest bedroom upstairs, and as I'm walking through this crowded hellhole, I see a handful of people are decked out in crazy Irish wear, but at least it’s not as bad as I used to see it in high school or even a decade ago.  All this, “If you don’t wear green you’ll get pinched.” 

I remember a time when it used to be, “If you don’t wear green you get kissed.”  At the time they said that I was in grade school and I always wear green because who wants to be kissed by a girl, right?  But then a few years go by and you’re in high school and yeah, it’d be frikkin’ awesome if you get kissed by some random girl, so once I didn’t wear green on St Patrick’s Day and nobody did a damn thing.  Not a kiss, not a pinch, nothing.

 

So these people here at Home Depot: like the man from India with the big belly and the Irish Flag t-shirt, and the six foot tall girl with the Irish flag sticking out of her hair, wearing shamrock socks all the way up to her knees, or this old white guys with shamrock stickers slapped to each of his cheeks, these are the true holdouts.  At first, I want to pinch them, pinch them awake.  “Stop doing that!”  I want to say, “No one in Ireland would wear such shite!”

 

But then, as I go to the aisle with the wood and start pulling out the 10' long slats and look around for the place to cut them, I starting thinking, heck, let the people who are wearing the goofy clothes wear the goofy clothes.   So few people adhere to any traditions any more.  Everything is watered down and debilitated.  The ones who continue wearing crazy shit for traditions that never really existed in the first place, those people, for all their ridiculous dress, are the bravest of us all.  

Almost makes me want to go toast them with a green beer.  But that's insulting to Ireland.  Only Americans drink green beer on St Patrick's Day.