Kroger

Parents everywhere are holding their kids a little closer before sending them off to school this morning. Yesterday’s shooting in Winder, Georgia was a grim reminder, just as the school year is getting started, that schools are not the safe place they once were. We have no guarantee when we put them on a bus in the morning that we’re going to see them again that afternoon. Despite shooting after shooting, there is no resolve across America to take any definitive action to stop the problem. Local officials had investigated after the then 13-year-old made threatening statements against the school last year, but laws were too weak to support making an arrest at the time. And here we are, again, going through the motions of grieving, offering empty thoughts and prayers to parents and families who want to know why this keeps happening.

Georgia wasn’t the only place where danger was felt yesterday, though. A man was shot and killed in his own home yesterday around 1:00 PM, just across the street from the kids’ school. The email we received from the school reads: “Moving forward, we are implementing additional measures to enhance the security around our school. These actions include increased monitoring of the surrounding area, close collaboration with local authorities, allowing students to stay inside the building during dismissal until parent pick-up, and reviewing our safety protocols to ensure maximum effectiveness.”

While it was nice to receive some reassurance from the school, there are still questions unanswered. At the top of our minds is what, if anything, is being done to keep kids safe as they’re waiting for public transit to pick them up. A significant number of students ride IndyGo both going to and leaving the school. Their school isn’t the only one that utilizes the public transit system, either. In fact, Tipper mentioned again yesterday afternoon that the bus driver taking them to school yesterday morning was concerned that he might get in trouble because there were too many students on his bus for it to be safe. Bus drivers have complained and requested booster buses be added to the schedule, but nothing has been done. Just traveling to and from school is putting our kids in danger.

Politicians and school administrators are always quick to tell us that our kids are important to them. Where’s the evidence? A list of mass killings just this year is too long. This is an election year, the one time we can do something that might lead to a change in the number of shootings at schools, churches, and shopping areas. If you have any questions about that matter, I can promise you that the Felon isn’t going to risk upsetting Second Amendment supporters. I’m not convinced Democrats will do any better, either, because they haven’t. Regardless of what anyone says, the lack of concrete action proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that our kids really are not that important to them.

I don’t know what else to say. I’ve sat here before and ranted on the subject and it never does anyone any good. Nothing ever changes.

One fact I do know: I’m not getting any better. The evidence for that statement came yesterday when I asked Kat to drop me off at our local Kroger. Yeah, I know, Kroger is a big-time price gouger, and they’re trying to convince everyone that their merger with Albertson’s is going to lower prices for consumers. The problem is that Kroger is the only local store that carries sugar-free bread. No one else has it. Trying to order anything online from Kroger is a pain in the ass. There are always too many substitutions and the ending price never seems to line up with what you were anticipating. So, Kat dropped me off while she ran to Aldi’s. I picked up her prescriptions, my bread, some milk, and a couple of other things we needed. I was in the store for maybe twenty minutes.

I should have left ten minutes sooner. I was just leaving the milk aisle when I began feeling light-headed. I looked around for a place to sit and rest, but there wasn’t one. There never is in a grocery store. So, I kept going. Kat picked me up, we came home, and we started putting the groceries away. Twice I came close to falling. By the time I made it back to the recovery room, I was so dizzy I couldn’t see. I fell into bed and passed out. I ended up staying close to bed for most of the rest of the day. Even this morning, I can feel the pressure behind my eyes telling me to take it easy. Today’s another day where I don’t need to be doing anything more strenuous than walking across the hall.

My friend Rich had his port put in yesterday. He has another CT scan today and then the radiation starts. He’s in for a long road to recovery.

My friend Emily is resting at home after her surgery last week, and that’s where she’ll stay for a few weeks. One doesn’t just bounce back from body-altering surgery.

Another Facebook friend, who I’ve not met in person, is waiting for results back from a biopsy. She’s not expecting good news.

September is Leukemia Awareness Month. The blood cancer generally occurs in adults over age 55, but it is also the most common form of cancer in children under 15. This is supposed to be a disease that one dies with, not from. There are plenty of people who have recovered well and are going on living happy, busy lives. But we learned from Poppa’s situation over twenty years ago that not everyone gets a happy ending. Cancer is always going to suck. Right now, it’s sucking pretty damn hard.

Sitting here at my desk every morning, I read through some important news stories.  US warned Nippon its U.S. Steel bid poses a national security risk. Pope Francis calls for climate change action during Istiqlal Mosque visit. Wildfire destroys 20% of Brasilia forest, arson suspected. These are all important stories that unquestionably will affect our future. Yet, I don’t see any real action resulting in change.

Instead, I see that the Felon’s new crypto business could create more conflicts if he’s elected president. US job openings fall as demand for workers weakens. Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operations. Republicans Seize on False Theories About Immigrant Voting. At a Fox News town hall, the Felon sought to instill doubt that the coming debate would be fair. He’s said the same thing about the election as well. The doubt being sewn becomes fruitful too easily because it’s what we’ve come to expect with everything. We don’t trust the government. We don’t trust politicians, or anyone running for office. We don’t trust corporations. We try to trust our doctors but we don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies that make our medicines. We don’t trust the food we buy, nor the people selling it. We don’t trust our employers. We don’t trust our neighbors.

Perhaps the problem is that we’ve created a society that, at its very core, is its own cancer. And everything about it, like every other form of cancer, sucks.

You know what doesn’t suck? The source of the two big, black eyes staring at me from across the bed. Puppy dog snuggles never suck. They’re both flopped across the mattress acting as if they’re waking up from an all-night drunken binge. For dogs, it’s cute.

And Frankie, the smashed-face wheezer kitty, just hopped up on the desk to say, “Hey, I’m cute, too!”

He most definitely is.

So is this coffee cup. Very cute. Very demure.