Crying with you, over the mice and all of it. 💔 I really don't get it. The better world we could be living in has always been so clear to me. I read something about Trump wanting to shut down "woke" departments of the government like the EPA and their clean water protections. And I just thought "who is against clean water?" Do they realize the alternative is dirty water? And dirty air? Do they really want to live in that part of The Lorax where everything is gray and grimy? Apply that same thinking to everything - why are we actively trying to bring about the Bad Place?
I've heard explanations having to do with having billions of dollars, colonizing Mars, and the rapture, but it still doesn't make any damn sense to me.
I think they genuinely only care about money and how their lives are. If there’s any care at all for grandchildren, I imagine they believe their billions will keep them protected. But I don’t think people like this really care about anyone else. Not really. They just take until there’s nothing left, and it’s still not enough. The guy who is “president” could swallow the globe and it wouldn’t fill the void.
I think we need to plant community gardens and feed our neighborhoods and find doctors who want to open clinics and volunteer some amount of time for people without insurance, and join school boards and basically get very grassroots about organizing. Weed them out from the ground and try to protect our people that way. We can’t wait for them to see the light we have to start taking that kind of action. That’s what I think.
I will never understand, either. Never. And my healthcare expenses are set to skyrocket, too. So for the first time in my life—at age 55 and having worked from age 16 on—I will be uninsured. I don’t even know what to say any more.
I so feel you. Every word. I cannot work any harder than I do, that much I know. I thought about it, too. What can I add to my plate work-wise? What can I subtract from my expenses? Uhhh…nothing. So, we’ll see. And it’s not like my business isn’t doing well, it is. It’s just it’s a small business, and I have two kids. There are three people I’m supporting. And my son works his ass off while he’s in school, he’s got a job too, my daughter assists her self-defense coach on the weekends. They’re good kids. Everyone pitches in. But $1700/month for health insurance? There’s no way.
Thank you for sharing your ACA related information…you put a real name and face to what’s about to happen. $1,700+ is unsustainable for just about everyone I know. I am fully behind all your wacky leftist agenda like “kindness” and “looking out for others” and “not torturing people or animals.” Yep, big radical libtard socialist weirdo here.
Trying to keep the faith. Having discourse with sane people helps ❤️
Yes I am more than happy to share my portal picture because it’s insane. I appreciate the people who are giving hypothetical scenarios 100%, but I think it’s good to see an actual person in this mess.
And yeah, we should make t-shirts: Radical Left Wing Lunatic Club with all the crazy shit we believe in underneath. Sorry I want you to have affordable healthcare, grandpa. It’s my commie friends influencing me again! Sorry I don’t think kids should be shot at school every week, I’m clearly radicalized! Whatever, I can’t fucking take it Eileen. Just like clean water, clean air, let people live and love. Why is it so hard?
Oh Ally, I’m trying to get more people to open their eyes. Do you mind if I use your amount of increase to your ACA to keep trying? I will not use your name. I had conversations with friends yesterday because I actually left my house to go to a presentation at my library. One person has friends leaving for another country and the other person has a plan in place in case he and his family decide to leave. So many people could never afford to do that or would never want to leave. I know people talking about living without any health insurance. It is all so horrible. If January the 6th was all okay then why can’t we have our military physically remove the toddler in chief before he kills us all.
You can absolutely use the pic and my name. I shared it for that reason, I want people to understand this is what it looks like for actual people who live in the world, not hypothetical people. I have no idea what I’m going to do, I’m talking to my health insurance agent next week. I’ve known her for years and I’m hoping she has some ideas. I also made an appointment with my doctor for December 10th (earliest I could get in) hoping to get a physical and any bloodwork and referrals before the end of the year just in case. It’s insane. I can’t go without insurance but if it comes down to taking care of my kids or going without you know I’m picking my kids. Fucking crazy to be thinking this way because part of taking care of them is living. Anyway, trying not to worry too much, I’ll figure something out, but yes, feel free to share.
As far as leaving it’s like…probably a million other people. Of course it’s on my mind and I google places and try to figure out how I’d do that or what it would take. But I don’t want to go, I want to stay and fight. They shouldn’t get the redwoods. They shouldn’t get any of this. I don’t want to leave friends here who can’t leave. My son wants to graduate from his college and I’m not going without him. But then, is my teenage daughter safe here? Like…I could spin out if I let myself, so basically what I’ve been thinking for a while is that I could try to find a property somewhere that would work as a retreat location and see if I can somehow make that happen. Then we’d have somewhere to flee if needed and if they happen to have healthcare I can pay for out of pocket even better. Or something. How this is real life is beyond me.
You were 9. NINE. And you were smart enough and strong enough to say: "Stop it!" And "Why?" "Why?" is the question. They don't even know, I'll bet. Follow the leader. They're just immersed in it. I'm so glad to know you, though. Thank you for saving the mouse. Thank you for being you.
I’m so glad to know you, too. And I’ve never been confrontational, but the one thing that outweighed my training to “keep the peace” or “be good” was seeing someone get hurt. I still can’t take it. Mouse or otherwise. It’s probably why I continue to run my mouth off on platforms where I shouldn’t. Not this one, other ones. But oh well. Love you 🐭🐭💞
“running your mouth off” sounds like a bad thing. Some people spout off just because they have giant egos. Yours is a fierce objection to injustice. A superpower, if you ask me.
I know there are people who just do not feel empathy. I mean sociopaths, or people with Antisocial Personality Disorder, paranoid delusional disorder - people like Charles Manson. It’s the people who are not that who *maybe* scare me more. Like they could be kind, but they’ve decided certain people are going to fall outside their circle of compassion. And then little by little they become inured to how cruel things are becoming, and that they’re part of it. And then there are the abhorrent assholes like Stephen Miller. I just don’t get it and never will, Michelle.
I’m crying with you, and I’m a Canadian. Is it too much to hope for that those who resolutely sat stone-faced in Quantico on Tuesday are devising a miracle? That there are pockets of resistance that are communicating and devising an overthrow? That some states could decide to secede, notwithstanding the terms of the Constitution? That some States could succeed in withholding federal taxes? I applaud the Democrats for not agreeing to a CR, for all the reasons you put forth. The cost of your health care without the subsidies is staggering, even under what used to be “normal” conditions. With you all in spirit.
I know there were people in that room listening to those speeches wondering WTH they were doing there and why their time had been wasted. I’d like to think if the order came down to really be at war with their own citizens they would not obey. I know he fired so many top people who surely would have objected. Someone who’s served would have much better insight no doubt.
Seceding is hard (believe me, Calexit looks good) but I am so in favor of governors withholding federal taxes if he’s playing these blackmail games. I also think we need to start organizing on the local level like, yesterday. I was saying it to Cody above, but I think we need to figure out what each one of us is good at and get busy. Community gardens need volunteers now, but also people to organize and plans to feed people. We need to be on school boards so books don’t get banned and this viewpoint doesn’t “slide in” when no one is looking. Etc etc. It would be so great if doctors banded together and volunteered some time for people who are not going to have insurance. Just, all the things. Neighborhood watch groups to look out for ICE and to make it clear we care about our neighbors and LOVE IS LOVE and just. Yeah. I’m crying again. It’s exhausting living here right now. Thank you so much for caring and understanding and being here. You have no idea how much that means. I appreciate you so much.
This was hard to read. I knew it would be. Yes, I understand where bullies come from. But at some point you make a choice, is this the life you want to continue to lead or do you want to change? My brain has felt like it's in the spin cycle of a washer for so long now, trying to figure what the next right move is. What's the next right thing. I have family who I love, who sincerely believe in Trump and his world and I can't understand it. I've cut some folks out and some I love so I don't ever have that conversation.
I’m in the same boat. I have one family member who is lost in the sauce with all this stuff. I mostly don’t bother trying to have a conversation because he’s 85 and it isn’t going to change, but sometimes I just can’t help it. It’s exhausting. And I hope that mouse had a long and happy life 🐭 Hugs and love, Jodi.
This one really hit me, Ally, especially the mouse -- which is the whole point. I’ve been known to rescue ants and slugs (with mixed success), and yes, I still swat mosquitoes. Just to keep it real. That moment you described of seeing something small and terrified, and stepping in without thinking, captures an essential human response. Some people instinctively protect, others lash out, and too many just look away. I keep thinking about that broomstick, and who we become depending on whether we pick it up or take it away. I spent part of last night in tears over a conversation with a former high school friend who is convinced that the left has been taken over by "dark forces" and sees Charlie Kirk as a phenomenal person. I'm not saying they're not entitled to their views, or that what they think they've seen in the world points to those things. What I'm saying is there was a broomstick there, and they picked it up.
Thank you for writing this. I hope I never stop crying either.
I just went through this same thing with a friend and it’s really disheartening. People are free to think and do whatever they like - and sometimes the repercussions are that they lose friends. In my case that is what’s happened. I feel really sad, heartbroken honestly, but I don’t and can’t feel the same way about a person who is espousing ideas and thoughts that make me feel physically sick.
I'm crying right there with you from your first paragraph to the last. I've heard so many times that 'hurt people hurt people', but honestly, this cruelty is beyond comprehension. It is sickening. When are the powers that be going to form a coalition to help us all? When?
I think we’re the coalition, it kind of hit me last night. No one is coming. No one is stepping up to get these people out. They should be. They’re violating the Constitution etc, but the guardrails have given in. We can’t wait for it to get better and I don’t think there’s a way to fight “Washington” right now in the ways that we think, but I feel we should start scrambling to help our communities. There’s a community garden near me and I want to see what the deal is and if we could actually feed people. My kids’ high school has a garden that feeds families if they need or want to partake. I think we need neighborhood watches for ICE raids and safety generally. Not talking about weapons, talking about neighbors working together to keep each other safe. Just really trying to think about what we do that doesn’t require waiting for anything and makes a huge difference. I was thinking about having a block party. I don’t even know what those are anymore it’s been so long since I’ve seen one or been to one. But I think we need to start talking to one another and organizing differently. These are the thoughts swirling in my head the last 12 hours or so. Not that they haven’t swirled before but I think this is the thing we should be doing right now. Yesterday, last week. Also school board meetings, City Hall meetings etc.
We've caved and started watching the news tonight. Life is so scary. I'm grateful to live in New York, but honestly I'm on Long Island ~ a blue dot on the north shore. The cruelty is beyond. I think anything we can do right now is helpful. One act of kindness ~ holding doors for people, letting cars get in front of us in traffic, looking cashiers in the eyes and wishing them a good day. All of it. I don't want them to steal my joy or MY kindness. It's good for you that you're in California also. Stay safe.
Agree with all of this. I’m trying extra hard to extend kindness wherever I go and to make sure that any chance I get to give someone a little extra love is not a chance I’m missing. It all matters. Sending you giant hugs and lots of love, Debra. There are more of us, I feel sure of it.
Crying with you, over the mice and all of it. 💔 I really don't get it. The better world we could be living in has always been so clear to me. I read something about Trump wanting to shut down "woke" departments of the government like the EPA and their clean water protections. And I just thought "who is against clean water?" Do they realize the alternative is dirty water? And dirty air? Do they really want to live in that part of The Lorax where everything is gray and grimy? Apply that same thinking to everything - why are we actively trying to bring about the Bad Place?
I've heard explanations having to do with having billions of dollars, colonizing Mars, and the rapture, but it still doesn't make any damn sense to me.
I think they genuinely only care about money and how their lives are. If there’s any care at all for grandchildren, I imagine they believe their billions will keep them protected. But I don’t think people like this really care about anyone else. Not really. They just take until there’s nothing left, and it’s still not enough. The guy who is “president” could swallow the globe and it wouldn’t fill the void.
I think we need to plant community gardens and feed our neighborhoods and find doctors who want to open clinics and volunteer some amount of time for people without insurance, and join school boards and basically get very grassroots about organizing. Weed them out from the ground and try to protect our people that way. We can’t wait for them to see the light we have to start taking that kind of action. That’s what I think.
I completely agree, Ally.
I will never understand, either. Never. And my healthcare expenses are set to skyrocket, too. So for the first time in my life—at age 55 and having worked from age 16 on—I will be uninsured. I don’t even know what to say any more.
I so feel you. Every word. I cannot work any harder than I do, that much I know. I thought about it, too. What can I add to my plate work-wise? What can I subtract from my expenses? Uhhh…nothing. So, we’ll see. And it’s not like my business isn’t doing well, it is. It’s just it’s a small business, and I have two kids. There are three people I’m supporting. And my son works his ass off while he’s in school, he’s got a job too, my daughter assists her self-defense coach on the weekends. They’re good kids. Everyone pitches in. But $1700/month for health insurance? There’s no way.
Thank you for sharing your ACA related information…you put a real name and face to what’s about to happen. $1,700+ is unsustainable for just about everyone I know. I am fully behind all your wacky leftist agenda like “kindness” and “looking out for others” and “not torturing people or animals.” Yep, big radical libtard socialist weirdo here.
Trying to keep the faith. Having discourse with sane people helps ❤️
Yes I am more than happy to share my portal picture because it’s insane. I appreciate the people who are giving hypothetical scenarios 100%, but I think it’s good to see an actual person in this mess.
And yeah, we should make t-shirts: Radical Left Wing Lunatic Club with all the crazy shit we believe in underneath. Sorry I want you to have affordable healthcare, grandpa. It’s my commie friends influencing me again! Sorry I don’t think kids should be shot at school every week, I’m clearly radicalized! Whatever, I can’t fucking take it Eileen. Just like clean water, clean air, let people live and love. Why is it so hard?
Oh Ally, I’m trying to get more people to open their eyes. Do you mind if I use your amount of increase to your ACA to keep trying? I will not use your name. I had conversations with friends yesterday because I actually left my house to go to a presentation at my library. One person has friends leaving for another country and the other person has a plan in place in case he and his family decide to leave. So many people could never afford to do that or would never want to leave. I know people talking about living without any health insurance. It is all so horrible. If January the 6th was all okay then why can’t we have our military physically remove the toddler in chief before he kills us all.
You can absolutely use the pic and my name. I shared it for that reason, I want people to understand this is what it looks like for actual people who live in the world, not hypothetical people. I have no idea what I’m going to do, I’m talking to my health insurance agent next week. I’ve known her for years and I’m hoping she has some ideas. I also made an appointment with my doctor for December 10th (earliest I could get in) hoping to get a physical and any bloodwork and referrals before the end of the year just in case. It’s insane. I can’t go without insurance but if it comes down to taking care of my kids or going without you know I’m picking my kids. Fucking crazy to be thinking this way because part of taking care of them is living. Anyway, trying not to worry too much, I’ll figure something out, but yes, feel free to share.
As far as leaving it’s like…probably a million other people. Of course it’s on my mind and I google places and try to figure out how I’d do that or what it would take. But I don’t want to go, I want to stay and fight. They shouldn’t get the redwoods. They shouldn’t get any of this. I don’t want to leave friends here who can’t leave. My son wants to graduate from his college and I’m not going without him. But then, is my teenage daughter safe here? Like…I could spin out if I let myself, so basically what I’ve been thinking for a while is that I could try to find a property somewhere that would work as a retreat location and see if I can somehow make that happen. Then we’d have somewhere to flee if needed and if they happen to have healthcare I can pay for out of pocket even better. Or something. How this is real life is beyond me.
Thanks so much. I agree that we are all going to have to help each other.
You were 9. NINE. And you were smart enough and strong enough to say: "Stop it!" And "Why?" "Why?" is the question. They don't even know, I'll bet. Follow the leader. They're just immersed in it. I'm so glad to know you, though. Thank you for saving the mouse. Thank you for being you.
I’m so glad to know you, too. And I’ve never been confrontational, but the one thing that outweighed my training to “keep the peace” or “be good” was seeing someone get hurt. I still can’t take it. Mouse or otherwise. It’s probably why I continue to run my mouth off on platforms where I shouldn’t. Not this one, other ones. But oh well. Love you 🐭🐭💞
“running your mouth off” sounds like a bad thing. Some people spout off just because they have giant egos. Yours is a fierce objection to injustice. A superpower, if you ask me.
Thank you, friend.
There’s something wrong with them and I don’t understand it.
I know there are people who just do not feel empathy. I mean sociopaths, or people with Antisocial Personality Disorder, paranoid delusional disorder - people like Charles Manson. It’s the people who are not that who *maybe* scare me more. Like they could be kind, but they’ve decided certain people are going to fall outside their circle of compassion. And then little by little they become inured to how cruel things are becoming, and that they’re part of it. And then there are the abhorrent assholes like Stephen Miller. I just don’t get it and never will, Michelle.
I don’t think Miller is necessarily different from Manson. He just moves in different circles.
Hard fucking agree.
I’m crying with you, and I’m a Canadian. Is it too much to hope for that those who resolutely sat stone-faced in Quantico on Tuesday are devising a miracle? That there are pockets of resistance that are communicating and devising an overthrow? That some states could decide to secede, notwithstanding the terms of the Constitution? That some States could succeed in withholding federal taxes? I applaud the Democrats for not agreeing to a CR, for all the reasons you put forth. The cost of your health care without the subsidies is staggering, even under what used to be “normal” conditions. With you all in spirit.
I know there were people in that room listening to those speeches wondering WTH they were doing there and why their time had been wasted. I’d like to think if the order came down to really be at war with their own citizens they would not obey. I know he fired so many top people who surely would have objected. Someone who’s served would have much better insight no doubt.
Seceding is hard (believe me, Calexit looks good) but I am so in favor of governors withholding federal taxes if he’s playing these blackmail games. I also think we need to start organizing on the local level like, yesterday. I was saying it to Cody above, but I think we need to figure out what each one of us is good at and get busy. Community gardens need volunteers now, but also people to organize and plans to feed people. We need to be on school boards so books don’t get banned and this viewpoint doesn’t “slide in” when no one is looking. Etc etc. It would be so great if doctors banded together and volunteered some time for people who are not going to have insurance. Just, all the things. Neighborhood watch groups to look out for ICE and to make it clear we care about our neighbors and LOVE IS LOVE and just. Yeah. I’m crying again. It’s exhausting living here right now. Thank you so much for caring and understanding and being here. You have no idea how much that means. I appreciate you so much.
This was hard to read. I knew it would be. Yes, I understand where bullies come from. But at some point you make a choice, is this the life you want to continue to lead or do you want to change? My brain has felt like it's in the spin cycle of a washer for so long now, trying to figure what the next right move is. What's the next right thing. I have family who I love, who sincerely believe in Trump and his world and I can't understand it. I've cut some folks out and some I love so I don't ever have that conversation.
Thank you for saving the mouse. Sincerely.
I’m in the same boat. I have one family member who is lost in the sauce with all this stuff. I mostly don’t bother trying to have a conversation because he’s 85 and it isn’t going to change, but sometimes I just can’t help it. It’s exhausting. And I hope that mouse had a long and happy life 🐭 Hugs and love, Jodi.
This one really hit me, Ally, especially the mouse -- which is the whole point. I’ve been known to rescue ants and slugs (with mixed success), and yes, I still swat mosquitoes. Just to keep it real. That moment you described of seeing something small and terrified, and stepping in without thinking, captures an essential human response. Some people instinctively protect, others lash out, and too many just look away. I keep thinking about that broomstick, and who we become depending on whether we pick it up or take it away. I spent part of last night in tears over a conversation with a former high school friend who is convinced that the left has been taken over by "dark forces" and sees Charlie Kirk as a phenomenal person. I'm not saying they're not entitled to their views, or that what they think they've seen in the world points to those things. What I'm saying is there was a broomstick there, and they picked it up.
Thank you for writing this. I hope I never stop crying either.
I just went through this same thing with a friend and it’s really disheartening. People are free to think and do whatever they like - and sometimes the repercussions are that they lose friends. In my case that is what’s happened. I feel really sad, heartbroken honestly, but I don’t and can’t feel the same way about a person who is espousing ideas and thoughts that make me feel physically sick.
I hope we always cry.
Um, and I also swat mosquitos 🤷🏻♀️😬
I guess, if you’ll pardon the potential for an unfortunate metaphor, we have to let some things go. 🦟
Beautifully put, Ally. The cruelty of this administration is incomprehensible.
The glee they take in being hateful is one of the ugliest things I’ve seen in my lifetime. Thanks for being here, Chris❤️🩹
I'm crying right there with you from your first paragraph to the last. I've heard so many times that 'hurt people hurt people', but honestly, this cruelty is beyond comprehension. It is sickening. When are the powers that be going to form a coalition to help us all? When?
I think we’re the coalition, it kind of hit me last night. No one is coming. No one is stepping up to get these people out. They should be. They’re violating the Constitution etc, but the guardrails have given in. We can’t wait for it to get better and I don’t think there’s a way to fight “Washington” right now in the ways that we think, but I feel we should start scrambling to help our communities. There’s a community garden near me and I want to see what the deal is and if we could actually feed people. My kids’ high school has a garden that feeds families if they need or want to partake. I think we need neighborhood watches for ICE raids and safety generally. Not talking about weapons, talking about neighbors working together to keep each other safe. Just really trying to think about what we do that doesn’t require waiting for anything and makes a huge difference. I was thinking about having a block party. I don’t even know what those are anymore it’s been so long since I’ve seen one or been to one. But I think we need to start talking to one another and organizing differently. These are the thoughts swirling in my head the last 12 hours or so. Not that they haven’t swirled before but I think this is the thing we should be doing right now. Yesterday, last week. Also school board meetings, City Hall meetings etc.
We've caved and started watching the news tonight. Life is so scary. I'm grateful to live in New York, but honestly I'm on Long Island ~ a blue dot on the north shore. The cruelty is beyond. I think anything we can do right now is helpful. One act of kindness ~ holding doors for people, letting cars get in front of us in traffic, looking cashiers in the eyes and wishing them a good day. All of it. I don't want them to steal my joy or MY kindness. It's good for you that you're in California also. Stay safe.
Agree with all of this. I’m trying extra hard to extend kindness wherever I go and to make sure that any chance I get to give someone a little extra love is not a chance I’m missing. It all matters. Sending you giant hugs and lots of love, Debra. There are more of us, I feel sure of it.