Wahoo!
This afternoon, Connor and I were sitting down at the kitchen table enjoying a nice lunch of veggie burgers and carrots (redundant, I know), and I couldn't help but notice that Connor was staring at me and giggling. After a few moments I realized that he wasn't looking me in the eye. His gaze was just a bit lower, but I couldn't tell what he was looking at. The treadmill behind me certainly didn't look all that amusing, and neither did the worn denim couch. Perhaps sensing that I was a big confused, Connor gave me a little more help and reached out to touch my shirt. On it, this paint-spattered, thrift store T-shirt, was the Cleveland Indians mascot, Chief Wahoo, that oh-so-culturally-sensitive caricature of those from whom we stole this fine country (while we "defiled" their women for good measure, thank you very much).
For whatever reason, he was really amused by this image and it kept him in a really good mood. Hey, whatever keeps him from tossing his food off of his tray willy-nilly is fine by me. Perhaps I'll wear it again tomorrow and see if it works again. But, I did run in it tonight so I'd either have to wash it or...yeah, that's not happening. Guess we'll figure something else out.
After lunch, we went down to the lake to go swimming again. My gas tank was nearly empty so we went to the access point at the end of our street since I didn't feel like paying out the nose for gas. Actually, since all the news of the hurricane that I'd seen involved the human side of things, I hadn't yet learned the current price of gas. The city worker emptying the trash cans in the parking lot asked me if I'd filled up today. When I said "no," he informed me that "gayse iz three dollas a gallon."
Although I'd been trying not to think too much about what's going on down on the Gulf Coast, talking to this guy about the price of "gayse" suddenly made me remember that there were so, so many people down there suffering through conditions that I can't even imagine. (We did hear from our friends, by the way, and they got out of the city late last night, though their house has probably been gutted by looters by now.) I couldn't help but think how inappropriate it was that Connor and I were seeking out water to play in, while these people were hoping desperately that the water would go away and that everything would just go back to normal.
So now, as I sit in my air-conditioned house, with way too many lights on and a full stomach, I can't help but feel incredibly greedy and incredibly ashamed to have so much while so many people have so little.
For whatever reason, he was really amused by this image and it kept him in a really good mood. Hey, whatever keeps him from tossing his food off of his tray willy-nilly is fine by me. Perhaps I'll wear it again tomorrow and see if it works again. But, I did run in it tonight so I'd either have to wash it or...yeah, that's not happening. Guess we'll figure something else out.
After lunch, we went down to the lake to go swimming again. My gas tank was nearly empty so we went to the access point at the end of our street since I didn't feel like paying out the nose for gas. Actually, since all the news of the hurricane that I'd seen involved the human side of things, I hadn't yet learned the current price of gas. The city worker emptying the trash cans in the parking lot asked me if I'd filled up today. When I said "no," he informed me that "gayse iz three dollas a gallon."
Although I'd been trying not to think too much about what's going on down on the Gulf Coast, talking to this guy about the price of "gayse" suddenly made me remember that there were so, so many people down there suffering through conditions that I can't even imagine. (We did hear from our friends, by the way, and they got out of the city late last night, though their house has probably been gutted by looters by now.) I couldn't help but think how inappropriate it was that Connor and I were seeking out water to play in, while these people were hoping desperately that the water would go away and that everything would just go back to normal.
So now, as I sit in my air-conditioned house, with way too many lights on and a full stomach, I can't help but feel incredibly greedy and incredibly ashamed to have so much while so many people have so little.
posted by Carter at 9:26 PM
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