Civic Embarassment

I finished work at 5:04 PM, exhausted as usual and looking at another night of trying to get things done. It really is amazing how things seem to stack up, as if some mad scientist is simply stacking the odds higher and higher against me in the hopes of finding my breaking point. “Well Mr. Scientist, you shall not taste victory today!” is my standard retort to this daily examination, and all I can do is hope that, for at least one more day it remains true.

Since it was Thursday, I made my way over to the gym to try and restore some of the physical prowess that left me so long ago. Hard to believe that at one point I was almost 200 lbs. of vigorous human considering my current lank-a-licious state. As Jackie, the lady who cuts my hair, said the other day, “Frankie, you’re looking a little skinny. When are you gonna start pumping some iron again?” I’m trying Jackie, believe me I’m trying.

As I wound my way through Golden Valley passing other hard working people on their way home and gas stations looking to gouge them as deeply as possible, I listened to a story on MPR about an elderly woman and her trouble with heating. You see, natural gas prices are expected to rise right around 40% here in Minnesota, making it rather difficult for some people that don’t have much to get by. The story focused on the ways that she tried to stay warm during the winter including layers of blankets at night, sleeping with her dog for warmth, and visiting department stores for a bit of relief from the cold during the day when it gets dangerously cold.

The lady was a cripple, completely unable to work because of a back injury sustained in her previous occupation. Her monthly income between disability and social security was right around $800 while her monthly rent was a little over $500, leaving right around $300 to cover all her other expenses including food, transportation, utilities, and treats for the grand kids when they visit (what gramma doesn’t have treats for the little ones when they come over?).

At its core, the story was about how the federal government helps subsidize people’s heating costs to a certain extent, but not really enough to keep them afloat, something that will likely being exacerbated by increasing heating costs. In this case, this elderly woman, though she cuts every corner imaginable, even at the expense of her health (she has arthritis which causes her extreme pain when it is cold in the house), she can’t really afford to heat her house and is currently indebted to the government.

How can we as a country live with ourselves when things like this happen? How can we have any sense of civic pride when we leave our sick to die in the wake of disaster, our hungry to starve without a real effort at relief, and our elderly to freeze because they simply can’t afford to pay anymore? Is the most wealthy, proud, and powerful country in the world completely impotent to act benevolently towards its citizenry?

It filled me with such despair to hear that this was happening, such a bitter sense of hopelessness. I know, I know, there are undoubtedly people out there who could justify this by saying she deserved to be living in this state for one reason or another, and still others who will waste no time hurling their “love it or leave it” platitudes at me just as fast and furiously as they can. The bottom line is any country that thinks as highly of itself as America does has some pretty high standards to live up to, and this is a case where, I'm sorry, but we have failed utterly.

To be honest, listening to this story as it unfolded from my car door speakers and echoed through my conscience, it was the first time in my life that I was truly embarrassed of the United States. It embarrassed me that our country would allow any of its citizens to live like this, that it would allow a poor woman incapable of working to freeze.

We can do better than that.

Megatron

Megan.

I’ll be honest everybody. When you meet my girl, it’s completely understandable that you would think she is just another blonde without a clue. For whatever reason, the Megatron tries real hard to convince us all that she’s a space cadet of the first degree, a girl with few priorities beyond securing pretty things for her fingers, hair, and toes.

DON’T BE FOOLED!!! IT’S A TRICK!!!

Granted, there’s no way Girl is coming up with the solution to cold fusion, but then again, who is? My point is that it is extremely unwise to count Megs out, underestimate or turn your back on her. She has a tenacity that could inspire an Amazon (think Patty Smith’s “The Warrior,” one of the songs that always makes me think of Megs) and a self righteous streak that would make Michael Moore look positively apologetic. Let me give you an example…

Last winter, Megs and I went to New York for New Years. We walked all over Midtown and Central Park, something like 10 miles total after being up at 4 AM to catch a bus to the Big Apple from Washington DC. At about 6 PM we went to Times Square to line up for the ball drop and were not allowed to leave for any reason whatsoever. After about an hour worth of waiting, Megan announced that she needed to pee and wanted to know what our options were. The local police officers informed us that our options were to get out of line, find a deli or other local eatery, and enjoy the incomparable sensation of an empty bladder, but lose our space in line OR to grin and bear it. Megs ended up holding it for five hours folks, WITHOUT ONE SINGLE COMPLAINT! Could your gal do that?

Anyway, so she’s tough. But Girl’s got brains too. For example, this winter Megs will graduate with a degree in Retail Merchandising and a minor in Spanish (oh yeah, she’s basically fluent in Spanish) with over a 3.2 GPA while working close to 40 hours a week during her past 3 years in school. Impressive, no? This summer she studied for 6 weeks in Venezuela where she basically had no choice but to speak Spanish and was able to come away with solid A's in every class. As anyone that has studied abroad can tell you, pulling quality grades in a difficult situation such as that is no small accomplishment.

Of course, Megan’s greatest strength is neither her toughness or her raw intelligence, though she certainly has plenty of both. What I find so incredibly enchanting about her is her intuition for what it takes to make things ok. At her core, Megan is a girl that wants people to be happy, wants people to smile and laugh and enjoy themselves and she is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. It is a rare wisdom to find in a person and the quality that makes me so hopelessly hers.

That’s why she’s my baby. My Megatron.

Inspired by “Here Comes My Baby” by Cat Stevens