care schmare

greek flower
Originally uploaded by kristalynn.

i caught up with a friend not too long ago.

"how are you?" i asked.

after the regular prattle and blather, she punctuated her sentence with, "and i'm still depressed. i think i may be bi-polar. but who gives a cack."

i emailed back: "bi-polar, huh? i give a cack. let's get you on some drugs!"

she answered. "i don't think drugs are the answer to my problems."

"i know, i was being facetious. i thought i was being funny. i know that drugs are the last thing you need."

"i saw your facetiousness, but i also think that you feel i really need drugs."

"i do."

"i don't."

"i know, honey. i know you don’t. so what's wrong?"

she mentioned some things. but intimated that she really can't stand where she’s living - in a very conservative, red-neckish community.

"people are dumb," i sighed.

"they sure are," she concurred. "but don't worry, i annoy me too."


about a month ago, i went to a seminar on global warming. the lineup was around the block. we waited out in the cold by the hundreds. as we approached the entrance, we also passed by his huge tour bus, which was idling, i guess to keep all the important global-warming people warm.

once inside, someone tried to hand us a form.

"no thanks. trying to save the environment." i said, waving my hand to indicate where we were. i smiled. he didn't.

"you need this to vote," said the hander-outer.

i refused the hail of leaflets, brochures, and newletters on the way in, but found a stack of others on my chair once inside. i picked them up; they were all printed on heavy-duty, bleached paper.

“what’s up with this?” i asked, waving the cardboard sheets.

“what?” everyone around me blinked; not an iota of concern.

once the conference ended, i tried to make my way out to find he-who-tried-to-make-me-vote. strewn all over the floor were the multiple pieces of paper - discarded, disregarded. everyone stood around chatting, mingling, hobnobbing. i was appalled, and i seemed to be the only one. it was also an affair to which i didn’t realize i was to wear sequins.

i found one of the vote receptacles. i asked the young gentleman manning the station what the deal with the heavy-duty, super-bleached paper was.

“oh, i don’t know. but you’re the second person who’s said something about it…”

two out of 900.

i gave him my best nonplussed look.

i found my friend. “can we go please? can we go get a drink?”

“yeah, just a sec. i need to find the guy with the video camera. i want to talk to him about light bulbs.”

who knew global warming was simply a place to be seen?