Just Another Vent

I live in a very conservative area of the country. It’s exhausting, actually.

The people who believe the propaganda spewed by our 45th presidents makes me sad and angry and exasperated all at the same time

This little rant is brought to you by a couple of 50+ men talking amongst themselves about ten feet from my desk at work.

One was visiting from an outside company. The other is a co-worker of mine.

Anyway, these two old white dudes were there, co-worker was signing out a company car so they could go to one of our other facilities.

Co-worker noticed Visitor’s mask, which was in his hand not on his face, and said to Visitor, “You can wear that if you want to but you don’t have to.”

Visitor replied, “I hear they make you sick.”

“I’ve heard that too,” Co-worker replied.

Are you fucking kidding me?

In this day and age, do people REALLY believe that WEARING a face mask will make them sick? Why would they think that? Is there any sort of proof that this is the case? Wait, let me google.

Nope, a quick google search shows there is no evidence that wearing a face mask will make you sick and, in fact, there is heavy evidence the wearing a face mask will prevent you from getting sick. So…

Earlier this week, as one of our production employees was clocking out, someone mentioned gas prices going up. I said something about having put gas in my car the previous Friday before work and finding that by 10am that morning, gas had gone from $2.72 to $2.99.

Dude clocking out said something like, “This never happened when T*#@^! Was president.”

I simply said, “Hmmm.”

But come on! We all know that gas prices go up and down regularly. It’s not like gas went down to $.99 when 45 was in office and is suddenly $10 a gallon now that Biden is president.

And yet…these people believe these things. These people, these working class citizens believe that if we raise the minimum wage so that people can, you know, LIVE and not be on the verge of poverty, that somehow that will make THEIR (the working class) lives harder. They believe this and it makes me crazy.

I said something merely in passing within earshot of my step-dad a few weeks ago about how great it had been to go get our Covid vaccinations and not have to pay and I mused about how great it would be if all health care were like that.

Holy shit, I didn’t realize I’d thrown down the gauntlet there. He started going on and on and on about how much we’d pay in taxes if that were the case and how the American people would pay for it one way or the other and on and on and on.

Dude! I was not looking for a debate. I was simply saying how great it would have been a few years ago for me to have fought cancer and NOT worried about bankrupting my family due to the insane cost of medical treatment.

And all this was coming from a man who receives his care free of charge from the VA, which I do not begrudge. He served his time, he deserves to get his medical on the government’s dime. But don’t we all deserve decent care? Why is the cost of insulin so prohibitive that some people have to choose between their medicine and feeding their family? Why do epi-pens cost so freaking much that some people have to forgo them and just pray they don’t come in contact with a tree nut or a bee?

It feels like simple human decency to me.

Women have a right to their own bodies, sick people have a right to the medicines that will make them well. People have a right to make enough money to pay their bills and maybe even start saving for retirement. Is this all really too much too ask? Are they all really such radical, liberal, socialist ideas?