Your arm pits stink horrendously, so please smear on ample deodorant and/or keep your distance.My arm pits, however, have a savory, succulent odor, reminiscent of fresh-baked lasagna. The scent delights me each and every time I catch a whiff. Sometimes in the shower, I skip lathering my underarms entirely, because I want the aroma to linger for another day.
At the bus stop, a 20-something woman was licking a sucker. There was nothing suggestive about it, but she was pretty, and it brought to mind a popular poem from before I grayed:For there are you, sweet lollipop,
And here am I with such a lot to say,
hey, hey…Ah, but I had nothing to say. Nothing at all.Thirty years ago, shyness would’ve kept me quiet, because what do you say to a pretty woman sucking a sucker? Now it’s age that shushes me — I’m old enough to be her granddad, so even if I said something cordial and completely innocent, it would come off the opposite.I simply waited for the bus, and for the end. Both were approaching.
In a text conversation with my brother Dick, he typed:”Went to Walmart pharmacy with my prescription for blood thinner pills, and with insurance it’s $348. Without insurance it’s over $1,000. This country turning communist pisses me off so much.”Thanks to generations of bullshit from Republicans, ‘communist’ now means ‘anything that’s annoying’. Rolling my eyes, I tried explaining to my brother that in any communist or socialist country, and even any capitalist country but ours, his meds would’ve cost him nothing.He’s an all-Trump guy, though, so I didn’t try very hard. What’s the point?
Midway on a morning bus ride, we were idling at a red light that’s also a bus stop, so a few people had already gotten aboard. The driver had closed the doors and we were still waiting for the light, when some white dude walked up and knocked at the bus’s front door.It was a civilized knock, but the driver only glanced at the guy, didn’t open the door. From my vantage, I couldn’t see why until we’d driven off.It was the guy’s face. Make the dumbest and meanest dumb-but-mean face you can make, and that was that guy. That’s why the driver left him behind.Lecture me about the evils of making snap judgments, call it prejudice. But I’m a frequent bus rider, and while I’d never seen that man before, I knew him well. He’s every smelly wino who vomits on the seat or picks an argument with whoever’s nearby.The bus is a public service, and everyone can ride, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, or veteran status — except that guy. Leaving the door closed was the right thing to do.
Baseball is the only sport I still even slightly follow, and this year the local team is pretty good — they’re in first place. I’ll never attend another game — it’s too expensive, too loud — but I check the score on the internet, and prefer it when my team wins.It’s hard to put this into words, and I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble. There’s nothing profound here, it’s only something odd that’s been happening more and more over the last thirty years:I’m rooting for guys who not only hadn’t been born when I started watching baseball, but their parents hadn’t been born. In a few years, there’ll be players whose grandparents hadn’t been born when I started watching baseball.It’s part of the game and part of getting old, but it blows my mind when I think of it.
Another part of getting old is that it’s easier and easier to blow my mind.
And lastly and leastly, let’s talk about Hunter Biden. He’s the President’s child, 53 years old. He used his last name to land a lucrative job, which ought to be illegal, but it’s not. Ivanka and Junior Trump did the same, with much larger paychecks.Hunter Biden is accused of some tax violations, but I’ve run the numbers and it’s mathematically impossible for me to care less about that.Also, there’s something about his laptop. Sorry, though — still no interest.He’s some dude who maybe broke some law.If there’s evidence of a crime, prosecute him. If he’s guilty, punish him.I never have any problem with that, for anyone: That’s the way law and order is supposed to work.Anyone who objects to that, to the concept of punishment for crime, is either a criminal or a moron or a Republican. Many are all three.9/2/2023
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