Wondering on Wednesday (v207)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Let's dive in, shall we, to the wondering?

How long did you think it would take for the obligatory 'young black man interacting with authorities' videos to surface in the Ahmaud Arbery case? There was no wondering, at all, whether or not there would be one - there's always at least one right? And, of course, in the other cases, just as in this case, there is zero relevance - ZERO - between whatever happened in the video (in this case, more than two years ago) and what happened this past February when an alleged attempted citizen's arrest went so horribly wrong and Arbery ended up dead, with pictures of his lifeless body shared on social media by a family member of the men accused of Arbery's murder.  Do we even have to wonder if there are more pictures and videos that have been shared? 

The new video is interesting, in one aspect: how quickly the second police officer on the scene pulled, aimed and fired his Taser at Arbery; it didn't work, for some reason. And I have to wonder, if we had a young white man in exactly the same situation, would the Taser have been reached for so quickly? Would the police even gone to investigate, performed a 'I'm not searching, I'm just looking' check of the young man's body? I know how I'd answer that question, and probably the only way I'll be convinced otherwise is if the police release videos demonstrating their actions are consistent. 

Let's see, what else do we have tonight? 

I wonder if there's anyone who would be even remotely surprised to learn that Asian-American health care workers (and others) are facing rising hostility during in the age of coronavirus? According to a report in the Washington Post

Across the country, Asian American health-care workers have reported a rise in bigoted incidents. The racial hostility has left Asian Americans, who represent 6 percent of the U.S. population but 18 percent of the country’s physicians and 10 percent of its nurse practitioners, in a painful position on the front lines of the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Some covid-19 patients refuse to be treated by them. And when doctors and nurses leave the hospital, they face increasing harassment in their daily lives, too.

Asian Americans have experienced a sharp increase in racist verbal abuse and physical attacks during the pandemic, with the FBI warning of a potential surge in hate crimes against Asians as the coronavirus death toll mounts and stay-at-home orders are lifted.

In case you're wondering where this might be coming from, here are some possibilities:

• the president's rhetoric, including his insistence on referring to the Chinese virus;
• a White House official referring to "the Kung Flu" when talking with a Chinese-American reporter;
• Peter Navarro saying that China 'seeded' the virus around the world, even as he pretended he wasn't saying they did anything deliberate, and
• Senator Ben Sasse, (R-KS) referring to thugs in China in a bizarre on-line commencement address.

Yep. That's us - Making America Great Again, right?

Actually, we are making America great - the generic but universal kind of making our country great, not the political capitalized letter way, and we show that in so many ways. Here are just a few.

• The PBS Newshour had a story a while back that I've been meaning to share. Tucker Nichols, an artist in San Rafael, CA, paints flowers for people who are sick, and sends the paintings to them. He also paints flowers for all kinds of people collectively, which you can find here. I was reminded of the wonder of art, how it moves the artist and the viewer, and helps both, even if they didn't realize they needed any help at all.
• And then there's this New Hampshire family, and I have to tell you this one brought me to tears, so consider yourself warned. Unable to visit their patriarch, who was hospitalized with COVID-19, members of the family showed up each day, and from outside, showed their love.  Nurses started taping notes on the window for the family, eventually having to leave the note that no one wanted to see: "He's at peace." What happened after that is the kind of thing that makes us great in the most wonderful way.

Finally, I'll end on a personal note, I broke my local social distancing rules this week. My husband and I have been following them religiously, since March: staying home for the most part, only going out on our designated days, and covering our faces when we're out in public once that became a rule. 

During March and April, we delivered groceries to my mom, we'd pick up her mail if needed, and the whole time, we kept our distance. In May, I released her from 'house arrest' once she had masks of her own, and now she can make quick trips to the grocery story herself. But even on Mother's Day, we stopped by, dropped off a plant, and left after less than a half hour of six-feet-apart conversation. 

This past Sunday, we went out to take care of her lawn. Masks on, social distancing in place, and then, I saw my moment. I told her to look the other way, and I leaned in and gave her a quick sideways hug - the first one she'd had in two months. 

Was it worth it, breaking the rules?  I didn't wonder for a minute - it surely was.