Odds and Ends

Politics of fear

Shortly after the President is accused of warrantless wiretapping, we suddenly are told that "chatter" suggests that Bin Laden is planning another attack on the U.S. Coincidence, we ask? We learn that Supreme Court nominee Alito believes that extraordinary powers should be granted the Executive branch during war time. Sounds like as long as a president chooses to start a war and then has the power to declare whether or not it is over, we can expect to live in a monarchy in the United States. What happened to a balance of power? Is this the type of "democracy" King George is planning for Iraq?

Thank God for Diversity

Too many these days seem to be complaining about diversity. I once heard a credential candidate (probably in her late 40's) complaining about the requirement of a class on ethnic diversity. "Why can't we just go back to the old days when we all got along? Why are we forced to use this ethnic literature? Why can't we just teach the literature we used to read?", she bemoaned. As a matter of fact, I can remember that classic reader, Dick and Jane. Dick and Jane had brown hair, as I recall, and little sister Sally had blonde, but all three were lily white. They lived in a nice house with a picket fence, Mom wore heels and and apron and stayed home and Dad wore a suit and a hat and supported the family. Doesn't sound like most families I know! I once saw a history text on early California purportedly used in classrooms in San Joaquin county sometime in the 20th century. In this text, Mexicans living in the state at that time were characterized either as knife-slinging horse thieves or prostitutes, depending on their gender. Here in Modesto, decades ago, I attended a high school with no African American students. One student enrolled but didn't last long. Her locker was defaced with racial epithets. In those days, de facto segregation in my fair city meant that African American students attended only Modesto High School where I now teach. Fortunately, much has changed about the racial and ethnic demographics in Modesto since then.

So on to the present. Today, driving through a town thick with January fog, in a mood darker than the weather, I decided to stop by the Asian market for some condiments not available in the supermarket - pickled ginger for my brine fix and Sriracha Vietnamese sauce for the picante lover in me. This market is located in a run-down strip mall that also houses Sam's Food City, and a variety of other hole-in-the wall establishments. I did pick up my jars of ginger and bottles of sauce, but also vicariously enjoyed the other delicacies - the whole fish on ice and newspaper in boxes on the side walk, the crabs crawling in a plastic tub and all kinds of other foods I couldn't name or recognize. I had plenty of time to hear two or three languages I don't understood while waiting in line, as the little store was packed. (Last summer, after fruitlessly waiting for flor de calabaza to appear in the local farmer's market, I stopped by this Asian Market for ginger and found virtually tons of that delicate blossom of the squash plant. The owner told me that customer grew it in his backyard). Leaving the market, other store fronts caught my eye. This dusty, run-down strip mall is proof positive that the homogeneous, boring, ethnocentric Modesto of my childhood is not what it once was. On this one street corner, in addition to the supermarket, the liquor stores, a storage shed, mortgage company and a wireless store, I noticed other establishments: Shiva's selections: Indian and Western Fashionwear, Gifts and Imitation Jewelry, Samakhon Medical Clinic, Tzu Chi Foundation, Heng's Accupuncture, Ly Ly Beauty Salon, Pho 7 Vietnamese Restaurant, Ron's Barber Shop, Dee Von's Hair Styles, Fijian Market: Groceries and Videos, Seng's Chinese Restaurant and four religious establishments: Evangelical Prayer Band of Love Church, Sanctuary of Peace Church, The Baha'i Faith Modesto Community Center, and Iglesia de Dios vivo columna y apoyo de la verdad, la luz del mundo. As to the last Spanish Speaking congregation, with a name that long, I'd hate to think how long the sermons might run! The fog lifted as did my spirits.

A Married Woman is not quite 3/5ths of a Man

After many years of marriage, I find myself not exactly single, but no longer with a husband in this country. Imagine my surprise when my car insurance agent tells me that they will not remove the absent husband from my policy without his written permission even though I purchased the only car on the policy and it is in my name alone! After decades of making sure to pay the bills, I find that I am not of sufficient worth to be called head of household. A state law, so the agent tells me.

The last word is that another agent is going to allow me to apply for a new policy in my name alone; I can only hope it goes through. Apparently the gender war has not yet been won.