INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

I’ve been personally indivisible for quite some time.

It could be from growing up with brothers where you carved out your own identity, and a sister who had it all figured out.

And I wasn’t the first born, which is important, so I never had everything to myself without some pesky little creature making sounds and taking mom and dad’s attention away from more important things like me.

Sound familiar? But that’s home life.

 

1

 

The first time I felt indivisible on my own I was a fifteen year old getting slammed around a high school wrestling room.

It was my first practice and I didn’t have a clue about the sport, so I slammed back the same way I got slammed until I got better.

I stayed at it for the next five years and learned the hard, painful, lessons of struggle.

 

2

 

I was a nineteen year old Army private, an E-2 trainee following orders, any orders.

After a fire drill in the middle of the night I was ordered to report that all the guys in my group were present and accounted for, except the goofy shits had stumbled and fallen down the stairs and piled up.

Instead of “ALL PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR SIR” I stood silent until asked what’s wrong, and I told them my guys were not all present and accounted for.

“Say it anyway.”

“They are not present and accounted for.”

“Say it.”

“Not present and accounted for.”

 

3

 

The third time for indivisible was a doctor’s office with my father in-law. I was his caregiver; he was infirm.

Things weren’t going how I expected when I asked the doctor to release him from the nursing home back to my home after I came back from an extended trip.

No release? No problem.

I asked the doctor to call the police and have me arrested in front of the old man to show him someone gives a damn.

If not the police, get the parking guy, anyone in a uniform so my Parkinson’s afflicted old man could see how far someone is willing to go for him.

 

Indivisible Review

I stood up for myself in wrestling rooms from high school, college, to the Army, which was the challenge of a lifetime with apex predators in the room.

Not following orders in the Army one time marked me as uncooperative. But I really was.

I just wasn’t cooperating with middle managers protecting their turf while my people suffered.

And the doctor’s office?

Show someone you care enough to make a difference. You might be the only one they have.

 

Chances are good that I’m not the only baby boomer who tried to effect change.

As a generation we’re kind of known for that, but not always in a good way.

While the majority may drift in the same general direction as we age, there are some on the fringes breaking things and calling it change.

We’re not spring chickens any more, and engaging in the more active parts of change is challenging.

 

Tigard ‘No Kings Day’, What Not To Do

That shoulder that locks up? You don’t need to throw anything, boomer.

Do you plan on making a run for it on a hip replacement? Come on, man.

How will pepper spray and tear gas go with asthma and allergies?

We’re not spring chickens, or geese, or blue herons, but we’re old enough to know better.

We don’t want to show up for a protest march with an undisclosed agenda, like rock throwing, running, and getting gassed.

Tipping over cars and setting them on fire? None of that.

If it is what I think it is, a gathering of kindred spirits imbued with hope and dignity, I’ll put on my marching shoes.

But if the wind changes toward shit-talking the police and shoving around, I’ll walk across the street to the dog park, or up the street to the liquor store.

Not a contest of wills but a show of solidarity, I’d like to think Tigard will pass the test.

This is a town of moms and dads raising their kids in a caring community.

Is it any different than surrounding towns full of moms and dads raising their kids, going to work, and standing up for themselves?

Similar goals bind them together.

With that in mind, the march on Saturday is an organized affair with Indivisible.

Be sure and know who is affiliated and with what.

If you want to learn more about things, click here.

Whether it’s in Portland, Florence, or Bandon, find a spot in the long line and longer tradition of American Free Speech.

To my readers in Europe and Asia and Wilsonville, what do you do when you feel drawn to do more than usual?

See you Saturday.