No Kings Day
A moment of hope on the slippery slope towards authoritarian rule.
A quiet Saturday morning, coffee percolating on the stove. Even though we had plans for the middle of the day . My wife said she wasn’t feeling too good today.. She asked Maybe go to the garden center for some flowers. She then went on to describe the hanging baskets she was looking for. I know you wanted to go to Lowes for a few things.
After our coffee , we watched the news. We reminisced about a less stressful time when things were easier and life was predictable. The biggest worry was the little things everyone deals with. The unexpected something breaking down or a forgotten service for your car. Life in America has been like that for at least the last 80 years. As I cleaned up and put our mugs into the sink. My wife said “who would have thought I miss those times as much as I miss my youth”. And in a slightly cathartic tone said “I’m glad we're old and I feel so sad for the younger folks who’ll never experience that America.”
As I pulled into the garden center. I was hoping the tariffs haven’t affected the flower prices too much yet. I grabbed a cart to put the flowers in, and said hello to the owners as I walked by. After perusing I picked out a few hanging baskets for our deck, hoping they were what my wife described. As I checked out and a bit of chit chat with the owner. She said your friend is not with you today? I quickly said “No not today.”Meaning my wife as we never show PDA nowadays. She said stay dry It looks like more rain.. Towing the cart behind me . A few feet later I glanced back over my shoulder. This has been a habit I developed since I retired and the world in TACO term one started to change. I often wondered what the owner, a very religious person from a church that's not too welcoming. Did she know we were a couple ? Or sister’s as so many people have asked us when you can tell they are prying. We’ve learned evading questions is easier and safer.
On the ride to Lowes the 70’s Sirius channel announcer introduced the song Don’t go Breaking My Heart by Kiki Dee and Elton John. It was released the same year as the movie Network in 1976. As I did my best to harmonize with the radio. If my wife was here she would be in full disco queen mode singing. Saying oh how she missed that time. Me, I was already playing over in my head the classic speech given in the movie Network. It goes as follows…**….
**We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is: ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’ Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get MAD! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot – I don’t want you to write to your congressman, because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad. (shouting) You’ve got to say: ‘I’m a human being, god-dammit! My life has value!’So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell: ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!’ **
I mention this because the movie resonated with folks because we had just gone through a very bad recession in the early 70’s and the policies that they implemented helped a bit but set the stage for a couple of decades of stagnation. Especially for blue collar workers. Remember that word because TACO economics and the Big Dumpster Fire of a bill will most likely result in the same. Though white collar workers will be in the crosshairs.
I got to Lowes and parked then looked around. Usually there is always a truck or two with pro-TACO flags. I walked in and was asked Ma’am is there anything I can help you with? I mentioned what I was looking for and he said “I got a few minutes I’ll show you where it is.” As I was thinking I really must thank my voice clinicians. Since starting gender affirming voice therapy. It has helped me so much to fit into the fabric of society. My goal since I had started. We had a little flirty chit chat about the items I was looking for. He said to me once we got to the aisle where everything was located he said Have a nice day and if you need anything else I’ll be up front.
After I checked out and got back to the car. I called my wife to let her know that everything went well at Lowes. She asks me everytime I go out as the anti trans rhetoric under TACO 2.0 term is ramping up towards legislatively eradicating me from living in society. I said with a grin everything went great and she commented “yeah you have refined the art of charming men.” I laughed, and said “ remember, I worked with them for so many years. So I know all their weak points as we both laughed.”
As I pulled out of the parking lot. I passed a Wawa’s. On the corner with pro-TACO folks flying their flags and hateful signs about Gays, Liberals and Trans folks. It made me wonder what I would run into at the event I was headed to.. Ten minutes and some traffic later. I found a parking spot and put enough quarters to cover the time at the event. I grabbed my hiking stick as it was a bit of a walk and uneven ground. And a jo staff/ hiking stick feels comfortable and reassuring.
A woman parked her car next to mine and asked if I was going to the No Kings event. I said yes and was relieved when she got out of the car wearing a anti-trump hat that she said she had since TACO’s first term and finally is getting to wear it. As we walked through the alley way. We could hear the cheering and car horns honking in support of the No Kings protest.
I was pleasantly surprised not to see counter protesters. It was mostly Baby Boomers, Generation Jones and Gen X’ers. Some millennials and Gen Z’s. As I walked around overhearing conversations. The main theme was they came out not only are they frustrated about the chaos the TACO administration and their project 2025. It seemed all of them either had a family member that was LGBTQ or knew someone. They talked about how their children and grandchildren won’t get to experience the world they did , even with the cultural evolution that has occurred over the past 30-40 years. It didn’t surprise me to see this older generation here. We have more in our rearview mirror than the road ahead of us.The cruelty of father time. We can compare the history we have lived or witnessed in other parts of the world. That is happening here now, a repeat we have seen. Where the millennials and younger have limited rearview experience. But almost endless miles ahead of them. So a different viewpoint and the gift of the sands of time.
I was given an American flag. And waved it proudly. Thinking to myself, “How did we lose the cohesiveness that one thing that bound us as a country?” As cars go by honking and hand gestures of a thumbs up. To middle finger salutes and glares. And one 711 service truck we got a healthy middle finger salute while holding a small TACO 2020 flag.
I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. She thought I was avoiding her. I told her I had left FB & Instagram as a lot of trans people when those apps became a cesspool of hate for us. We chatted about how we felt the LGBTQ communities were next on the list for TACO and his lackeys. And the equality we had fought for could all be ending before the end of the year. I met some of her friends and handed me her phone to take a picture of them together. Which then led to me being asked by another half a dozen folks to click their pictures also, I guess for posterity.
It was then standing at the top of the town square looking over the mass of people here. Taking this all in. From babies to the elderly in wheelchairs. A drummer whose beats were reminiscent of 1776. Young and older people Dancing to the music from a local DJ, Loudly protesting holding up their homemade signs. A table under a pop up tent for signing up for emails and other petitions. I took out my phone and took my own picture for posterity’s sake. At this town square that dates back to the mid-1700’s in front of the old county courthouse. How many others had stood here gathering for their rights I googled how many days till the midterms and 506 Days filled the screen. That's a little over 72 weeks. As I took it all in, trying to memorize this feeling of unity, of what we can do together. When we get out of our recliners. And instead of yelling out of our windows . “I’m mad as hell , and I’m not gonna take this anymore!” But massing together using our 1st amendment rights , building a bond together. And letting those who want a coronation of a king “We are mad as hell , and We are not going to take this anymore.”