Yuckey!

Yesterday I was walking on Third Ave and happened upon a protest of some sort.  There were about 30 people with hand painted signs gathered on a corner.  They were in front of a restaurant, and they were shouting, but it didn’t appear to be an organized protest. And when I finally saw the sign, it said something about being “yuckey.” Maybe it was a protest because the place they appeared to be picketing was dirty, in violation of some sanitary codes, or maybe it was an eatery that received a low rating. On the next block, I saw a police officer, so I asked him what was so “yuckey” that 40 people showed up.   He looked at me like I was nuts (which should come as no surprise to anyone).  “What are you talking about?” he said. 

“Those people”, I said, “With the signs.”

He looked and started to laugh.  “Not Yuckey,” he said, “They are protesting about the violence in Turkey.”   See what can happen when your eyes don’t work anymore…..

Anyway, I have an Addendum to my blob about friends and reunions.  I don’t believe there are any bad friends.  It’s kind of an oxymoron… with the emphasis on the moron.  If you look at a definition of friend, you will see a whole list of things, like ally, pal, chum etc.  If there is someone on your list of friends who you would define as a bad friend, then they shouldn’t be on your list. Remove them, never speak to them, write them a goodbye letter, whatever, life is too short to waste on someone who simply isn’t going to be there for you.

Moving on.  There are a few things that either confuse me or piss me off, even if I am medicated.  On the top of the list is violence against women.  And I don’t mean just in the U.S., the U.S. military, or in the rest of the world – whether it be India, the Middle East, the north, south, east or west, or anywhere in between. I seriously don’t get it. Why do men, (as it turns out, all kinds), feel like they have the right to intimidate, beat, rape, or otherwise behave in a physically or emotionally threatening way toward women, or girls.  It makes me want to provide women and every little girl, who is born anywhere in the world, with weapons and instructions on how to use them to defend themselves.  And, as a peace loving Liberal Democrat, I mean that in the nicest possible way.  And of course the panels of mostly white military males, cannot make decisions about sexual impropriety in the military – because they have no idea what that means. In the words of the female Senator from New York, “they don’t know the difference between a slap on the ass and a rape.” 

If you have ever tried to drive in New York City you will notice that the streets are a mess.  It’s like a third world country.  The Mayor, who is so worried about how much sweets people drink, and the placement of cigarettes in stores, has done nothing to improve the condition of the roads, the sidewalks or the noise and disruption from the endless construction.  Rental bicycles in the city – a plan. But no concern about the space they take up, and the inconvenience to the people who actually reside in the city and pay taxes.  Bike lanes close to the curbs, with cars parked in the middle of the streets. Understand this, I am not anti-bike.  I love bikes,  However, when people think that they can fluctuate between being a bike and a car, it can only end badly. My favorite thing a biker does is either pay no attention to the lights (because they are a bike), or when the light turns red, they stop and pull up in front of the first car,  and force the car to follow behind them.

So, that’s what pisses me off today, you can be sure there’s more to come in the very near future – and that’s not yuckey.  We’re just sayin’… Iris