fwds

eh.

one of my older siblings, of which i have 6, sent me this awful fwd today and it just made me sick.

a petition supporting English as our only language.

which, okay, whatever,

but then there was this fucked up little personalized story about someone's grandchild in CA not being hired as a teacher because she only had one year of Spanish and how this is somehow proof that the USA will be conquered by Mexico...

and ... wtf is THAT?

and isn't this further proof that my family has NO IDEA who i am AT ALL?

so i couldn't resist a brief, and, i think, careful response to them...

i don't know.

i know i couldn't even get into college without two years of a foreign language, and that was for my BA so where this is coming from is beyond me.

***

i think i just hate to see that the fear tactics have taken hold of my older brothers and sisters. it used to be okay with me when it was my Dad because my Dad fought in WWII and has a very different relationship to this country than I do at 34.

but. when it is my siblings?


civil war.

civil unrest.

i'm feeling dramatic, i suppose.

and my sister just emailed me "My bad!" and so that is better than an argument on some levels... but not as useful as a open discussion...

eh.

***

maggie and i are going to minnesota in october for my Dad's 80th birthday party. we are going to stay at a hotel this time because my dad goes to bed at 9 and wakes up at 4 am and this is not so relaxing for us.


***

i love my family.

i hate that we don't even know each other.

***

and one more thing...

last time they read one of my poems, a collaboration i did with suzanne stein years ago...
they asked me what drugs i was on.

so.

there you go.

family.