The Rides and Times of MUNIgirl

The Wonderful Mr. Dickey and other sights...

What a Week, What a Week

Last week went by so fast, and before I knew it I'd missed you all. School started and I realized I have two, yes two nine a.m. classes. Arrrggh! Anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person. It took me five of the last seven days to wrap my brain around alarm clocks, early morning bus rides, and book buying. I did make it to class on time but this week needs to be be smoother.

So Tuesday, after my first butt-crack of dawn class, I stumbled into a reading at Alexander Books on 2nd Street in SF.  The wonderful Mr. Dickey (Eric Jerome) read from his new book Resurrecting Midnight, the fourth in the Gideon series. The basement of Alexander was cozily packed with sisters from 20 to 70ish and all of us seemed to know Eric and his work quite intimately. Dickey says the Gideon books are parts of a whole. The books in the series can stand alone and, when taken together, have the arc of one complete story. Mr. Dickey went to Argentina for several months to research the book and as he put it "learn the rhythm of the city." Much of Resurrecting Midnight takes place in the gritty streets and slums of Buenos Aires. A fan of classic noir, Dickey says the Gideon books are thrillers that he hopes take readers into the complicated mind and world of a guy who could be someone they might know. Dickey wants wants us to get caught up in Gideon's development as a character, not just his story. Not all of his fans took to Gideon at first. Dickey told a story about one woman who said she read the first book in the series and he just kept killing people. Dickey had to explain to the slightly confused fan that, Gideon is a hitman, that's what he does, and so, yes, he kills people. But Gideon is more than just that, Dickey creates a man of depth and intrigue. Like all good thrillers, Resurrecting Midnight keeps you on the edge of your seat and guessing who did it until the end the last page. We will see Gideon again. Dickey plans to write at least two more offerings before this saga ends.

 Thursday, I headed to the beach at Aquatic Park and ran (literally) into this guy...

 

 

 

 

 

Friday afternoon, I was dumbfounded to learn that the American people (well some of them) have an issue with President Obama addressing the nation's youth. I distinctly remember when Reagan spoke to kids about how great he was because of his tax policy. I was a substitute teacher at a middle school and all of the kids tramped to the gym to watch on three TVs. They were not impressed. Seems like this debate is based more in the fear that this African American President is overstepping his bounds, and that he might say something that actually makes kids better understand government, or feel like they have a stake in their education.

And then on Saturday afternoon I snapped this pic.

Yes, that is a candle burning in an empty agent booth. A sticker on the candle reads: Do not leave candle burning while unattended. Go figure...

 

 

Two More Cents on Health Care Reform

On a serious note…let’s talk about health care reform …

How many times have you heard someone say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well guess what the health care system is broke and needs fixn'.

Easy to say, harder to do, but as my grampa used to tell me, "nothing beats a failure but a try," and, since the system can't get much worse, we should try. 

In the last year, I’ve become too familiar with how health care costs can send plunging into a black hole of debt. I was fortunate. I had health insurance when I fell and broke my ankle in four places, had surgery and then required physical therapy. Even with coverage, a year later, I am still paying bills incurred during my two day hospital stay and rehabilitation. The insurance company’s subsequent "adjustments" (when they tell you, “oh sorry, we thought we pay for that but we don’t pay for that, so you have to pay for that”) and what it is costing me make my head hurt. My insurance stopped paying for physical therapy after I reached a $2,500 cap (which buys like seven physical therapy visits) and, so far, I’ve had thirty visits that I’m paying for out of pocket – yeah black hole of debt.

I’ve spent most of my career working in low-wealth neighborhoods, and health care has been something I've tracked in these communities. We all know the litany of diseases (mostly preventable) that inflict folks in poor neighborhoods - asthma, diabetes, hypertension, cancers. Poor people are more likely to be sick people, and sick people have a hard time getting and keeping a job, and without a job, it's near impossible to get affordable health insurance so you stay sick and poor. Under-employed people are pretty much in the same boat. They work part-time so, in many instances, are not eligible for health care. Some may work two or three part-time jobs none of which offer coverage. Others can get coverage for themselves, but not for their children. Poor, black and brown Americans and our children are suffering disproportionately from lack of coverage, and dying more frequently because of it.

Health care reform is not a new idea and does not mean that we are treading in socialist waters. It does mean that we are socially and ethically responsible and understand that a part of our competitive edge as a nation resides in the health of our citizens and their ability to sustain employment.

J. C. Boger and J. W. Welch discussed issues of health in their book Race Poverty and American Cities they say that, To accomplish real universal health coverage, market reform plans must expand government health insurance programs to include all low-income people...¹ Yes, universal coverage could be costly, but over time, its benefits will outweigh its costs in terms of increased preventative care, decreased emergency visits, less days missed from work, and fewer short & long term disability claims. This seems to be proving true in places like San Francisco.

One of the places in the United States that offers universal coverage for their residents is San Francisco. Healthy San Francisco offers coverage to all city residents without medical insurance. The coverage is not free, participants pay based on a sliding scale. This system change is not without its problems (dental and vision are not included and at some point it may be a disincentive for some) but, more San Franciscans who previously did not have coverage now have medical homes, primary care physicians and the medications they need to get and stay healthy. This is a start and proving that a public insurer option can work.

States too, including Connecticut and Maryland, are considering and passing legislation that creates some kind of universal care plan. Connecticut recently passed a bill that creates SustiNet a self-insured model that allows low-wealth and the un- and under-employed to purchase low-cost coverage. This can be done on a national level.

If you have ever been between jobs, a recently graduated college student, or worked part-time, you know what it's like to wonder if you should pay your cable bill or get your medications. If you work but can't afford coverage for your child/ren and make too much for subsidized care - you have kept your child/ren home from school, and missed work. Or maybe you are like me, and have health insurance that you think is great until the unthinkable happens.

So let’s consider the other path, take the one less traveled and try something different. Let’s consider the crazy idea that we as a nation can provide adequate care and coverage, in a cost effective way, and insures (pun intended) the health of our citizens. Let’s embrace the wild idealism that formed this country, and dare to think that we can do better for all of our citizens.

Healthy debate is definitely encouraged so long as it does not seek to disrespect, and heighten tensions, but instead, to find common ground.

Be bold, support health care reform.

And, yes, I'll take a public option.

 

Source:

Boger, J. C. & Welch, J. W., Race Poverty and American Cities, UNC Press: 1996, p. 443 

Healthy San Francisco, http://www.healthysanfrancisco.org/, City and County of San Francisco, 2009

SustiNet, http://www.healthcare4every1.org/site/PageServer?pagename=learn_thesolution,

State of CT, 2009

Seen & Heard

Here's a recap of some of the strange and wild things I've seen & heard on muni this week...

Two girls talking at Market at Castro waiting for a bus.

Girl 2: I like nappy hair.

Girl 1: Nappy hair?

Girl 2: Yeah, the kind I can get my fingers all caught up in.

Really? Is that what nappy hair is? My nana never described it like that. Go figure.

 

See the guy on the bike? He's fallen and he can't get up! See the people watching but not helping, and the good samaritans trying to pry him loose? Which one are you?

 

 

Why's the pigeon on the train? How does he know where to get off?

 

 

 

 

 

Is this a hair DO or a hair DON'T? It was seventy-five degrees on Tuesday so why's that woman bundled up like it's December in Detroit? I think the guy at the back of the bus thinks it's a hair don't.

 

 

Yes, that is a goat on a leash...

 

It's a Po' Rat or Learn to Work Your Options

So I’m on the train yesterday headed to the gym and there are these two women in the seat across from me talking. One was older, about seventy or so and decked out. Her hat was tipped over one eye, sparkly hooped earrings dangled from her ears, and her pumps were kickin’. She was sitting next to a short, thin woman in jeans and a loud purple jacket with matching braids who may have been the other's grand-daughter, or niece, or just some girl she met on the ride. Their conversation seemed to be about finding, making and having options. The older woman waved away something the younger said with an old-timey expression I haven’t heard in a while.

“It’s a po’ rat that’s got one hole,”  she exclaimed and pulled the cord for the next stop.

A lot of times this saying is used when talking about a relationship, but, as the woman on the train was saying, the phrase is applicable to much more. It’s like saying that in life you need to, “get your hustle on.”

Sometimes we forget that single mindedness can set us on the wrong path in the maze of life and, no matter how hard we try, or play the game, we end up lost and cheeseless. When things go wrong, if you haven’t looked up to assess the landscape and learned to see and work your options, you can find yourself hole-less. Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t have faith that things will work out, but be clear that a mono-focused view could mean you find yourself with no options (a lack of holes). And life is all about options (having multiple holes).

The rat with mo’ than one hole (a Mo' Rat) is a multi-tasker, and a hustler. Some people attach a negative connotation to hustling, but a hustler will, in many instances, not get caught out there without a strategy. Hustlers are always working their network. They don't just find opportunities they create them. A Mo' Rat, like a hustler, has always got a backup, knows that things can change in an instant, and is always prepared to take a turn, try something different.

If a Mo’ Rat gets laid off tomorrow, or quits her job, she has enough to tide her over for a few months, and has been working her network - has some leads. A really good Mo’ Rat would already have a new gig lined up. What I'm saying here is that a Mo' Rat has a plan, and knows how to work it.

This is not about loyalty. Well no, actually it is, loyalty to self, but more importantly it’s about survival. The Mo’ Rat, the one with multiple holes, has a place to go when times get hard, or life changes. Learn to be a Mo’ Rat, know your options and don’t get caught out there.

E. Lynn Harris - Goodbye

 One of my favorite writers, E.Lynn Harris died this past week. A few years ago, my cousin brought a copy of one of his first books with her on vacation to San Francisco and left it behind for me to read. Everyone who knows me, knows that I will read just about anything, but for some reason I had some resistence to entering the world Harris creates in his book, Just As I Am. One unseasonably hot July afternoon, I sat on my deck wishing for a new book and then remembered the one that had been sitting on my kitchen table for three weeks. I dove in and didin't stop reading until that night.

I was hooked. Since then I have read all but his latest, Basketball Jones. Harris had a way of creating characters that we all know. These could be our cousins, sisters, uncles, and friends. Harris tackled issues that we all deal with and struggle to understand. His look at HIV, racism, homosexuality, bi-sexuality, the church, family, and the capacity of the human spirit to constantly rebound and have faith that there is something more out there struck me and stuck with me. As a writer, I understand how difficult it can be to make your characters seem real and the stories you tell come to life on the page. Harris truly understood the art and craft of writing.

I can honestly say that I will miss his contribution to the writing world and his ability to shed light on the hard questions and help his readers be more accepting of themsleves and others. We have lost a great one. If you haven't read his work, check him out: http://www.elynnharris.com/bookshelf.htm