9*1*1

9-1-1. What's your emergency? Tens of thousands of people make this call to 911 on a daily basis. They do so out of fear, when they are in need of assistance. They expect a police officer to quickly respond to their emergency. If it takes more than 5 minutes they begin to get upset. "What is taking so long, when I am in danger"? Imagine that as you are reading this blog, a deranged person begins to bang on your front door. He or she is screaming, "Let me in"! They are pushing against your front door trying to gain entry. Your telephone would be in your hand immediately calling for help, as your heart pounds. What if no one ever showed up? This happened to me in 1985 when a drunk person mistook my house for theirs. I was so relieved when the police arrived to take the person away. Somehow the protest for equality has turned into anti police protest. Can you imagine a world without police? You cannot paint a picture with one broad stroke. Last night, in Merrick, 11 people were arrested. Were the police wrong for trying to stop them from running onto the Meadowbrook Parkway? The police were trying to ensure the protestor's safety as well as the driver's safety. Protect and Serve, is the motto of police departments. What normal person thinks it is sensible to run onto a parkway? A car could hit you and you are injured, or a car could swerve around you and hurt the passengers inside. Two officers were injured in this skirmish. Was that fair to them? These protestors, trying to make a point, were totally out of line the way they were going about it, but the police will be blamed for the protestor's gross lack of judgement. There is becoming a disconnect in rationality. Defund the police! Buy the police cameras to wear! How can you do both? At this point, I think people need to return to normalcy in order to change normalcy. The past few weeks have taken their toll on us all. How can the governor say that we can only gather in groups of ten and then praise 5,000 people in a group setting? How can you cancel 4th of July fireworks because it is not a safe gathering and allow 13 days of mass gatherings? Since the protestors are allow to gather en mass (and rightly so) open up the state and let us return to work and to our daily lives. Let the chips fall where they may, because at this point, the government is in anarchy.

Judge Not

Man plans and God laughs. I think that in the past few months, God is just laughing. He has set forth situations to test mankind and we are failing miserably. He has created an earth where people turn against each other in the most vicious ways. If we go back centuries, a good man who was condemned by society, was strapped to a crucifix and left to die. He is now worshiped by the majority of the world, when they realized that his intentions were pure hearted. Today many good men and women are being crucified by the job they do. In reality, there are bad people in the world and they need to be punished, but to punish the good ones for the actions of the bad, is just as much a crime. As a society inequality is unjust, and we need to grow as human beings and figure out what needs to be done to fix it. We need to work together and unite as one, with love in our hearts to make the world safe for all races. Blood runs red and cannot distinguish the outside color. That is how we need to live as a people. The Jews know this well, as in history they were annihilated twice, just for who they were. Once by the Egyptians and once by the Nazis. People seem to forget that because a generation has passed. My friend just laid her mother to rest, along with the numbers tattooed on her arm. There is no longer a visual reference of that racial destruction since time has buried it. We are imperfect beings and sometimes we need a catalyst to open our eyes. To condemn the people who put their lives on the line for you when you are in danger, is sickening. If you hate law enforcement, do not call 911 when you are in cardiac arrest, or in fear of your life, or in an auto accident or a family member has disappeared. Handle the situation yourself. Figure it out. Make a plan. You cannot have it both ways. When the protests ease up, the 911 calls will still be going strong. I am on a rant this morning because a so called relative said uncalled for things about police. It is a good thing that I unfriended him years ago or he would have been publicly called out. I would have said things to be hurtful and mean. I would have aired his criminal record publicly and rehashed how he disgraced his family. There would be no going back. Judge not, lest thou be judged.

Sleep

This morning my sister texted me saying, "U up"? I laughed. Being up, would have meant that I slept. The text should have said, "Are you still up"? I am finding out that a human being can survive on no sleep for 40 years. By "no sleep", I mean very little, not peaceful, tossing and turning and just a state of mental unrest. Each night, I think that tonight will be the night that I lay my head down on a pillow and fall into this thing called sleep. Each morning, I realize that the elusive sleep was not meant to be. Last night, my mind was too awake from watching every online site that showed protesters. I switched from The Patch, to Google Map to traffic cameras to the news. I needed to see from every angle, that the tone of 4,000 people was calm. I have a vested interest in the calmness. I waited for the "all safe" signal. Once I got it, my mind was still in active protective motion. Maybe tonight I will sleep. Ok, who am I kidding?

Deluge

The rain came down very angry last night. It was almost as if it was yelling at the world. The thunder screamed and the lightening blazed. It made the humans calm down. We cannot be more volatile than Mother Nature. She will strike us down hard and fast. As I laid in bed, listening to the sounds of a storm, I realized that the louder the volume, the stiller I was. I just wanted the storm to blow through, do whatever damage it had to do and let the next day be calmer. We can pick up the damage the next day. The storm is a metaphor for the past week.

Infiltraitor

I am not sure which infiltrator I need to fear more. A tiny virus or a full size human. Both are destroying our society. We were unhappy that our streets were empty due to the virus and now we are unhappy that our streets are full due to the rioters. The virus latched onto everyone closely available. The rioters are seeking out people near and far to do their destruction. It seems it is just as hard to stop the violence as it is to destroy the illness. The weak leaders think it will phase itself out. The strong one is giving it a bit more time before he puts his foot down and does the right thing. Yesterday I saw a very disturbing flyer. It said that a riot was planned for last night at a local Trader Joe's store in Merrick. All outside agitators were invited and led there. The last part of the flyer said, "We will march through your white privileged neighborhood. What is yours is ours". My stomach turned. It listed the 5 towns that would be destroyed. Who gives anyone the right to destroy someone's property? At this point the reason for the rally is lost. How can I grieve for you, when your protesters are terrorizing me? I saw a picture of the men in one of the towns lining their streets in wait for the protestors. If they were threatened, fists or worse would fly. It would become like the scene from the movie, The Bronx Tail". Now you can't leave. I do not know the outcome of last night, but I pray it was peaceful and no one was hurt. I stand up for my right to say "All Lives Matter" because if I say otherwise, I am diminishing my own life.

Tired

I did not sleep well last night. As I was about to close my eyes, I heard the helicopters. They circled for hours a few miles away. Groups of protesters had been driven to Long Island to destroy the area. These are not the peaceful protesters that have the right to protest an injustice. These are the paid activists sent by billionaire businessmen to do their political dirty work. The areas they targeted include a well know high end mall that is frequented by the wealthy, and one of Long Island's most popular mall. The peaceful, righteous protestors are being held to blame for most of the destruction, when in reality, it is being done by outside special interest groups. That is the sad part.

Rules

In case we have forgotten, we are still in the midst of a pandemic. We are slowly opening up at phase one. We still cannot sit in a restaurant or in many cases have surgery for cancer. I know people that have cancer growing inside them that have been told that end June, at the earliest, is when they can hope to have their procedure. Now we have rioting and protesting. New York City has put forth protesting rules. This is directly from their Twitter:

Plan to protest? Here are tips to reduce the risk of spreading #COVID19:
Wear a face covering
Wear eye protection to prevent injury
Stay hydrated
Use hand sanitizer
Don't yell; use signs & noise makers instead
Stick to a small group
Keep 6 feet away from other protesters.

Are they kidding me? Use hand sanitizer?  Keep 6 feet away? This is insanity! Have they seen the news? Were the angry crowds passing Purell as they threw rocks through windows or looted stores. THIS IS A PANDEMIC. Covid 19 does not take a break to watch you riot. It sits there with a smile, waiting to jump into it's next carrier. Maybe 100,000 more people will die in America. Protestors are being told to get Covid tests this week as the virus has likely infected people who have stayed home safely for 10 weeks but thought it was a good idea to gather in masses. Human behavior still amazes me.