As I begin to write this, it’s Saturday afternoon, February 20, 2021 and I feel that I can finally take a breath. I thought that the day that this all started, Thursday, February 11 was a day that I’d finally started to feel a weight lift as that is the day that I got my first dose of Covid vaccine. However, that was also a day of messy wintry weather, a harbinger of what was to become Winter Storm Uri just a few days after.
I live in Texas right now, but I was born in NJ and almost the first four decades of my life were spent there. I experienced far worse weather than this. Even in the 10 years in between NJ and TX that I spent in Virginia we had worse winter weather. The difference was that we were used to it, our state infrastructure was prepared for it, and federal regulations provided oversight.
I am luckier than most here, I did not lose power during the last week. I don’t know what quirk of fate saved me, but I was safe and warm the whole time. The thing is, I was waiting for my turn to lose power. Every day, I heard from local authorities that we would have rolling blackouts, stories circulated of the rolling blackouts lasting for days, and I prepared for the worst. I was conserving power, unplugging unnecessary appliances, keeping my thermostat at 65, and only turning a light on in the room that I was in. I found my flashlights, readied extra blankets, and charged up the power banks for my phone.
I was still in the midst of bracing myself for the worst when I heard a strange noise coming from near my laundry room. As I got closer, I thought “It’s too cold to be raining that hard and it sounds too close.” I opened the door to the garage to see a waterfall coming from the ceiling. A pipe had burst. I knew where the water cutoff was, but I could not get it to turn off. A post to the neighborhood Facebook group resulted in a helpful neighbor sending over her helpful husband with a wrench. Again, I was blessed to be in a great neighborhood.
So, I sat...without running water (luckily, I have been pandemic hoarding gallons of purified water purchased at Costco) for the remainder of the week...still waiting for the power to cut off. It never did. I know...I know...I was incredibly lucky, but the stress of not knowing…if my hair wasn’t already prematurely white, this would have done it.
All the while I watched stories of suffering on the news and on social media. People huddling for warmth in their own homes and those with burst water pipes in their houses and apartments. And I got to see the ugly side of the political divide…
While there were many who prayed for us, sent us their best wishes, asked what they could do, there were the others. The “woke” people who see things in only black and white, good and evil, with us or against us. Those who came out and said, "You voted for the government who did this to you, you deserve it."
As part of the 60% (yes, 60%, I was surprised too...keep reading) of the population of the state who doesn’t identify as Republican, this really bothered me. Frustrated and stressed out, I began angrily pushing back...but many stood their ground and got uglier. I began to see what some of the political analysts are saying; the polarization of this country is not the fault of one party, but of both.
The insane and rampant lack of empathy I encountered was incredibly disheartening. So many told me that we should just secede like we always wanted to, that this was our own fault, that we made our bed and we have to lie in it. The left wing liberals who I aligned myself in the last election...were turning on me simply because of where I live.
The same people who retweet stories about terrible governments in other countries, gave absolutely no shits about when a state government in their own country is exposed as completely failing the citizens of that state. And...blaming those citizens.
To those assholes, and yes, you are indeed assholes (I’m done caring if I offend the offensive assholes) let me throw some actual data at you. According to the Pew Research Center, slightly more Texans identify as Democrat than Republican. Yes, really. Only 39% identify as Republican or “leaning Republican” overall (Update: yes, I know this number is from 2017, but the number was the same in 2004...so it's unlikely that the percentage has changed drastically since then).
And for you “woke” white people who were some of the most vile...more minorities in Texas identify as Democrat than Republican (according to that same Pew Report). Remember, the majority of natural disaster situations affect minority populations the most and they end up needing more assistance. So when you say “why should the federal government bail you out?” you are actually shitting on black lives, despite the “BLM” banners you post all over your social media.
I’m going to be fine, I don’t need any bail out or assistance, but I’ve both got that white privilege and been lucky that my experience was mild as opposed to most of what you’re seeing in the media. But telling me that it’s my fault when I was sitting here scared and helpless and alone was just incredibly shitty. And not the first time that I’ve experienced victim blaming. Yes, I said it...victim blaming.
This whole experience brought into sharp focus that it is not the fault of one party that the country is so divided. Our current President is already getting crap for being centrist, when he actually ran on that platform. He wants to bring us together. However, those on the left are out for blood...they want the right to pay for what happened over the last 4 years. And you really don’t care who gets trampled on the way; even those of us who stood with you.
Don’t get me wrong, the last guy who tried to be Emperor of America should totally have been convicted by the Senate...but making it your goal to make every single Republican pay for the last 4 years is not going to heal this country.
The basic truth is that this country is diverse in more ways than one, not just racially and ethnically. We are the UNITED States of America and we have to work on unity, not on getting your pound of flesh. We have to realize that we can’t always get everything we want...there is no such thing as Utopia. There are times that you are going to have to compromise. Just like with anything else in life.
I’m not saying that we should meet white supremacists and other extremists halfway, but there are plenty of people who end up Republican because of a single issue that might be something we can meet in the middle on. For instance, as someone who was around for and aware of the Cold War, I completely understand why the word “socialism” might freak someone out. Did you in your Millenial/Gen Z privilege bubble of never experiencing the fear of the USSR dropping a bomb on your head ever consider that?
How can we meet in the middle? I didn’t say that I have these answers, but I’m willing to consider compromise. Are you? Or are you a jerk without empathy who thinks that a fellow human being should suffer like some of my fellow Texans JUST because you disagree with the political party running our state government?
If you truly believe we should all suffer, maybe you need the thoughts and prayers just as much as we do. Because I believe in Karma, and what you are doing is not good for your Karma.
To finish...the sweetest sight and sound ever
