As I write this today, I am drinking the last of yesterday's coffee. Truth be told, it is horrible. It is only slightly better than instant coffee and that is only because I am splurging and using whole milk for cream instead of skim.This seems to be an appropriate time to address a few other unfinished items.
Marshalltown was putting on quite a show for Ragbrai yesterday, until the storm came and shut everything down. I got to watch denial in action. I hate denial; it bothers me a lot. The police came around the concert square asking people to leave and informing them of the impending storm. As I waited for the rest of my party to return, I watched as people talking about whether a storm was really coming and whether they should listen to the police officer. I watched people checking their phones for weather updates. I confess I checked my own phone as well. Why? I have no idea. When did we get to the point that we listen to the internet and ignore the local police officers? That is just silly and foolish. I could hear the exasperation building as the police officers became less polite and more demanding. I mean, here the city has put on a fantastic concert featuring the Little River Band and Loose Neutral. The city organized a reception for 23000 bicycle riders and hosted all of their support personnel and vehicles. But we won't believe our Cities finest about the weather until the storm actually hits town? We owe them an apology and a well done for acting in everyone's best interest.
Denial is a fact of life. It causes people to do very foolish things. People stay in bad relationships because of denial. People continue drinking in spite of mounting evidence that they have a problem. They ignore signs of loved ones deterioration due to Cancer, Alzheimers or other health problems, because they can't quite face it. People drive above the safe limits of their vehicles. Coaches have 'twice a day' practices in 100+ degrees and ignore signs that their players have heat exhaustion. People swim at unsafe beaches and ignore posted signs. I hate denial. I hate that some parents don't think ADHD is real. I hate that grown ups assign negative intention to an ADHD kid's behavior because the adult just can't accept that a child, can and will, make the same mistake over and over again. Adults do all the time. If you don't believe me, reread this paragraph. I wonder how many times you will have to read it before it sinks in.
Sometimes all you can do is educate, wait, advocate, encourage and cheer. We need to wait until people process through their denial and accept the actual loss. We can advocate for policy changes that make a difference. Like advocating for the installation of splash pads to provide an ungrade to our park system. We can encourage those facing losses. We also get to cheer. Cheer for the parent who listens to what their child is actually saying and cheer for a job well done by the City of Marshalltown and it's finest.
Well, I have reached the bottom of my cup. Time to move on.
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