Small Things Count

People with disabilities are often either ignored or “helped” into a worse situation, causing a loss of dignity that can be humiliating.  Here are some suggestions for when you want to do something:  If a non-sighted woman needs guiding, let her take your arm.  Allow the stutterer to finish his own word or sentence.  A lip-reader needs you to face him and speak normally (don’t exaggerate your lip movements).  Someone who has fallen or is having trouble getting up a hill or curb in a wheelchair is in danger if you grab hold without asking what he needs you to do.  The disabled woman in the bathroom has only one stall she can use, so invite her to go ahead as soon as it’s open.  And don’t use that stall for changing clothes or potty-training your three kids.  Avoid parking in the handicap space “for just a minute,” and stay out of that cross-hatch zone next to it so wheelchair ramps can be used. Deciding what to do is actually easy.  When in doubt, just treat people as you’d want them to treat you.

I enjoyed Easter Sunday with family and friends. Today I remind myself that yesterday was only the first day of the first of seven weeks which is Easter season in our Western culture. I’m hoping that the spirit of this season continues even past then and that we use that spirit to build a more compassionate, just, united world.

Today on my Sensible Saturday post, nothing heavy, no suggestions for action to help the Earth. Today, in the second week of Spring, the day before Easter, and the last day of Passover, I just want you to enjoy this picture and immerse yourself in the beauty, new life, and promises of Spring.

A familiar old Chinese man gives us today’s Thursday Thought quote.  As always, he gets us down to basics.

“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” —  Confucius

I saw this on Facebook and just had to pass it on. Great idea.

Here’s a video you might find useful.  It shows and explains seven ways a woman can defend herself when attacked.  View the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7aNSRoDCmg.  It’s worth seeing a couple of times..,just in case.

We’re in the midst of a housing shortage and high rents, with an increasing number of homes moving off long-term rental into Airbnb. I have 5 of these short-term rentals on my court alone. (Two 2-story houses converted to 2 rentals each, plus an ADU.) Watch this video, “How Airbnb Created a Housing Crisis.”

It’s human nature–BAD human nature–to want to get erven. Today’s Thursday Thought quote gives us the perfect way to do so.

On 3/28/24 at 10 AM, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture is offering a webinar about what happens to women once they leave prison and try to return to life outside. It promises to give important insight into how prison creates many challenges that the system overlooks outside. Sign up at Incarcerated Women

I’m tired and insulted by hearing again and again that I’m “not human” and a “criminal” and that I gave birth to a son who is the same. I’m not an immigrant but have grandparents who were and who, therefore, have “poisoned our country.” Obviously that poisoned blood flows through my veins and my son’s, as well. The speaker of those words refers to those terrible people as “migrants,” not limiting them to “illegals.” Which is odd, since he and his kids also carry the bad blood of his migrant family. He insults ALL Americans, and I’m sick of it!