Shut Up About Them Already

Neither side has much to recommend it.

Seventy years ago I was born into a family of Caucasians living in Brooklyn. Since there was nothing to be done about it, I continued being covered with white skin all through childhood and into adulthood. Now, after all these years of living as a white person, paying my taxes and never breaking any laws (unless you count the one against smoking marijuana which was a dumb one and is now pretty much legal) I find out that just by being white, I suck. Now, suddenly, without doing anything at all I am a racist. And without doing anything at all I am an oppressor. Who knew?

All this has happened to me because Hillary Clinton lost the election and Donald Trump won it. The funny thing is, I have never met either one of those two people and I never will. They have never heard of me. They know nothing of my life or my personal struggles. They don't give a damn about my high blood pressure or my random dizzy spells or my creeping anxiety. They have no idea of my sister's recent stroke and how much it depresses me to think of her in a nursing home, unable to even grasp an apple, forget playing the piano or painting, two things she did quite well that gave her the only pleasure she had left in life. Yet I am supposed to care deeply and profoundly about them and their families and their feelings. Well guess what: I don't. Sue me.

Hillary will be fine. She has hundreds of millions of dollars, several grandiose mansions, two grandchildren and tons of loyal friends, not to mention pantsuits. She can spit a few words onto a piece of paper anytime she wants and get it published, whereas the novel I spent over a year writing continues to be rejected and remains unread on my computer. (Yes, I'm bitter. I am reminded of the day my grandfather died: The family was bereft, his body still warm, and funeral plans were in the making as my grandmother, his wife of fifty-plus years, stood in the middle of us all and yelled, "Alright, he's dead already -- now what about me?")

As for Donald: He won the election. I never liked him before and I don't like him any more -- or less -- now. I hope he does a good job for the country, but honestly, I didn't tell him to run and I'm sick of talking about him for one more second. And really, unless you have a plan to fix things, work for the government or know how to help in some way, you should be too.