Thursday, March 1, 2018

FEAR


Wading into the frenzy, for a moment…

I received a text message from ICE yesterday.  “Holy Crap!” I thought. “I know my surname sounds Hispanic (It’s not, it’s bastardized Danish) but is the sound of my name ‘probable cause?’  I was born a fair-skinned baby in Glendale in ’52, went to school, held a professional career, contributed, and own my own home…”  My thoughts raced.  “I’ve got grandkids… friends… a wife!”

I wasn’t sure I should open the message for fear they’d figure out where I was and come swooping in under the cover of darkness; and, you know, ask questions later.

After many moments of trepidation, I clicked the link open. 

In my cell phone’s address book, I refer to my spouse in three different ways: by her formal first name, by a shortened version of that, and by an abbreviated version of “In Case of Emergency.”  I.C.E.

The content of the text regarded a copy of a message about a friend’s successful journey in a motorhome.

Fear manifests itself when something absolutely normal startles the poop out of somebody.  Terrorists know this.  Fear is a terrorist’s greatest ally. 

But fear should not be a tool in the hip pocket of a government charged, in part, with “ensuring domestic tranquility.”

I worry about the guys who do lawns in our neighborhood, the folks who work at the carwash I frequent, the crew members who installed appliances in my kitchen recently, the cook who prepared lunch for me yesterday at a local restaurant, the families who harvest our vegetables and tend our vineyards, the gentleman who served as my high school band director, the surgeon who completed a successful meniscectomy on my right knee last year…

I worry about a “domestic tranquility” that may no longer exist.  Which is odd, given that as a late-middle-aged white guy, I really have very little to fear.

© 2018
The Church of the Open Road Press

2 comments:

  1. Almost like the fear of a police officer driving behind you when you know you are doing the speed limit. You aren't doing anything wrong but there is still fear.

    I can't imagine how the hispanic folks feel after being here for so many years and being a contributing member of society to just have their government (that they pay taxes to) dismiss them and try to send them to a country they probably don't ever remember being in. It is sad. ICE has been patrolling the courthouses in Portland and there was one instance where a judge let someone out the back door to avoid them.

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    Replies
    1. It's almost as if we're punishing people for the failures in our system, rather than addressing the parts of our system that need fixing.

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