Dear Prudence.

So, politics lately... WTF. No, you know what.. I can say it, "What the fuck?" I heard that congress spent today again arguing about abortion. Yeah, you know what? No one is a fan of abortion. It is a horrible form of birth control. But! Women and their doctors need to make these horrible decisions, not congress. I am past the age of child-bearing and yet I worry about all our young women. Congress seems intent on passing legislation re: miscarriages. I don't get this. Don't these people understand that miscarriages are nature's way of correcting mistakes? Oh, yeah, I forgot. They don't believe in nature. They would prefer mothers to die in an attempt to keep an inviable fetus alive and leave the living children motherless then deny those children basic health care or support of any kind.
Since 1976 there has been a law preventing government from paying for abortions. Abortions are in fact legal in this country as long as the government doesn't pay for it. Ok. I'll buy that. Some people don't want their tax dollars spent on something that is diametrically opposed to "right to life." I get it. Why do we have to keep talking about it? This is a law on the books. If you don't believe in abortion, don't have one. If you need an abortion, pay for it yourself. Ok. Got it. Leave it. If you think it is murder, change the constitution, and then be prepared for the consequences and take care of those thousand unwanted children and those poor desperate women looking for some relief.  You men need to take a little more responsibility here. Stop raping. Stop impregnating. Stop forcing. Stop cajoling. Stop threatening. Stop taking advantage. Stop. (Oh, and STOP having sex.)

The larger problem is that abortion is not what the country cares about right now. People need jobs! You've read my blog... work is hard to find. Could I help to make ends meet working at a fast-food restaurant? Well, of course. Will they hire me? No. I'm 57 years old. I have a BA and a year of graduate work. The low income employers will not spend the time to train me when they risk losing me to a better job. This is the reality. And health care? Those low income jobs do not offer health care. They will keep one to 39 hours a week so one is always a part-time worker.

I teach on Mondays at USC. It is a part-time job I've had for years. I teach on Mondays because in my business that is my day off. When I do get a "full-time" job I work Tuesdays thru Sundays. When I'm working, I work 7 days a week. Theatre is what I know and what I do well. I'm lucky right now. I've work until well into June. But my work doesn't exist unless people support the arts. (Oh, and I make less now than I did in the 1980s. Substantially less.)

I support the "Occupy Wall Street." I don't care that they don't have a concrete solution. I support and agree with their frustration. I will never understand the Supreme Court decision to make corporations individuals and allow all that 1% money to flow to ultra right conservatives. I feel like our democracy has been stolen from us.

Not what I ever want to talk about. I hate this stuff. I NEED to stay light and happy and optimistic each and every day. I have to think of my family. Day to day we have to more than survive. We have to thrive. We have to make each day count for something.

At least once a couple of weeks I have to talk to our health insurance company. We see doctors all months of the year. We talk to doctors nearly every week. That is the world one lives in when one has a spouse with a chronic disease. It's okay. I accept that. But does our do nothing congress have to make everyday life more difficult?

Who are these people controlling our lives? Why does my husband's drug for MS cost $40,000 a year? Really? Are you fucking kidding me? We already pay nearly nine grand a year for the privilege of coverage. Our co-pay is so high we have a charity paying part of it. I HATE this.

There is something just plain wrong here.

And yet, I will wake up happy every morning, hoping and looking at the new day. My husband does the same thing. Maybe today will be better.

So.. we start the day with hope and will not be deterred. The sun is up. The sky is blue. It's beautiful and so are you.

Dear Prudence. Won't you come out to play?