RantWoman is sure the universe needs the stories she is about to tell. They are what rise from the sea of international belligerence, local voices battling for turf in front of City Hall, and RantWoman's spiritual compost heap.And yes, of COURSE there is disability involved.
Digression: Glad to have only one's own problems.
RantWoman is hanging out on the computer next to where the Chief Morale Officer usually sits. Morale is flagging a little bit. CMO had a rough weekend because of wheelchair malfunction that left her just out of reach even of her cordless phone for a long time. CMO cannot get around independently without her wheelchair and luckily at least some level of wheelchair repair seems to have happened this morning. RantWoman has listened to enough of people's other wheelchair stories both to think she should look in on CMO sometimes and that RantWoman is VERY glad to have only her own problems.
Daffodils and cigarette Butts.
RantWoman has written previously of a rather unusual daffodil message offered in worship some time ago. In the message, there were a bunch of cigarette butts among the daffodils and the point was to see the daffodils and not worry about the cigarette butts.
Lately, the RantWoman Department of Impertinent Questions and Mutant Narrative has been seized by all kinds of questions.
Who planted the daffodils?
Was the person who planted the daffodils a chain smoker or did someone else cause the cigarette butts to be there?
How did the cigarette butts get there? Was it before or after the daffodils were planted?
Cigarette butts are not biodegradable but do they contain chemicals that can leach out and harm the daffodils?
Would it be healthier and less disgusting for someone to clean up the cigarette butts rather than pretend they are not there?
Perhaps it is a good thing these daffodils came up in Meeting for Worship where no response is expected instead of in Meeting for Business where ...?
Also, the questions did not even make it into RantWoman's head, let alone out of her mouth until after the phone call featuring both the daffodils and the dog poop in the next item.
Carefully Bagged Dog Poop unintentionally left lying around.
(Special Thanks to the Friend who told the story and has given RantWoman permission to post the question on her mind.)
A couple was selling their house in preparation for a move to Seattle. The couple had a neighborhood potluck group. At some point an interracial gay couple bought a house across the street and was invited to join the potluck group to everyone's appreciation. At one point the gay couple was out of town and the other couple had a realtor wanting to show the house they were trying to sell. RantWoman's conversation partner , picked up a blue newspaper bag, took their dogs for a walk and dutifully picked up the dog poop deposited during the walk. When this Friend got back, there were still two cars in the driveway at the Friend's house so the Friend decided to wait on the porch of the gay couple who were out of town until the cars left their driveway.
The Friend reported that when the gay couple came back, the Friend got a call wondering about neighborhood kids or why was there a blue bag of dog poop on their front porch. The Friend ruefully noted that probably it was NOT neighborhood hooligans but the Friend who had unintentionally left the dog poop on the neighbors' front porch.
The question that came to RantWoman later: Friend, do you think your neighbors would have been as comfortable sitting on their front porch as you were sitting on theirs?
The other dog poop realities on Planet RantWoman:
--The Queen of Spades, the household feline staff, is quite canine-hostile so RantWoman currently has no regular responsibility about picking up dog poop.
--RantWoman observes many dogs walking and some places that dispense bags to pick up the dog poop.
--RantWoman's life is full of guide dog handlers who despair when their dogs get sick of dealing unobtrusively with diarrhea, guide dog users who care deeply when for instance their guide gets attacked by another bigger dog, and whole parades of people with pooches on leashes who seem, at least to RantWoman like they are relying on their dogs' wagging tails to handle human introductions. Consider this recent tirade.
Holiday Service Dog Rant
In short JUST having carefully bagged dog poop... would be such a simplification.
Blind People, Beer, Business Meeting
RantWoman has been saying for a number of years that she thinks it would be helpful for sighted Friends to observe how blind people get things done. RantWoman needs to further note that what happens if the group is mostly blind people is different from what happens if the group is only a small percentage of blind people. RantWoman thanks two Friends for venturing into meetings with mostly blind people and sharing their observations. RantWoman does NOT thank these Friends for both pronouncing that they did not see how what they observed applied to Meeting for Business. RantWoman has not talked either one through different points of Meeting for Business, but RantWoman emphatically disagrees and clearly needs to speak for herself about the questions. Stay tuned.
RantWoman thanks Previous Clerk for offering many verbal cues to help about things like being recognized to speak. The cues were not perfect and RantWoman's interactions were problematic for other reasons.
But RantWoman's point: after the latest iteration of one of the events mentioned above, RantWoman wants to repeat an invitation. RantWoman has previously invited Friends to come drink beer with a bunch of blind people who go to meetings with sighted people all the time. The point is just to get people talking about their experiences AND a little bit to manage the flow of conversation among all the blind people. RantWoman invited Madam Clerk to do this. So far, she has declined the invitation.
How the heck are people supposed to figure out what works if no one is willing to step through issues and details????
New Tenant. ADA. The Bus
Imagine an extended Back and Forth over several business meetings and conversations or email with several people.
Oh look. We have a great new tenant who will be serving homeless people. They are happy with a space that pardon RantWoman's bluntness is completely inaccessible to wheelchair users.
RantWoman: But wheelchair access?
(Paraphrasing: RantWoman shut up. We are tired and just want to go to lunch.)
RantWoman are you questioning the wisdom of Finance Committee and the tenant's board? Why can't you just trust us?
Should I be questioning anyone's wisdom? Have you ever heard the phrase Trust but Verify?
RantWoman, couldn't you have just discretely asked someone one Finance Committee?
No. Why is it not reasonable to ask in Business Meeting? Finance Committee could perfectly well say "We don't know but let's check and report back."
Plus, RantWoman already knows a thing or two and sees the value in a public conversation about what the ADA does or does not buy people in different situations.
But RantWoman you keep insisting on meaningless detail in minutes.
Meaningless to whom? Let me walk you through life in the "courtesy area" of the bus, besides the likes of RantWoman, often filled with people who have various mobility aids, are obviously homeless, and show signs of many challenges, exchange information all the time about useful resources.
Over time, RantWoman gathers various data just due to her transit / transportations:
--Other people besides RantWoman ride the bus to Meeting, including routes where much service planning and public engagement is occurring.
--New tenant ventures out into the community and has resources available at wheelchair accessible locations.
--There are other operational questions it would make sense to ask Tenant but the main point: people who ride the bus to Meeting MIGHT Like somehow learning something new during Meeting for Business, including for instance, a resource that can be shared by bus grapevine with people who could probably use the information.
Further tirade available about bigger questions, but RantWoman's point: information that is meaningless detail to one person might be exactly what someone else needs to trust a network or an organization or the next step in their grappling with issues.
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