Today Ansel and I slept together again. You know how nice it is to lay your head on a man’s chest, someone who cares for you and kisses you to sleep? Well, he did more than kiss, but I won’t go into that. This isn’t that kind of site, and I get the feeling he’ll want this published…
Donating blood today went well. It was that same lady who did our initial testing last time, the woman with the Minnie Mouse watch. I told her I recognised her from that. The blood draw this time went so quickly—we drank a lot of water beforehand. Another phlebotomist said that summer donations tend to be quicker since everyone is making sure to stay hydrated in the heat.
There weren’t any interesting characters this time. Well! It did take place at a church this time. In a big hall (it was an auditorium—there was a stage) with lots of food pantry supplies in boxes, bags of rice, boxes labelled “Pasta USA”, canned vegetables. The nonperishables first. The woman who mans the church office was in the hall, I suppose checking on everything. She had this little fluffy dog named Molly with bows in her hair and she [Molly] ran up to me. “Molly! Get back here!” The little dog had recognised me from when I first dropped into the office, asking for directions to the Red Cross donation area. I must’ve given her a good rub, hmhm.
I don’t know what people do. Everyone waiting was on their phone, that’s fine. I couldn’t get any reception and no one from the Red Cross knew the church’s Wi-Fi password, so I couldn’t browse stuff even if I wanted to. For fun Bedivere turned the hall floor into ice and set up palm trees everywhere, vines across the high walls and spiders dropping down from the ceiling. The snowy winds were so chilly it hurt the skin in my arms. Just the way I like it.
The church building has a preschool, and passing by one of the classrooms I could hear small children talking and making a ruckus. I was so shocked by that. People are really sending their children to school, daycare? Well Ansel was complaining about that… I’ll mention that later.
Restaurants and hair salons are working outside now, outdoor dining and setting up chairs for people to sit in and have their hair cut. I doubt they’ll see much business. People are getting stir-crazy, but do you really want to have your hair cut, dyed, and permed in California drought weather? Mmhmm, my idea of eating out is totally sitting in an asphalt parking lot outside a Target in 39.5°C with no wind on a dusty day. That’s how I want to enjoy my pad thai. Not that I could, even if I wanted to. A lot of restaurants have cut their operating hours and days… Our favourite Thai restaurant is now closed on both Mondays and Tuesdays. Simone was so disappointed by that.
This is what Ansel said later that day:
[Ansel] Look, I know childcare is important, but… what the fuck is it with parents who can’t leave their kids at home alone? If they're two I understand. But even a five-year-old can feed themselves leftovers from the fridge.
[Julia] Ansel—
[Ansel] Do they need help wiping their own ass?
[Iseul] Not everyone was a five-year-old like you Ansel
You dusted your own room at five
[Ansel] Look, kids have video games and YouTube and TV. Not like parents do much actual parenting these days. All they do is watch YouTube together, not actually explore or develop their kids' physical, intellectual, or emotional faculties. [Bedi glares at this.]
A ten-year-old can’t be left alone? Please. We were watching toddlers when we were five—
[Bedi] [sighs]
[Ansel] Look. I’m just saying, if these parents can’t trust their kids to be independent in a goddamn house, it’s because they didn’t prepare them or raise them right. It doesn’t take an hour to pack a kid a sandwich. The kid isn’t gonna starve at home unless you’re that poor.
Which a lot of parents are, but still. Can of corn poured into a bowl with milk. That’s what I ate for snacks [home alone] when I was growing up. Make spaghetti. Kid can operate a microwave. Seriously. What do kids even do at home that’s so dangerous and requires supervision?
[Yumeka] They might eat all the sugar and cookies…
Bedivere later pointed out that the biggest concern for some families is not what a child will do at home alone, but what they’ll do outside home unattended. They might bike straight into traffic, for example. Ansel conceded to that point.
[Yumeka] I don’t know much about children, but… I don’t think Ansel acted like a child when he was five.
[Blast Ant] He brought a book on Gila monsters (his favourite animal) to show-and-tell when we were four. And when we were seven he complained to the teacher and the entire class that nobody knew how to tell a decent book report (which was true).
[Julia] Is this an autistic thing?
[Ansel] Look, I never understood kids even as a kid. And I still don’t now.
[Iseul] If only you didn’t love them so much
[Ansel] Ugh…