fairness

TE4P – Day 1109

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 1 Comment
Pacha’s Glamour Shot – Photo: L. Weikel

TE4P

What kind of a joint do we run around here, anyway? One based in equality? Fairness? We always thought so. Until recently, that is. But then rumblings of discontent began. Rumors started circulating. Banksy-like political messages started appearing in the cat litter and puppy kibble: TE4P. A slogan was born.

Everywhere we looked, this cryptic “TE4P” started showing up. Karl and I were perplexed. Concerned. What was the message? Who was behind it?

Cletus engaging in outreach – Photo: L. Weikel

Grievance Aired

Finally, Cletus engaged in some ‘outreach.’ On behalf of the newest additions to the household, he felt it incumbent upon him to report a grievance. Evidence, as well as word on the street, indicated that Pacha was not receiving the same level of benefits as her brother Brutus.

Tigger coughed up the fact that matters grew exponentially more egregious when it was discovered that I’d even written a post about the violation. Word of Brutus’s wildly inappropriate receipt of an exotic treat in a little red cup was going viral. There was talk of a walkout.

“Please,” I begged Cletus. “Tell me what TE4P stands for! How can I remedy a situation I don’t understand?”

If looks could kill – Photo: L. Weikel

Unbelievably Dense

Cletus scowled at me with disdain. “Seriously. How could you fail to understand that Pacha deserves the right to treats as much as Brutus. We had to stand behind her – and all pups similarly situated. TE4P! Treat Equity for Pacha!”

Then I heard it. Pacha barked it. Brutus growled his fearsome puppy growl in support. “TE4P! TE4P!” Even Tigger, Precious, and – of course – Cletus saw the inherent inequity and began plotting their efforts to win Pacha a puppaccino experience.

Management Caves

Of course! As soon as we realized the unequal treatment we’d rendered to our beloved pups, we knew the situation had to be remedied. The following photos tell the rest of the story.

Did I hear Mommy say, “Puppaccino for Pacha?” – Photo: L. Weikel

 

“OMG. Yum. Mmmph. Snarf.” – Photo: L. Weikel

A stalker is sensed – Photo: L. Weikel (Cue theme from Jaws)

Interloper does a sneak runaround – Photo: L. Weikel

HEY! Wait! How the heck….? – Photo: L. Weikel

Thanks, Cletus! You rock! – TE4P Forever! – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-2)

Not Fair – Day 516

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“She took my bowl” – Photo: L. Weikel

Not Fair

Sometimes life’s not fair.

Good grief. If that’s not an understatement of the century, I don’t know what is.

And of course, images and knowledge of the hell so many are enduring right now spring to mind almost without bidding. Fairness? There’s very little ‘fairness’ in anything we see playing out around us.

And so, of course, I am not invoking the suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, and the many people we don’t know, have never met, and probably will never encounter in our lives – those who are either suffering acutely from Covid-19 or are trying to help those afflicted survive it.

Nope. I’m going for a scootch less serious here, folks.

Always the Puppy

I took the photo above this evening after I witnessed Sheila, who is blind and deaf and over 15 and a half years old, hone in on a bowl of icing I’d put on the floor in front of Spartacus. (Not a full bowl, of course. How could you even imagine such a travesty? No, just a bowl ‘to be licked.’)

Sheila was asleep. Spartacus got a few licks in – maybe three – when she opened her rheumy eyes, raised her unsteady carcass, and lurched across the room with a single minded focus that was impressive, I must admit.

Spartacus didn’t know what hit him. Well, yes he did. Sheila immediately grasped the solid, hefty glass bowl in her determined little mouth and pulled the bowl away from Spartacus, who had his face fully immersed in it. He didn’t growl; but neither did he yield. He stuck with it for another couple licks, but Sheila would have none of it.

Or rather, she would have all of it. She dragged it halfway across the room, this bowl that’s so heavy there’s no way she’d be able to lift it. But she dragged it far enough that he got the message.

And that’s when I snapped the photo. His look said it all. “She took my bowl. I’m sad. But there’s nothing I can do. She’s my mom.”

Good Boy

Karl and I told him what a good boy he was for sharing, even if it wasn’t entirely voluntary. And we paid extra special attention to him, which in Spartacus land, is every bit as sweet as any icing he might score. Plus, we knew he’d gotten in a couple good licks – that was why I’d given the bowl to him in the first place. I knew Sheila’s sense of smell remains unerring – and her love of icing may only be eclipsed by her passion for ice cream. I knew she’d be on it like lightning, no matter how deep in Dreamtime she might initially be.

We show love in so many ways. Whether we’re humans or canines, a little bit of patience, a choice to be kind or generous, a gesture of compassion. Every time we show or do any of these toward another, we make life here on Earth a little bit better.

So before you say or think, “Not fair” today, may you give a nod to Spartacus and share your bowl of icing with those you love the most – with nary a growl nor a grudge.

Yin/Yang – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-595)

A Day of Moment – Day 402

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Photo: L. Weikel

A Day of Moment

If I didn’t write about what happened in the House of Representatives this evening, it would be obvious that I am tiptoeing around the elephant slumbering at my feet.

While I don’t think there’s anything I can say that can provide additional insight into the process we just witnessed, I do feel it is a day of moment that deserves acknowledgment.

Sitting here, I’ve just written and then deleted several variations on paragraphs decrying what I perceive as a perilous path our nation is treading on right now, which is the refusal to have an understanding of a shared reality.

How do you have a reasonable debate with anyone if you cannot agree on something as fundamental as what is fact?

It is seriously mind-bending, for instance, to watch and listen to Republican Congresspeople argue that the impeachment articles were based upon ‘hearsay’ evidence and rail upon the fact that ‘no first-hand evidence was produced’ when the second article of impeachment, Obstruction of Congress, is specifically based upon the President’s outright refusal to allow the White House to comply with the nine subpoenas that were issued demanding documentary evidence as well as compelling testimony from all the people who had direct evidence of the President’s conduct and intentions.

This is utterly insane. And it’s offensive, really, to any logical approach to living in a civilized society.

Can’t Have It Both Ways

To allow a person who is accused of a crime to (a) refuse to comply with a subpoena themselves; and (b) direct all the people who were directly involved (or potentially involved) and who worked directly for that person not to comply with subpoenas is bad enough. Right there, that simple act should speak for itself and give rise to the obvious inferences.

But then to have that person’s defenders use the lack of witnesses, which was the direct result of that refusal to provide witnesses, as evidence that no crime was committed is absolute lunacy. It’s insulting to the rule of law. It’s insulting to our intelligence. And it’s insulting to our ability to engage in actual discourse and debate.

And yet, an entire party in our government right now is making that argument with a straight face. And yelling in rage and faux outrage at anyone who will listen.

I ask you: where do we go from here? How do we create any hope of resolving issues together? Reaching compromises? How do we get to a middle ground if acceding even the existence of shared facts, of a shared reality, is perceived as yielding to the ‘enemy?’

No Shame

It’s also terribly disconcerting to me that it would appear that people don’t care how they appear anymore. I’m not talking about superficial looks or appearances. I mean people no longer seem to care if they are spouting allegations that are blatantly creating double standards.

There appears to be no shame in A accusing B of doing X, all the while A and A’s children, are doing X all the time, in many venues, and in plain sight and broad daylight. What are we teaching our kids about hypocrisy when this blatant example of it is taking place all the time – in our highest institutions?

Sense of Fairness and Justice

As an attorney, I have to admit I’ve always had an affection and respect for, and been a nerd about, our mode of government, our court system, and the sanctity of impartiality. Even when I was a lowly member of our township’s Zoning Hearing Board, I took my oath as a member of the board extremely seriously. I made a point of being impartial, of taking my responsibility to listen to all of the facts and examine all of the evidence from a completely neutral place.

Why? Because that’s the fundamental basis of our society. If we can’t believe in and rely upon the integrity of those we elect or who are appointed to serve us, then we have nothing. We invite anarchy. We end up hopelessly divided and suspicious and cynical.

Day of Moment

Today was a day of moment. Impeachment occurred, and the president was held accountable for abusing his power and obstructing Congress in its job of providing oversight of the executive branch. But this is no reason to celebrate. When not one single Republican put aside their abject refusal to see the hypocrisy of claiming a lack of evidence supporting the first article, and the obvious blocking of provision of that evidence (proof positive of the second article), we are faced with the fact that our country is in deep, deep trouble.

The insanity continues when McConnell states unequivocally that he will not be impartial in a Senate trial on the articles of impeachment – when the very oath he is required to take states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of the (person being impeached) now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”

It should be noted that the oath quoted above is one that every Senator must take in order to participate in an impeachment trial. This oath is over and above – and different from – the oath they take as Senators.

Not a Day for Revelry

It’s because of this fundamental breakdown of our ability to agree on simple facts and adhere to logic and reason and a sense of fairness and truth that I find the state of our country terribly distressing – and depressing. If we can’t agree on what is up and what is down, if we can’t agree on what is truth and what is a lie, we cannot expect to have a functioning society, much less a government that is sustainable and respected.

This is a day – and an era – of moment.

(T-709)