That’s just the way it is.
Related:
Music: Bruce Hornsby, “The Way It Is” https://thehomelessblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2123/07/01-the-way-it-is-remastered.mp3
Script:
It’s The William Tell Show. I call myself William Tell; you can call me Bill. Thank you for including me in your world; I hope to make The William Tell Show a place where everyone will feel included.
At this moment, I eagerly anticipate the revocation of Donald Trump’s bail in Fulton County, Georgia.
I’m going to use a word that will be new to some people: “facile,” spelled F-A-C-I-L-E. You can look it up in the dictionary more quickly than I can explain it here.
The Serenity Prayer says, quote, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” End quote.
Today we’re going to look at some things people cannot change, and different ways of responding to those facts.
A Friend of mine on FaceBook, a college classmate, shared this post from Nina Tame, who uses a wheelchair. She says, quote, “It’s not sad that I use a wheelchair. It’s sad that the world is so inacessible.” End quote.
I believe a person’s feelings are mainly a matter of choice, and frankly it’s pretty rare that I choose to be sad about anything. She’s choosing, not accepting. And she does it all the time. I’ve visited her profile; her posts are all variations on the theme of grieving over the inconveniences she meets as one who uses a wheelchair; and she’s got lots of Friends who commment on her posts and encourage her to whine.
Lady, no matter how much you want it to, the world is not going to turn itself inside out to accommodate you.
By exactly the same token, this TikTokker, Sarah Trefren, complained about a job interview. She has what she calls “time blindness,” and wanted the employer to make what she called a reasonable accommodation, namely, allowing her to be late to work every day.
I don’t have time blindness, but I do have DSPS, a disorder of the serotonin system in the brain, that means I cannot realistically promise to keep any appointment any earlier than 10:00 a.m. You can imagine what this means for my employment history. It had no role in my homelessness, but does have everything to do with my poverty.
I am not expecting, and never have expected, the world to turn itself inside out to accommodate me.
We come now to today’s music, Bruce Hornsby’s song, “The Way It Is.” Came out in 1985; happens to use some of the same language I’m using now; and features some tremendous work on keyboards.
Two of the stanzas touch on the question of looking for work, so I want to tell from my own story, that the job search isn’t easy for ANYBODY. It’s hard for ANYBODY. I am providing a link to my blog posts that tell about the diligent, long-running job search I conducted myself, until I got discouraged and gave up. The principal obstacles were that in retail, almost all jobs are half time or less, and at minimum wage that’s not going to let anyone live independently. Second, the employers expect you to be available at any time whatsoever, 24/7, and the structure of the shelter system just does not allow that.
We’re at 553 words. Time for the break — if Anchor still allows it. I don’t recall that they did last time.
[Commercial break]
Bruce Hornsby’s song also touches on racism, and I regret that the stand he takes is facile. He does not wrestle with the difficult questions, or explore the CAUSES of racism.
For example.
When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, the liberal white adults around me told us that black people are “just like us,” and all you need to do is treat a black person the same as a white person.
In twenty sixteen, racial turmoil engulfed college campuses around the country, and the protesters essentially gave the finger to all that. They insisted that they’re NOT just like us; they don’t WANT TO be just like us; and if you treat a black person the same as a white person, YOU’RE WRONG, for reason that you’re still acting on white assumptions.
One cause of racism is cultural friction. For example, black people pay far more attention to facial expressions and body language, than white people do. If I’m walking down the street and happen to look at a black male stranger, he will assume that whatever expression I have on my face is ABOUT HIM. Now, that may not be the case. My mind may be completely elsewhere. White people understand this. He won’t. If I’m frowning, he will assume I’m frowning AT HIM, and respond with the same racial hostility he thinks I’ve shown him.
If the price of racial justice is that white people stop being white — That ain’t gonna happen.
Lastly, there’s the question of the street I live on.
Lakewood Avenue runs north and south, following the bed of what was once known as Haskins Creek. In the 18th century, they filled it in. The creek’s still there, underground; I don’t know how that works; but the lay of the land reflects the watershed. Either way I go, east or west from here, I face a steep hill. To the west, I face a steep half mile hill up to Milton Avenue, where my church and the Save-A-Lot are, and when I get there I’m out of breath. That’s not the top of the hill. The hill continues west, only not as steep, for another mile, to the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
By the same token, when I take the bus downtown to the main branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library; because I want to avoid the intersection of St. Paul and Saratoga, I get off instead at Fayette Street and Maryland Avenue. Here, likewise, I face a steep half-mile hill northward to Mulberry Street and the library. The last time I went there, I was really angry about having to climb that hill.
But it’s not going to go away. Some things will never change.
One is best to learn to accept, and be happy with, What Is, whatever that may be. I was homeless from March 7, 2011 to April 28th, 2023. Homelessness was far less difficult for me than it might have been, because I determined from the start to accept, and be happy with, whatever happened. Yes, I had the advantage of decades of meditation and of training myself this way. Yes, I had the advantage of working the Twelve Steps daily for decades, and practicing the Serenity Prayer. But this approach is available to anyone. It’s available to you.
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