Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

I know it's kinda strange that I post and dip...but I simply go where people respond. (Between the "other place and here). So, it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Bit, I'm back with another "Tales From The PT Job" episode.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Wedge issue= "Culture War." That's basically LGBTQ+, Black, and women's issues. But, this time was immigration. (Remember, there was a bill...and THEY refused it!?)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

I can't say that MAGA is tired of Trump. I CAN say that, anecdotally, my small sample size absolutely is. It's finally hitting their pockets. Idk how long the effect will last. But, it's finally something!?

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Far less is being pulled out for their support. They'll likely attend underfunded school districts. So, they money "per head" will actually positively affect the financial numbers.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

What they are finally seeing is that "immigration" could've been a solved issue. But, it was necessary as a wedge issue for the GOP. There have been 50-eleven Bills...and very few votes. Why? Because the GOP has been a wedge issue party for decades.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Folks have been fed this steady diet of misinformation that sells a narrative that just isn't factual. The vast majority of undocumented immigrants are simply trying to live. They don't commit crimes because that would literally increase the focus on them.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

It's obvious that the "undocumented" community is valuable. How do we know? No company, corporation, or small business gets in trouble for hiring them. (They hated Obama for going at that point.) That's trillions of dollars recirculate into the local and state economies.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

I guess tariffs don't work like HE explained!? (Who'd have thought!?) I guess that the economy WASN'T the focus!? (Not getting better, but at least the Smithsonian doesn't have those "divisive" Black artifacts and exhibits!?)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Let's not even go to "due process" and THOSE ramifications!? They will still fight the "immigration" fight, but there's still a LOT of ammo. MS-13 aren't training babies. So why deport a 2 y/o? Those that are have been detained before their actual trials? (Trump admitted this.)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

It appears that most, if not ALL of my Trump diehards are now like "F*ck him!". This includes an upper 60s, Black military vet, a mid 20s Black ADT installer, a white retired woman, and a white male the previously "worked in insurance."

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

They come in, and the FIRST thing that they wanna talk about is "what he did..." Mind you, I've gone around and around with these particular people. They are "regulars." We've had sporadic conversations for 2+ years! So, I'm really only interested in what THEY'VE learned!?

Okay. So, one of my therapy assignments was to "list your traumas." Sounds easy, right? Well....it took a year of fleshing out and understanding how trauma works. Not all trauma is directional. It can be generational, interpersonal, direct, or indirect (witnessed or empathy).

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Again. This seems like a "trauma dump". But, I'm sure that folks have seen and gone through worse. I just want you to know that...no...it's not normal. But there is light. Think about how our sun takes over in the daylight? Those stars don't stop shining, the sun is just closer.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

That's how trauma sometimes works. We feel the intensity of those emotions. We even internalize them. But we forget that there's that "starlight" hiding just beyond. It was never gone, it was just a matter of perspective. That starlight is akin to hope, and hope is sustainable with perspective.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Several due to the street violence of the day. One that sticks with me? (They all do, but this one in particular.) Had a student showing ALL signs of schizophrenia, but he lived with a 78 y/o grandmother. He tried to commit suicide more than once. Almost set himself on fire!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

We fought to get him help. He was committed for a 72 hour evaluation...1 week after dowsing himself with gas and threatening to light himself up. But, the institutions failed. They let him walk (AMA) and less than 5 hours after, he took a shotgun to his head.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

I was a military brat overseas.The rude awakening? There were folks in the military who were racist. (Pre-teen/teen crushes who flat out said they couldn't go out with me because of how their parents felt. (Some were high ranking!?)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Flash forward to teaching kids in the inner city. I've "lost" at least one student for every year I taught. How? Well, a female student was murdered by her obsessive, much older husband. A good student was set up by his ex GF and executed on her doorstep by her current BF.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

So....welcome to my initial list. I felt responsible for my parent's divorce because of a singular incident (hadn't seen the pattern of physical and emotional abuse until that day) Almost died from suffocation in a room at a house party. (I was 4.)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Was raided as one of few in a suburb with both "tolerant" white folks and very intolerant white folks...and spent summers with literal racist right down the street. (It was the parents...the kids snuck to play with us.)

So...has anyone ever had their heart completely broken? Not just "hurt" but to the point where they didn't know if trust or love was possible again? Well, me too. I was once in complete love with the "woman of my dreams." She was smart, driven, beautiful, and enchanting in a way that I'd never felt.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Give her the grace to find what will be her place. If you were truly WITH her, you already heard enough and know what you should be doing. America has an entirely new "relationship" that she has no power over. It doesn't seem happy right now. But, that doesn't mean that it deserves her again.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

They both need to refect, do a postmortem, and figure out what they want for the future. Maybe that's getting back together, or maybe it's cutting ties? Either way, their work doesn't include YOUR feelings. YOU have your own "relationship" with America to tend to.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Kamala Harris fell in love with the idea of being of service to an America, and in part a party that "cheated" on her. She poured herself into that relationship at every step along the way...and now there's nothing but America running around with a felon...playing in her face...and it's inescapable.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

I say this to say that she's only human. She feels like WE feel. Hurts like WE hurt. She processes how SHE processes. (Whatever that might require) Just because she's a politician doesn't mean that she can just "shake it off." Did you!? And with far less at stake!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

On election day, this is likely how she felt. America chose a 34x felon, conman, racist, misogynist, over a dedicated "lover." Some might say, "if you love them, fight for them..." There's not a lot of fight in the immediacy of rejection. There's just anger and eventually reflection.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

We've not given her time to process the 107 relationship, let alone the aftermath. But, some folks want her to "Do Something". What productive "something" comes from a situation like that. A brave face? I tried it and it was wasted energy. Lashing out? For what?

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Well, in that little time that I wasn't, which was time that I thought she needed for HER, she cheated. I knew almost immediately. Something changed. There was a sudden hesitancy, reluctance, and unseen distance. But, I didn't immediately leave her, nor confront her. (Sucker? Pethaps!?)

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

What I waited for was for her say it. I needed to know without a doubt. Is this all subtext? Yes! This is a convoluted way to get folks to understand where MVP is right now. She also had a love. It was public service. She thought that dedicating herself to it would be enough.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

Either way, that began a relationship that lasted almost 3 years, most of which were pretty great. We took the same classes, studied together, might as well have been living together for all the time spent in one place or the other.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!

However, it was great right up until it wasn't. Her father quite suddenly died. I was "there" for her in every way I thought possible. I stayed with her. Went to her home for the funeral...during classes. Sometimes we just sat, other times she cried on my shoulder. But, I was there.

Iceman0693! (IYKYK) If not, you better ask somebody!