An American Idea of Love

When I was seven or eight, I remember sitting at the dinner table, glowering at the food in front of me. As my family got ready to eat, I accused my parents of neglecting me and my brother. You’re never around! And other such accusations flew out of my mouth. The moment they were uttered, I could see the raw hurt flash in my father’s eyes.

My parents have loved me and my brother more than anything else in the world. They weren’t home until dinnertime because they were working all the time. Growing up, my mom worked in a clothing factory, her back hunched over a sewing machine from dawn to dusk. Her eyes would go bleary as they watched the needle endlessly pierce cloth under harsh lights. My dad worked as a construction worker and contractor. He often came home with paint, dirt, or wood dust on his shirt and between his nails. He did everything from tearing out walls to reconstructing roofs. My parents were paid probably lower than minimum wage, and this was during the nineties. They slowly chipped away at a mortgage for a house in San Francisco while supporting my grandmother, my brother, and me. Their lives weren’t glamorous and they could barely afford the two gifts I got each year. You’ve probably heard it a million times, but the only reason they came to America was to give me and my brother a better life than they had in China – they had grown up during the communist era, starving through the Great Famine and lacking education beyond middle school.

So why did I think my parents didn’t love us back then, when they so clearly did?

Lockdown, Manhunt, and Capture: What Happened in Boston

Because once again the past 24 hours have been so chaotic, with incredible news coverage (but perhaps, daresay, an overload?), I’m writing what happened in Boston on April 19th following the MIT shooting and Watertown shooting.

For the hours immediately following the MIT shooting, read my other post, “What Happened In Boston Last Night.” I’m going to begin with the morning. I was awaken around 5:43 AM with yet another Harvard emergency text message that read, “Due to search for dangerous suspect, HUPD advises people near Cambridge/Allston campus to remain indoors. Updates to follow.” I drifted back to a fitful sleep as more texts came. At 8:56 AM, I received another text, alerting that Harvard University was closed today and to stay indoors.

From Quartz

Finally getting up around 10 AM, I immediately checked the news, hoping to see progress on the previous night’s remaining suspect. Confirming my suspicions, I found that news sources had tied the MIT shooting to the Boston Marathon bombers.  To my surprise, they had succeeded in identifying both suspects and the media was rapidly searching for all the information they could get on the two: Dzhokar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. I was honestly shocked that they were brothers – but what immediately crossed my mind was that (and I could be wrong) made them less likely to be part of highly organized crime.

Wealth Inequality in America

Wealth Inequality in America – YouTube.

I always hear things about how the wealth disparity in China if going to be the downfall of the communist regime. But what about America’s wealth disparity? I think back to the occupation movement. While I agreed they were the most organized movement, I really thought they had a point. And they were trying to do something! The last influential rioting in America was probably against the Vietnam war. Have we all become so desensitized to problems? Even when they affect us? We’re letting that 1% (or top 10%) get away with this. I can’t stand the arguments that they “deserve” it and that if we do anything, it’ll result in the “dreaded” socialism. Something is clearly wrong with the system. So what can we all do about it?

Daily Dose of Reading

Here we go again! That time when I share all the (online) things I’ve been reading. 

The Best Birth Control in the World is for Men: When I began looking into birth control, I was appalled to discover that really, birth control is a “woman’s” problem! We’ve got IUDs, Implanon, daily hormone shots, pills, etc… And for guys? Condoms and vasectomy. It was infuriating and made me feel that getting pregnant was a woman’s issue. The guy just has to remember to be sorta responsible and supply condoms, but girls have to endure all this other crap to really feel secure. Well, guess what? The best birth control in the world is for men! I know! Spread the word! But no one knows about this and no one in America (to my knowledge) has it. Why? Maybe because guys are terrified of having anything close to their nether regions. Well guess what? Women undergo procedures to have IUDs, and those aren’t even as effective and/or easy as this procedure for men! Seriously, spread the word. It even fights HIV!

Gay Men and Christian Wombs: Surrogacy’s New Frontier: I thought this was fascinating mostly because I’m not Christian and it never even occurred to me that Christian women would decide whether it was moral to help give birth for a gay couple. Also, the thought of being driven out of a town because you might do that? Crazy.