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Water on the Brain
Well, I completely wasted my President's Day holiday.
As we woke up and debated whether to go to the beach or to Stadium Park or both, I idly flipped through my papers for school — as night classes don't take holidays — to see what was up that night. Turns out the draft of our final paper was due. So Jen and Katie had to entertain themselves — playing in the bedroom, walking to the park — while I typed away at the computer, analyzing the appearance and significance of the colors blue, yellow and white in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony. By the time the girls knocked out for their afternoon nap, I was done, but by the time they woke up, it was too late to really do anything. I was panicked, for a moment, when I discovered Jen's printer was out of black ink. My solution was simple, though: print the paper in blue. Since it was partially about the color blue, I figured I could plead excessive symbolism. I was bummed, mostly, since Monday was to be one of the last big chunks of time we were going to spend together for a while. Jen's return to work makes weekends disappear, and we're going into DEFCON 3 at work, with our Tokyo meeting only 42 days away — we'll be watching the late news at the office real soon now. But, I figured, at least I finished my (blue) paper. I drove up to campus, remembering this time that I could park right at Moore Hall, and started to relate my ink story to my classmates when they started giving me a funny look. "The paper's due Wednesday, remember?" And the bitch of it was, as soon as they said it, I did remember. I just forgot to write it down. At least I finished my paper. Class was interesting. We were in a off-topic gabbing mood, as usual, and our mood was warped somewhat by the fact that we were instinctively in holiday mode. We talked about our last book, R. Zamora Linmark's Rolling the R's, which is a colorful series of vignettes depicting fifth-grade life in Kalihi in the 70s. Although we referenced the text occasionally, for the two-and-a-half hour class — and we skipped our break entirely — we somehow ended up talking about: - How Hawaii is a Democratic state in title, but frighteningly conservative in reality.
- Whether Hawaii is more homophobic than other U.S. cities. We concluded that it very much was, contrary to the stereotypical visions some might have about the islands.
- The unofficial training/socialization heterosexual men receive regarding the "I'm Not Gay" buffer seat in movie theaters (and other more general "rules" regarding personal space in America versus those in Asian and European countries). I mentioned that I must've skipped that class in Maleness 101, because I didn't realize any of this existed until Seinfeld and Dave Barry.
- The same-sex marriage debate, Hawaii's role in scaring the crap out of the rest of the country, and the sorry ultimate result. I was surprised at how many details of that particular political battle I remembered.
- The bustling sex industry in Hawaii, from unfettered prostitution (more prominent than you see in cities three times the size of Honolulu) to strip clubs and massage parlors scattered everywhere (mixed-use zoning, anyone?), and how it's remarkably mainstream. Many in the class knew strippers personally, and often found people in the profession to be as acceptable and accessible as those in any other trade.
- Hawaii racism and the myth of the melting pot. A big debate erupted between me and one other student over whether the Frank DeLima brand of jokes — stereotype jokes referencing Portuguese, Filipinos, Samoans, Hawaiians, Koreans, or the Japanese — were ignorant and "as bad as real insults" on the mainland (i.e. Polish, Jewish, Italian, Black) or "just for fun."
- Whether Linmark's depiction of sexuality, violence, and basic crudeness among pre-teens in Hawaii was exaggerated of overemphasized in the name of fiction. As apparently one of the only students in the class who grew up here, I had to make the case for "no."
I can't believe there are only three more class meetings left. Two months, two papers, lots of great discussion, and those all-important three credits should be mine come next Friday.
The news is making me cranky again. First, our state health gurus and legislature is once again trying to pass a water fluoridation bill. I can't express how much it ticks me off to think someone wants to screw with what might arguably be the best naturally-pure tap water in the nation — cleaner than some expensive bottled waters, even. All because some residents' teeth are rotting. Or, as is most commonly invoked, the teeth of our poor innocent children. There's now an ad playing frequently on TV here featuring Hawaii First Lady Vicky Cayetano and garish close-up photos of disease-ridden, toothless mouths. She looks sorrowfully into the camera and says, essentially, "These awful, ugly, child dental tragedies are a plague on Hawaii, all because of this!" Cut to a shot of a glass of water. Gimme a break! (Where's John Stossel when you need him?) We're being menaced by water that dares to not be tainted with chemical additives? I don't even care about the seemingly primary debate over the potential health effects of constant fluoride exposure... though they are substantial. (And don't forget the "bottled-water industry conspiracy" camp, either.) It's the idea of putting anything in everyone's water supply because some people don't brush their teeth and because some kids eat too many gummi bears. Especially, again, since our water rocks. And I say this as a man of a handful of cavities and fillings. I was stupid, I got the drill, I learned my lesson. Am I dense? (Don't answer that.) I just can't wrap my brain around the fact that there are actually people who think some socially-rooted health ill should be treated with adding something to our water supply. When it gets right down to it, I'm not so much bothered by fluoride, but rather by where the path fluoridation in the name of dental health leads. Our people get too many colds? Let's add some Vitamin C! Our women have bones that are too brittle? Toss in some calcium! Our kids are too moody or energetic and not cheery enough? Let's mix in some Prozac and Ritalin for good measure! The thought is so ridiculous, it scares the shit out of me. Secondly, while I'm sure it's no big deal to anyone else (actually, I have no doubt my particular gripe is somewhat silly), it bugs me that some, but not all, media outlets (even locally) are "branding" the Ehime Maru sinking — with slick graphics incorporating submarine silhouettes and American and Japanese flags — as the "Greenville Accident." I admit that it's painful seeing some newscasters and NTSB officials try and pronounce the name Ehime Maru, but it's what happened to that ship that makes the tragedy. Either it's a cop out because Japanese names are too hard to spell and pronounce, or its run-of-the-mill U.S./military centrism. Either way it sucks. The Lusitania was sunk. The Titanic sank. Hiroshima was bombed. We don't start those stories with the SMU 20, or the iceberg, or the Enola Gay. Or did I just get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?
I vented a bit about work to my mom this morning, about my reprimand last week and how badly things went today. Her attentive but silent presence calmed me down some. So did, again, the realization that having a decent job in this town given my limited skills and background is nothing to sneeze at (as more friends lose jobs or ache to leave them). I still fantasize about just uprooting and moving to Portland (or Toronto or Orlando) and seeing what happens — and the few times I mentioned the idea to mom she was surprisingly open to it — but in reality I should just buckle down, say "yes sir," and hang on... at least until I graduate. Being responsible and mature sure bites sometimes.
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· Created: 13 November 1997
· Last Modified: 14 January 2008