This update is going to begin with a rant,
so if you don’t want to read it; skip down to the triple-asterisks I’ll insert
after I’m done venting; and you can pick up the news of the day from there!
I really, seriously have a problem with
racism. No, I haven’t been a victim of
it, haven’t personally really had any experience with it before today, and we
don’t have a problem with it in our little home town; but I do know right and
wrong – and what happened to us today at our first restaurant pick for dinner
had me losing my cool and making a big scene.
I doubt my public rant made a difference for anyone except me and the
restaurant that got our business instead; but I still think that it was the
right thing to do – even if everyone in that restaurant thought I was nuts.
What happened? Nothing that doesn’t likely happen hundreds
or thousands of times a day to black people in this country. We – Michael, Tim, Rowen, me, and the rest of
our dinner group for the evening walked into a national chain restaurant that
will not be named here or specified by me anywhere else; there were several
groups waiting for tables ahead of us; and within five minutes, we were being offered
tables despite the fact that there was another group of similar size to ours in
line ahead of us – a group of black teens and young adults. I pointed this out to the hostess, was
offered an excuse that was an obvious lie, and when she refused to give those
tables to the other group; I got started on my rant. To be fair to them, my friends have never
seen me lose it over anything before, but the one attempt at getting me to shut
up ended with the single glare I directed at Jenny while I continued my mini
tirade.
There is not going to be an apology for
that anywhere in this rant because I am so not sorry – especially when I could
see that the hostess, the rest of the staff, and most of the customers sitting
in the ‘white’ section of the restaurant all thought I was some brain-washed,
liberal nutjob. I sure hope that no Magi
reading this anytime in the future believes that about me too, but my anger
today went beyond the obvious discrimination.
My empathy input at that restaurant kicked into overdrive; so I didn’t
need to read between the lines for what was being said to me – I knew exactly
what all of the people were feeling. It
doesn’t matter to me in the slightest what justifications people use to accept
discrimination on any level as the norm – it’s just flat-out wrong! There were some customers there that were
true racists, but most just went along with the status-quo and had different
reasons for doing that instead of standing up for what’s right too. I wish that wasn’t true, since this kind of
behavior would end very quickly if everyone would just refuse to spend their
money at places like that – which is exactly what I insisted that we do once I
was finished my rant.
As far as I know, nobody else left the
restaurant after us because of my tirade – including everyone still waiting for
tables. I wish they would have, but I
didn’t lose it in there for anyone in particular. I think that I’m right, and if I have my way;
someday I’ll convince everyone that it’s past-time for us to grow up as a
species and stop acting like playground toddlers fighting over who gets to go
first or have all the toys.
Finally, I know that this little incident
is nothing at all compared to the evil that happens all over the world to
minorities. It’s not as if we saw
someone get beat up or killed just for being black, but for the record; that
wouldn’t happen around me anyway. I
could and would stop something like that – no matter what it took. That thought does bring up a point about what
did happen to us. I could’ve ‘made’ that
hostess give those tables to that other group.
Yes, that would have given me away to all of the Magi in our group, and
I still would have done something in a life and death situation, but forcing my
will on others is only something that a Dark Magi would do – or other bad, ‘normal’
people for that matter. We have free will
for a reason; and Magi of the Light do not mess with that God-given gift.
I’ll also add that I’m not still angry
about that incident. We’ve moved on, and
the rest of our day has been amazing.
This written rant is for posterity in the archives. In the grand scheme of our collective Magi
history, this was an inconsequential moment – unless you remember that it is a
moment that I will remember forever – and it has had an impact on my resolve to
lead the next Ascension of the Light so that we can rid the world of these
idiocies!
Watch out, bad guys of the world – I’m just
getting started!
***
Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center
is a standard educational stop for a lot of school trips; so it’s no surprise
that it was one of the teachers’ picks for us.
Michael and I managed to wake up early-enough for both a long-form Tai
Chi workout and a ten-minute swim before we needed to hurry back to our rooms
and get ready for the day. Rowen and Tim
helped us out by picking up breakfast to go for all of us; we met them at the
buses; and had that meal while we hit the road and headed east toward the
Atlantic coast. We left our hotel early
so that we could be at the Kennedy Space Center when it opened. Once there, Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were
on our own – and with Rowen, Lucas, Jenny, and some other teens – for the rest
of the morning so that we could go on some of the more intense attractions
together.
We didn’t do any of the VIP activities like
the lunch with the astronauts, but we did have fun with the shuttle launch
experience; we went to the moon; and had a literal blast while playing until
lunchtime. We met up with Brent, Sharon,
and the rest of our group after lunch; we checked out as many of the exhibits
as we could get to before needing to hop on our buses again; and then we had a
short stop at a nearby beach so that we could all at least stick our toes in an
ocean – a first for most of us. That
wasn’t true for me, but I still had fun sharing that half-hour with my friends before
we headed back to Orlando again.
I’ve already ranted on the first restaurant
problem, so let’s move on to restaurant choice number two. We did a bit of walking for that, since my
friends thought that I needed some time to cool down while they teased me about
being such a radical maniac. I liked the
supportive hugs and kisses from Michael a lot more, but the teasing was fun
too; and the seafood restaurant and our server for the meal got to have the
benefit of our business – and the big tip I left after we finished enjoying our
meal there. For the record, the food was
good and the service a bit above average, so it was really just the comparison
that had me ordering a more-expensive dinner and putting up the tip for our
group.
Since we hadn’t been playing until nine or
ten o’clock, we had time after dinner to hang out around the hotel; go for a
swim; and then hang out in our room until curfew. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I were the ‘we’ for
the last part of that, and since we have a big day at Universal Studios booked
for tomorrow; the boys even went back to their room when Sharon checked in with
us at eleven o’clock. This time, I went
with Michael for our goodnight hugs and kisses while Tim stayed with Rowen; and
then he left when I got back to our room.
that was a change, since Michael had made it back to his room before
Rowen returned to ours the past three nights, but we had fun with that – even if
Tim thinks that he and Rowen didn’t get to have enough alone time fun before I kicked
him out.
Rowen’s taking her turn in the bathroom
now, so I’ve been doing my bedtime computing and getting it out of the
way. I haven’t done a home update in a
couple of days; so let’s do that before I wrap this up and get ready for my
turn in the shower.
They’ve had pretty good weather at home,
and while most of the teens and tweens are away; the remaining students in
Grades Seven through Twelve have been enjoying a play week. With temperatures in the low to mid-fifties
the past three days; outdoor play time has been an option. There has also been a school trip to Crystal
Springs for a day at SportsFusion, and while it’s supposed to get colder for a
couple of days; I’ve heard that there will be movies to watch and extra gym
time instead of regular classes. Ethan
and Ehlana had fun with their sleepovers on Saturday night; had a play
afternoon on Sunday with Mom, Dad, and a bunch of aunts, uncles, cousins, and
friends; and they’ve split their first two days of the school week between
their morning classes and afternoon play time in the lab and archive. They’ve played at the park playground too,
and part of the Sunday fun was Super Bowl party-related; but they played with
the kids and ignored the football – just as I did while we were at Disney! ;^)
I should have mentioned that Michael’s
parents had a tough day on Sunday because of their Super Bowl buffet and party
at the Inn, but while they did have to work hard; only having the one buffet
sitting instead of two actually made it easier for them than it would have been
with two buffets while all of their teen staff was away. They’re also working on their normal days
off, but have had two quiet days for that – and they haven’t needed to work all
day – just the dinner-to-close shift that is normally covered by teens and the
two full-timers that run the Inn when they’re off.
I can hear – and sense – that Rowen is
nearly done, but there is one more bit of news that I want to mention tonight
because it’ll come in handy for me tomorrow night. Co-ed sleepovers are happening with some of
the seniors in our group! If you’re shocked;
then you were obviously never a teen; since it happens on school trips – and likely
happens a lot. Michael and I – and Rowen
and Tim – have been good so far this week, but tomorrow is a rather special
occasion for one of us; and I am planning on keeping Michael with me tomorrow
night – or going to stay in his room. I’m
sure that Rowen and Tim will survive the scandal if we get caught, though there
isn’t really an ‘if’ about that; since Mom will be able to sense that I’m with Michael
– even from this far away from her.
Mentioning the sleepovers that have been
going on so far this week isn’t to set things up for us; but only to point out
that we won’t be the only couples doing that while we’re here. I won’t include any names for that, but if
you’re reading this in the future and you were one of those lucky teens –
congratulations! ;^)
That bit of silliness seems like as good a
place as any to end this report, and it’s time for me to hop in the shower now
anyway; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
