Author: Reemberto@gmail.com

When I asked friends and family to guess how I recently traveled from DC to ATL, the response was unanimous:

[1] plane?

[2] car?

[3] train?

They all struck out. Some guessed I biked. Others, knowing my love for walking, suggested I walked.

Nope. All wrong.

Not a single person suggested or guessed that I took the bus. It’s simply never entered their mind. Unthinkable!

When I shared with them that I did indeed take the bus they were incredulous. They simply did not believe me. Typical follow up questions included: “Why would you do that?”, “Have you lost your marbles?”, “Are you ok?”

Well, I did. I took the bus. Washington,  DC to Atlanta, Georgia. Overnight at that.

It all began on a Thursday evening with a 21 minute, one mile walk from my house to the Takoma Metro station. After a mere 3 minute wait for the Metro, I arrived at Union Station in Washington, DC 15 minutes later. A beautiful, classic building.

Time for dinner at the Union Station food hall. Not fancy, but filling enough.

To get to the loading area for intra city buses you must go to the garage. FlixBus (who bought Greyhound) uses bays 5-8. The bus departed promptly at 10:50 p.m., as scheduled. It arrived in Atlanta 12 hours later, as scheduled.

Loading the bus at Union Station garage was the first of many experiences. To get on the bus I had to walk past an overflowing trash can and a family literally sitting on the pavement feeding their kids.

The Chinese ticket-taker – the driver himself – had very little patience with anyone with questions. “Get on! Get on!” he’d yell, in his accented English.

When I purchased my ticket I did not buy the option to select a seat. Nor did I buy the privilege of riding without a neighbor on the seat next to me. I did buy it early so I had seat 2A assigned to me. Getting on the bus, there was no way to know which seat was which. But I imagined that 2 meant the second row and A meant the window. Well, someone was already there. No problem. I took seat B. 

My neighbor was a pleasant older gentleman – like myself. We connected because he was headed down to near my old neck of the woods, Love Joy, Georgia. We exchanged some pleasantries including his stories of growing up African American south of Atlanta and me growing up in the same area as a White Latino. Soon after we departed he moved on to an empty seat with no neighbor so we could both stretch out – and try to sleep. (The bus was at best 50% full).

In between the turns and squeaks, I tried valiantly to get some shut eyes. Listening to music with my headphones helped. But not even that could mask the blaring conversation the bus driver was having on his phone. Other passengers were clearly annoyed at this too – but to no avail.

The lights inside the bus were out while on the road. But as we approached each of the six stops we were eventually to make, the driver would scream – yes, scream – “Richmond! Richmond”!  And he would abruptly turn all the lights on to the brightest level. This began to feel like cell torture to make you sleep deprived.

As the bus approached one of the stops in southern Virginia, two Latinos – I am pretty sure they were Venezuelans who had recently crossed the border and ended up in DC – came to the front to speak to the bus driver. He’d have none of it. “Sit! Sit!” One of the Venezuelans innocently kept asking in Spanish “donde queda la tienda?” (where is the store?)  Evidently someone was to meet them there at some store. No answer. Instead when the bus stopped, the driver firmly shouted – yes, shouted – “out! out!” The two men confusedly exited the bus and the driver expediently took off. Not a peep from the other passengers.

At another stop a cheerful African American lady got on with her bag and promptly sat down on the seat behind me. From the phone conversation she was having and I could not help but hear, she was recently homeless and on her way to reconnect with a friend in another city. While her conversation kept me awake, it was at least a good story to listen to as I tried to fall asleep. I was somewhat successful in catching some shut eyes for the next couple of hours.

Three hours from Atlanta the bus stopped at a large gas-station where we were allowed to get off the bus to go to the bathroom. But, in the words of the bus driver, “quickly! quickly! 8 minutes”. I followed the crowd in grabbing our respective critical belongings and rushed to the bathroom – I had not used the bathroom on the bus. I rushed back to my 2A seat, overjoyed that I made it back in time. 

Oh oh. Someone else was not so lucky. A young Brown lady who had been sitting all the way in the back of the bus – clearly with a dependency challenges given her own admission as she talked to herself – never made it back. Not a peep from the passengers. The driver soon continued his loud phone conversation.

As we approached Atlanta the bus got off the highway at Chamblee, only miles from downtown. I used to live in Chamblee, so I knew the territory. The bus stopped at a rather unkept supposed ‘bus station’, identified as the Chinese Bus Depot – on Shallowford Road (near Buford Hwy, for my ATL friends). I got off. The Station was closed. (I have subsequently found out that FlixBus has arranged to partner with these bus drivers and bus stops to expedite their rebranding of Greyhound). I called my brother to come pick me up and waited outside. It had been 12 hours since I had left DC. Impeccable scheduling.

After 36 hours visiting family and friends in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, it was time to do it all over again Saturday night. I dreaded the thought of six stops with another militant driver. But, I had to get back to DC to go watch the Braves play the Nationals the next day.

A friend dropped me off at the Civic Center MARTA station, where the FlixBus website stated the bus would pick me up at 9:50 p.m.

The bus stop designation was nowhere to be found at the MARTA metro station. The handful of folks hanging out on this not-busy-at-all station on a Saturday night in downtown Atlanta were clearly not looking to get on the bus or the metro. Let’s just say they were hanging out. No problema. They did not bother me; I did not bother them. So I sat down in one of the benches after getting clarity from a lady helping empty trash cans that indeed, this was the stop for FlixBus. 

As I waited – having arrived on purpose with plenty of time to spare – a car drives up and drops off a young man with some apparent disability. (This was evident from the women that helped him out of the car). I motioned, inviting them to share my bench. The woman was thankful – and so was the young man. In trying to start a conversation, I realized he could not speak, nor understand much – at least English. (I believe they were from West Africa as I heard the women speak French).

A FlixBus arrived ahead of schedule and we both rushed to make sure we would get on, me expecting the worst from my previous experience. The bus driver got off the bus and as I tried to get on he screamed “not your bus! not your bus!” Oops. This was not the DC bus. I tried to explain it to the young man, who got it immediately. And so did the other five or six passengers going in the direction of DC/NY. Oh well.

Our bus did arrive on time, promptly at 9:50 p.m. The two bus drivers got off. They were two chubby African American men, one younger and the other middle age. They let us know that the bus was going all the way to NY via Charlotte, Richmond, and DC. Wait! Could it be that there’d be only three stops? I didn’t even ask. I got on the bus and found my seat, 2B. (I did take A, the window). There were no more than 10 passengers on the bus. 

The bus driver worked quickly, but graciously. Once everyone was on the bus he politely asked a Black lady who was talking on the phone to please lower her voice. She was speaking a language other than English – I could not decipher. She did not understand him so she got up and walked towards him. He politely, using hand signals, communicated the message which she clearly understood, saying “sorry”, and went back to her seat.

Traffic getting out of Atlanta was hell. Only the commuter lane was moving. And it was Saturday night at 10:30 at night. Nonetheless, we made good time to Charlotte. All passengers were asleep by the time we got there. The bus driver turned on the lights in three steps, dimming from soft to bright; and loudly announced “Charlotte!” Folks got off; others got on; the driver turned off the lights; we moved on. No issues.

The ride to the next stop – at a gas station for stretching our legs and grabbing some bites – was totally uneventful. I got at least 4 hours of undisturbed sleep. Not bad. At the gas station I bought some eats and loaded the bus. No hurry. 

The drive to Richmond was equally non-eventful. People got off; people got on. And on to Washington, DC.

We arrived in Washington a full hour before the scheduled arrival. The bus driver indicated to passengers that the same bus would continue to NYC, so everyone had an hour to go inside and rest in the architectural marvel that is Union Station.

I walked to the Metro and got on the train to Takoma station, then walked home. Beautiful weather. Nice walk.

The cost of the bus trip? $120.00. Less than ½ what it would have cost to fly or go on the train. Compared to planes, buses are infinitely less hassle. No security line, no long wait at the airport, no long line to get on the plane. No long ride to and from the airports here and there. Door-to-door flying takes no less than 6 hours, less than half of the 13 hours the bus takes. Yet, it is a tireying 6 hours.

Would I ride the bus again? In a heartbeat.

Would I recommend it? Only to cost conscious folks that understand what they are getting into. That is, I highly recommend the bus to folks that appreciate connecting with diverse people and culture regardless of economic standing – and do not get rattled by incidents that are not everyday occurrence in their own life. 

The folks that ride the bus are generally of lower socio-economics, yes. And mostly Black and Brown – I was the only White person on the bus going there and coming back. But, these good folks are also our neighbors, our workforce, our long lost friends. We all have stories to tell and share. We all have issues and challenges.

If you never experience these different social circles, you are prone to form your biased perceptions based on movies and social media, where exaggeration and hyperbolics loom. I find sharing spaces with others to be a very human thing to do, a learning experience, and just plain fun adventures.

Life is good. Live on. Ride on. enJoy.

OPPENHEIMER – Desolation? Nah. Hopefulness!

Got to see the film Oppenheimer last night. Complex. Storytelling only as quality film can do. Yet necessarily incomplete, rushed and biased – as all stories are. After all, it is a 3-hour movie, not a 3-month seminar.

I can only surmise that different people take away different things from this film. In many ways, you get out of it what you put into it. And, what you get out of it will be influenced by your knowledge of history – and the source of your knowledge. 

It is easy to walk away from the film with a sense of desolation; a sense that humanity is doomed to an unavoidable self destruction.

After watching this film, we may be tempted to fall in the trap of looking at humanity as parasites. We may very well be one of the shortest lived species on planet Earth – and the only one to self-destruct in a mere few millennia of existence.

The web of complex relationships that weave through the film is jarring. The emotions displayed are raw. The insecurities – and false securities – exhibited by many of the characters are numbing. (The love scenes are unnecessary. Too bad Hollywood feels they must be in every R rated movie).

The main character – Oppenheimer – is indeed wishy-washy. And, as Truman calls him, somewhat of a “cry-baby”. But, aren’t we all? To me he comes across as very real and relatable. To others that seek certitude and definiteness he may come across as weak, confused, and impressionable. Again, to me he is real.

Too bad that REM”s “It’s the end of the world as we know it” was already used in another movie – Independence Day. It would have been a fitting soundtrack for Oppenheimer.

So, what to make of it? Should we simply sulk in our own inevitable demise and fall prey to insolvable desolation after watching Oppenheimer? Nah.

I choose to view the film as a portrayer of what went wrong that we can learn from and do right. Technology in and of itself is neither good nor bad. It is all in how we choose to apply it. 

Unlike every other species on Planet Earth we can choose to apply what we can do – or not do – for the collective good and perpetuation of the species.  Or we can choose to be self centered as individuals or tribes and grab power through violence, regardless of consequences – including potential extinction.

We know what it takes. We have philosophy – and faith – to guide us. Most major philosophical and faith traditions converge on the simple, similar answer. 

While we are certainly not the only species to have emotions, we are the only one to act upon those emotions with much more than just instinct. We have intellect, we have cumulative knowledge, we have the stories of our past. We also have compassion, we care, we love. We find joy in others – in relationships. We have the capacity to go beyond linear decision-making and discern what actions to take – or not take. 

We know how to do this. We know how to be co-creators of our own future. We can do it individually – and collectively.

I am not being pollyannaish or looking at life through rose colored glasses. I am fully aware that individual hurt – deep hurt – and collective atrocities are very real. I am fully aware that our history is told from the perspective of war, struggle, and conflict. (I am also keenly aware that history is written by winners).

And – not but. I choose to be hopeful. I choose to see the goodness in others. I choose compassion. I choose to build relationships on where our agendas intersect – and celebrate joyfully. And I am thankful for what others have taught me.

I also am firmly and eternally hopeful that there is a critical mass of humanity that feels similarly. As the grandfather of three, I know in my bones these future generations will improve on our successes, learn from our failures, and pass on that positivity to their grandchildren joyfully and jubilantly. And our species will evolve to meet whatever challenge may come our way.

Watching Oppenheimer does not have to be a downer. It can spark our (re)commitment to do what we can – individually and collectively – to be part of a constructive way forward rather than a destructive force.

We can do this!

(Comments? Send me an email Reemberto(at)gmail.com)

Trump found guilty of insurrection by majority of Senators

Let the record show – and history books not forget – that on February 13, 2021 57% of U.S. Senators voted to charge Donald Trump, ex-President of the United States with insurrection and enticing his followers to attack the Capital. This is the first time in American History that a sitting President has been complicit in an attack on another branch of the Federal Government.

And, lest we forget, he has yet to concede that he lost the elections. He continues to be a clear and present danger to American democracy, the U.S. Constitution, and basic human decency. He is also arguably a traitor. He is definitively a criminal – as hopefully courts will prove someday soon.

Many of his followers are saying we must move on. Move on? Nope. No justice, no peace.

But, I get it. “Moving on” is the American way – particularly when it is convenient to maintain the status quo, when it is convenient to not upset the consumer economy, or when it is convenient to appease that segment of Americans who are blatantly scared of the inevitability of the demographic future of America – that is, browner and blacker.

Yet we keep paying the price of this ‘moving on’.

• We never resolved the basic tenet of the evil of slavery after the Civil War; and we are still paying dearly for that inaction.
• We opted to whitewash the Spanish flu pandemic, moving on to the roaring 20s and never giving it due importance in history books; and we are now paying the price by totally fumbling our response to Covid.
• We have never faced the embedded abuses of the immigrant labor force, the quasi-slave labor of prisonerS, or the massive and ever-increasing wealth gap; and the day of reckoning of these inequities is now upon us.

“Moving on” from the events that led to January 6, 2021 – and “moving on” from holding President Trump accountable – will simply fester the gross underbelly of racism and the warped interpretation of Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism. The “American First” movement re-ignited by Donald Trump has given the license to White Supremacist, outrages conspiracy theorist, and subtle racists to pursue their destructive ideologies as if they were legitimate American ideals.

It is one thing to acknowledge that the U.S. has always had a critical mass of its population committed to non-democratic ideals. It is one thing to acknowledge that the U.S. has always had a critical mass of its population willing to accept authoritarianism as a means to quiet opposition – even if it is a majority. It is another thing to give these anti-democratic values the space to fester and grow without challenging them in the court of law – and through legislative means.

Tumpism may very well outlive Trump. Actually, Trumpism existed long before Trump. He simply legitimized it and gave it a face – his face. How Trumpism will evolve in the months to come, the damage it will do to the American psyche – and potentially to the safety of the American people  – is unknown.

Only time will tell. And: Those of us that care about such things – those of us that believe in the core goodness of “most of us” living in the U.S., and those of us that find it necessary to remain engaged in the civic spaces – will continue working to squelch Trumpism, not only to “move on”.

No justice, no peace.

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To call Trump an averation of American history would be wrong. There’s been worse. The Confederates come to mind. And the many who were complicit in the slave trade. And Andrew Jackson.

But, Trump is our monent. A unique invention of our times. He belongs to us all.

To some he is the voice of the many. The spirited fighter driven by raw instinct with a sixth sense for saying out loud what others can only embarrassingly think. He is raw, crass, unpolished, and “the real deal.” Never mind that he lies, cheats, and is exclusively about winning. To his fanatical followers all of his misgivings are a small prize to pay for a renewed sense of greatness. To them he is indeed “the right man at the right time.”

To those that are with him – or tolerate him or have him as a useful idiot – I say: We got what we paid for, a con man par excellence.

Is there any doubt that this man is driven by nothing other than his sickening ego? Is there any doubt that this man will go to any extent, hurt anyone, and do whatever it takes to stay in power, stay relevant? Is there any doubt that in this man’s mind he can simply not comprehend the thought that he lost?

And most critical, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that this man is a tool for Putin – or at least his useful idiot?

Think about it. Not a single time has this President ever never said anything negative about Putin. Most recently even in the face of overwhelming consensus that Russia is behind the hacks damaging government agencies he still refuses to say anything negative about Putin. And instead he deflects the conversation to imply China is behind the hacks.

He is the first president since the Civil War to entertain the idea of secession. He is the first president since the internment of Japanese Americans to consider instituting martial law. He is the first president to choose to be absent from public view in time of a dire national crisis, choosing instead to hide behind his tweets. And he is the first President to not concede – and worse yet intice others to join him in his malicious lie that he won the election.

It is yet to be seen how much more damage he can do in the 30 days left in his administration. But is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that this man can and is willing to create maximum chaos? Putin could not have planned it any better. I will leave to conspiracy theorists to determine whether the charge was given to him verbally, written or as an understood innuendo. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. The result is the same. Pure chaos. Destabilize and divide America in every conceivable way. Instill distrust. Avoid anything resembling normalcy or certainty. Keep people off balance, guessing, and obsessed with not knowing what is next. Welcome to the chaos culture.

The damage is done. Of course it is repairable. But it will take time – a long time. What this man has done to this country is nothing short of treason. It may take years to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s necessary to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. But that day will come.

In the meantime we will forge forward. We will work with the large number of people that are willing to work with others to get past this nightmare and reclaim some semblance of governance normalcy. It will not be easy. This will not be for the faint at heart. We will stumble. But we will prevail.

And thus, what to make of Trump? Don’t dismiss or underestimate him for a NY second. Evil morphs, adapts, resurfaces – and worse.

Stay vigilant. Strengthen institutional Democracy. Relentlessly name his misdeeds – and those of his cronies. And never ever forget. He may soon be gone, but his venom lives on. It always has and it always will. Goodness will prevail. But, for goodness to prevail good people have to remain hyper-conscious, active, connected, and good to to the core; and avoid vengeance and tit-for-tat.

Trumpism has no place in our collective future. Let’s make Trump part of our history, a history from which we will learn for the sake of our future – but history nonetheless.

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Donald, you are done.

You conned half of America.

Your meanness and crassness captured the imagination of many.

You abused the insecurities of vulnerable Americans. You played to their social fears. You expanded their confusion, exasperating their lack of information with misinformation, abusing their poor education.

At the beginning you were the shiny new object. As the evil con man you are, you oftentimes used a kernel of truth to frame your hate and vile ideas. However, at the end you had disintegrated to a pathetic pile of manure, demonstrating your complete incompetence, lack of empathy, and extreme self-centeredness.

You never cared about others. You never even owned a dog!

Yet, many vulnerable souls still believe in you and will dearly miss you. And quite a few others – those that used you as a useful idiot – will also miss you.

Your insolence is such that you are willing to instill doubt in the conscience of America and sow the seed of destruction of democracy just so you can say “I did not lose.” You are one mean-spirited human being.

You have belittled those that are committed to public service in government. You have abused your position of power to – without proof – shame the good folks that work our election system. You have tried to discredit science. You have shown no empathy to those dying of covid or those staffing the health care facilities.

(And in the four years of your Presidency you never ever once uttered a negative comment about Russia’s Putin. We still wonder why.)

You’ve left us more divided. You have unleashed a wave of hate. You have damaged our reputation. You have insulted and degraded many a good people. You have used the office of the Presidency to spout lies after lies after lies, daily, day after day after day.

You left us more broken.

But, we’ve been there before. And we’ve pulled through. Not perfectly – far from it. But, pulled through nonetheless.

We know we will always have with us a fringe of America that cares only about themselves, misuses the principles of individualism, and clings on to cultish ideologies. They have always been with us. We can’t lock them all up. There are no acceptable laws that will make them or their wild ideas go away. You certainly gave them license to be more visible and even grow in numbers. But, they remain a fringe.

They remain the confused, abused, and misguided America. And, they also remain our fellow Americans. Not to be discarded, nor insulted, nor dismissed. They are mostly good people that have been conned.

Donald, America is better than you. We are mostly an aspirational, good-will people, with warts and all. Rockus, argumentative, disinterested at time, easily swayed by rampant consumerism and over-the-top entertainment. A long way from perfect. But collectively hopeful, believing in the goodness of each other, willing to collaborate, committed to community.

We will rebuild the mess you left us. Better.

Donald, you are done.

Tilt. Game over.

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Welcome back to Trump’s America. Regardless.

(Note: This is a continuation of previous post “What to make of life in the likelihood of four more years of Trump’s America?”)

Feeling melancholic. Yet hopeful. Regardless.

Not giving up. Will fight. Regardless.

What to make of life in the likelihood of four more years of Trump’s America?

Make no decision in time of desolation.

Yet, discernment must begin. It did already. Last night, after the horrible showings and before going to bed.

This election changes every aspect of my life:

• Personal
• Psychological
• Professional
• Physical
• Financial

Regardless of how the final numbers come in, certain things are clear:

• Half of Americans have voted for autocracy, authoritarianism, the cult of personality, and a judiciary subjected to the whims of the President.

• Half of Americans have no issue with a President that lies, cheats, divides, and has no interest in reaching out to those who did not vote for him – except unless, of course, if they are willing to succumb to his unquestionable dictates.

• Half of Americans are seemingly ok with the rising numbers of cases and deaths due to an uncontrolled pandemic; regulations that denigrate the environment; and, an economic system that clearly favors the wealthy.

• Half of Americans welcome a combative, fighting, go-at-it-alone foreign policy, including tightening immigration laws without regards to human rights principles or consequences.

• Half of Americans sternly believe that the poor can best be helped by providing more tax breaks to the rich, limiting public assistance, and keeping them safe by militarizing the police.

To the half of Americans that voted for Trump these positions are not theoretical or aspirational. They are in fact in place today as a result of Trump’s Presidency over the last four years – and they like them.

That is what this election has proven.

Now the question to all of us that did not vote for him is: 

• What do we do? 
• How do we live in Trump’s America for the foreseeable future – regardless of how the election results turn out in the next day or week? 
• Do we engage them, retreat and distance from their noise, or resist (if Trump wins) or respect (if Biden wins)? 

… more discernment as news develops.

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There’s still time to get good folks to vote #BidenHarris

What can you say about this election that has not been said?

What can you analyze that has not been analyzed?

Who can you get to the polls that has not being?

How can you convince him or her that voting is the thing to do?

How can you encourage him or her to vote for Biden?

Is there any texting, any words, any social media posting, any advertisement – anything – that will be effective at this time, a short few days before election day?

We could throw up our arms, crawl into our rabbit hole of endless news and social media blabber, safely stay in our social bubble, and simply wait till it all passes.

Or, we could do something. We could focus these last few days in:

• strategic outreach to people we know that may not have yet voted and empathetically, understandably, and with authentic love ask them to consider voting;
• being very public with showing our enthusiasm by wearing our campaign  ware, freshening up that yard sign, and joining in caravans where they are happening;
• sharing this plea with our friends and families that have voted to please please please do not do nothing.

And oh yes:

• If you know of someone that simply can not physically do any of the above, welcome their prayers that others that can will vote vote vote #Biden.

Do not underestimate the power you have to personally get others to vote. You never know who will respond positive to your plea. Don’t discount the possibility that you are the one person that the other person was waiting to hear from to make the decision to vote.

Here’s a simple idea:

• Make an inventory of your very own contact list on your phone. Do a personalized text and/or call asking your contacts if they would like to discuss their voting plan. No pressure. No crudeness. No guilt-trip. Simply a friendly:

“Hello, hope you are doing well; and by the way, have you voted yet? Is there anything I can do for you to do so? Wanna talk? Stay safe!”

Let’s do all we can. Let’s have no regrets. Let’s do this!

P.S.:

You may want to browse through this blog’s posting for an array of information that may help some decide the many failures of the Trump Presidency, the many shortcomings of Trump the man, and the many positive aspects of an aspirational Biden Presidency.

#VoteBidenHarris2020

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