“Do you have tomorrow off, Carol?” Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day---a holiday we should all celebrate. Or at least think about!
We’re in the showers, post chaotic
swim at Kennedy High pool. I always think it’s strange to have conversations in
the showers, but when else do we have time to chat? Certainly not in the pool.
“Well…kinda,”
I respond, before dunking my soapy head back under the water.
“What do you
mean?” Susan asks as she vigorously scrubs her torso.
“I have
tomorrow off from teaching live on Zoom, but not from teaching online.”
“What level
do you teach?”
“College.”
“Oh, wow!”
“Yes, well,
it sounds more impressive than it is.”
“At least you’re Gainfully Employed!”
Alice calls out from the shower opposite us, her eyes closed with big bubbles
of shampoo spilling over her face.
“Ha!” I
laugh. “Barely!”
“Maybe
lowercase?” she jokes.
“Yes!” I
chuckle. “gainfully employed…. or no case…. ainfully or aimlessly or….”
We all laugh; Alice’s cackle is particularly appreciative. And, yet, I think, it’s no laughing matter. To have worked at a profession in higher ed for over 30 years with a Master’s degree and too much experience and still barely be able to pay my bills let alone retire is beyond the scope of shower humor.
Chatting with my Spanish tutor from
Costa Rica the other night, she’d asked me how old I was in order to practice saying
numbers. When I told her I’d be 65 next month, she asked if I was going to
retire. I told her, “No; that I’d never have enough money to retire. She
expressed disbelief. “In Costa Rica, they force you to retire at 65.”
“Yes, well,
not here in the US. There is no way I can live off the government’s social security
that I’ve been contributing to for over 40 years. Maybe I should come live in
Costa Rica!” I joke. “It’s cheaper there.”
“Si,” she
agrees. “There are many expatriados who live here in Costa Rica.”
I think this isn’t such a bad idea. I’m tired of working and not being ‘Gainfully’ employed. I want to celebrate holidays like Martin Luther King Day with a mindful walk in nature up at Wildcat Canyon, contemplating Dr. King’s life and legacy and how much of what he envisioned for People of Color in his future still hasn’t happened. Racism is still rampant in the United States of America. And, it often seems to only be getting worse.
What’s the
solution? It’s too big for me. And, who am I to say? As a white woman with so
much privilege, I can only know what racism is like through the stories my
students write down. I am always saddened and appalled by their stories. We
need leaders like Dr. King with the vision and charisma to forge a way out from
this oppression that People of Color live with every day. I am hopeful that new
leaders will rise up and show us the way out of the racism that permeates the
systems in this country: education, housing, government.
Today, as I’m
working, I will at least take a moment to think about Dr. King and his message
against oppression. Maybe if all of us take a moment to reflect this would be a
start.
Maybe being
aimlessly employed will lend itself to such reflection?
The women
are quiet now after the showers. It’s late and everyone is trying to get out of
the locker room before the lifeguards start yelling at us to get out, letting
us know that our 15 minutes shower and dressing time is over. Alice and I are the last ones out. As we stumble
into the parking lot, a brisk wind whipping our wet hair, she tells me how she’s
going to Marin because a friend of hers just died of cancer. I express my
sympathy. She says she’s just part of the demographic.
I watch her
lumber towards her black sports car, an aging 280Z, before I hurry over to Mr.
Ian, who’s patiently waiting for me, car heater on and Lara bars for snacks.
“How was
your swim?” I ask him, tumbling into the car.
“It was
okay,” he says, starting the engine. “I had to swim next to the wall with the
splashy woman.”
I sigh and smile and bite into the Lara bar as he pulls out of the parking lot and we head out to Safeway, Scott Joplin on the radio in honor of Dr. King.
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