About Ambiguity

    Since I'm no longer living with my mom in Colorado, I asked her to shut my cell phone service off. I didn't want to be a burden on her any longer. She had been supporting me and paying endless bills for me for 20 years. It was time to give her a break.
    With that said, the only way I can contact people now is via e-mail, Twitter, or Voxer. Since R.G. only uses Twitter to follow political accounts, Jon Stewart, and Bo Burnham, and probably doesn't even know what Voxer is, I resorted to e-mailing him about my woes. Not being in touch with him is not an option. So I says to him, I says:
"RG,
I'm living with my conservative uncle and when we watch the news together, he's so crass. He knows I'm liberal but will say offensive things about Mr. Obama and the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. Strangely enough, I just bite my tongue so things don't get heated.

My point was to ask you if you still think the ACA is still a good idea. Only 7 million Americans have signed up and my uncle arrogantly points out there are 317 million people living in the United States. I'm getting worried because I know this is a good thing for our poor but with the elections in November, there's a possibility of the Democrats losing the House & just AHHHH!

Also, don't certain news channels kind of lean towards certain sides?

Like CNN and MSNBC and the like? Who goes for who?

aaand I'm out."

Response:

"Msnbc is liberal. Fox News is conservative. The huffington post an the Washington post are liberal. The New York Times is fairly conservative. The Aca as I understand it is for poor people. Wouldn't you want the number of people who have to rely on it to be fairly small? 

Anyway the number will increase more. Twenty million more people and it'll be ten percent of the entire population. Helping others is never a bad thing I think. Keeping them from abusing the system and havin a way for them to repay the assistance they get are good things too. 
I think the house is going to go republican. Then we'll finally get some justice!"

    I've been worrying about the Affordable Care Act, considering everything Mr. Obama does is under the most severe scrutiny I have ever witnessed. Worse than 2007 Britney Spears or a 2013 Lindsay Lohan. My uncle says that businesses have resorted to only hiring people for part-time positions or reducing current employees' hours drastically in order to prevent being accountable for supplying them with healthcare insurance. So when I was hired at Ross: Dress For Less this past month for a part-time position, I was so worried that my uncle's hypothesis was, unfortunately, correct.

   A couple days ago I walked into the break-room at work to relax for my whopping 15-minute break. One of my co-workers was sitting at the only table situated in the center of the room. I sat down in a chair directly in front of her. She's a 32-year-old Puerto Rican and happens to be someone I vibe with. Maybe it's my own Spanish roots, but since the first time we met, I have felt the utmost respect for her.

    I watched her as she stroked her cheek. She began, "Hey, if you want some of this chicken, you can have some. The boss bought it for stock people, but since there's only two of us, you can have some. We're not gonna eat alla dat." I laughed and thanked her for her generosity. Here's this woman who could be happy with her abundance of food, which she deserved, but instead chose to share it with the rest of the crew. I don't know; I feel genuine gratitude for stuff like that.

    "There was supposed to be four of us, but we had so many call-outs today," she continued as she shook her head. "People call-out to work all the time and wonder why they lose hours. I mean, shoot... I can either sit at home and pick my nose for no money, or I can come to work and pick my nose and get paid, you know? I've worked here three years and have 0 call-outs."

   "Dang...." I said in awe. "That's so great." She rubbed her cheek again.

   "Man, I got my wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday. I took some aspirin but it's still tender."

   "Oh yeah, that's the worst," I replied.

   "Yeah, well now I can afford it," she disclosed. "I didn't have any insurance at all but they moved me to full-time and I applied for it in December. It didn't go through until January, though."

   "How long did you go without? If you don't mind me asking..." I pried.

   "Six years," she answered. "I mean I had to pay $50 for a deductible but it's whatever."
    "Do you think that it's worth it?" I asked.
   "Psshhh... yeah!" she exclaimed and then glanced up at the clock. "Well, I gotta get back to WORK." I watched her as she picked up her plate splattered with only remnants of barbecue sauce and threw it in the trash can. She pushed her chair in and slipped out the door.

    I felt something. Something wonderful. Something serendipitous. I went on my break expecting to get off my feet for a few minutes and what I found was a renewed sense of confidence. I was so proud on November 5, 2013, when 18-year-old Ness walked into that voting booth for the first time ever and put a big, fat check mark next to Barack Obama. Now, four months later, there is no decision I could be more satisfied with. 

Growing up, I was a walking statistic:

Single-mother household? Check.

Low-income household? Check.

Of African-American descent? Check.

Prominent alcoholism & addiction on maternal and paternal sides? Check.

    On November 4, 2008, Mr. Obama "won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain" (Wikipedia.org). It was a fantastic day, to say the least. What an amazing feat. I remember sitting on the floor of my 6x7 room in my mom's trailer. I was 14 years old and I couldn't take my eyes off my tv (the kind with the VCR attached to it). There was a man out there with the same background as me, overcoming obstacles I would never dare to even approach, let alone conquer.

    It's hard to explain. I see people making racist comments about him, as though he didn't accomplish something they will never even come close to. It's hard for me to watch his every word, his every gesture, his every action considered to be full of false pretension. They don't understand what it's like to be poor and have this beacon of hope that advocates for you; that tries to make policies that pave a way for you to be successful. Because when I look into those brown eyes and see that graying head of his, I am only inspired. Inspired to be a better me. Inspired to reach for the stars. Because day-in and day-out, I watch this man conquer adversity and strive for a more equal America.