Dishwasher (洗碗机, 食器洗い機, 식기 세척기)

 I'm currently reading a book during my spare time (I both have a LOT of spare time due to staying at home all day but also no spare time at all due to being occupied with other things while staying at home) clled "1001 Inventions that Changed the World." I love books that have one page for each entry, gives out the most pertinent facts, and then I'm done. Like reading the encyclopedia; I love reading the newest editions of the World Book Encyclopedia at the library because a.) they're brand spanking new because no one except me goes to a library to read the encyclopedias and b.) they compact the information to one single resource so I can be reading about lasers in the L section and then in the next page reading about Latvia, and c.) PICTURES! Contrary to the layman's image of a nerd reading through an all-text dictionary, encyclopedias know that pictures enhance everything and disperse plenty of them throughout. Man I wish I were a kid again and had those hours and hours of free time back to go through it all. 

But the inventions book is nice; it takes me through all the important ones since the dawn of time (candle, 3000 B.C.E.), irrigation (6000 B.C.E. by the Sumerians), toothpaste (5000 B.C.E. by the Egyptians) to the mostly recent (kind of ironic that the newest inventions like iPhone 2007 and high-density computer storage (IBM 2005) make this book about inventions obselete), but it doesn't cover (or I haven't gotten to it) one of the most important and practical inventions for stay-at-home people, the dishwasher! Oh man of all the arguments, tiffs, squabbles, and shouting matches MJ have had, I'd say a solid 10% have been about washing dishes or at least dishwashing-tangent. She doesn't like washing dishes but wants them to be a certain way (a.k.a. "clean" in her eyes); I don't mind washing dishes, finding it kind of relaxing and gratifying to turn dirty things into clean things, but apparently my standard of "clean" does that meet the only standard that counts: MJ's standard. Makes for a very tense situation with lots of passive-aggressive sighing when MJ finds "substandard" dishes, and on my part resentment for having done the dishes but not being rewarded for it and also frustration for having the work that I did re-done, same as if I hadn't done it. And I HATE wasting time and effort. 

Our old dishwasher hadn't helped in placating our squabbles, and in fact had exacerbated them because it was left over from the previous homeowner who just didn't clean it, let it rot, and it become a foul cesspool of standing water. Our new one (delivered from Costco) is  godsend in comparison, obviating the need for us to do any more dishes and cleaning it throughly, even better than how MJ could have done them herself (she admitted as such, a rare concession on her part). It's quiet, it's by Samsung (Korean brand meeting the Korean standard!) and importantly, it does both he detergent and the rinsing (my parents' dishwasher only rinses, which is not really helping because rinsing is the easy part! The scrubbing and taking the oil and other material out is the hard part) The dishwasher is seriously just a wondrous invention, getting into all those spots that human beings can but would wither fingers and cost so much in human capital, human labor, and spousal goodwill (MJ and I demonstrated such). Since that fateful day in 7th grade home economics class where I got scolded by the Home Ec teacher for spilling hot soapy water on the ground while washing dishes, even though I was trying to be diligent and helpful, I've always suffered at the "home maintenance" area and looking forward to bypassing that step all together. This dishwasher has done it. Huzzah! Yesterday (before I had a dishwasher), all my troubles seem so far away........

Roofs (屋顶, 屋根, 지붕)

 The closest I've ever been to getting on top of my parents' home as a child was hanging up Christmas tree lights, and even then I barely touched the bottom part of it. As an adult, I've never been interested in roofs of buildings, at least the outside of it. Being on the penthouse or top floor of a building can be pretty sweet: At the top floor of the Sears Tower, or the new Wilshire Grand Center, for example. But the roof of my apartment building? Never really had a reason to, and the charming salespeople taking you on tours through the building don't take you up there neither; really nothing to see and risks of injury, etc. unless you have to. 

Turns out, because of an air conditioning issue I encountered this week (the hottest week of the year, terrible timing) I had to go up to the roof of our 4-story condo building, and it was.... eye-opening. Turns out there are a lot of wires, cables, awkward-looking structures, vents, etc., but most prominently, there are.... outdoor air conditioning units up there! Probably not every building has the same system, but HVAC systems need to go somewhere, and looks like they chose to install them on top of all the units. It's like a maze through all the units to find the one that corresponds to your own unit, and I wouldn't have known except they were labeled. The balancing factor to all the mechanical morass is the open sky that you're exposed to, plus views all around the city, unlike all the obstructed views and openings only on one side of the building that we get when inside our own little units. Going up to the roof is very much like a well-dwelling frog coming out to see the whole Earth. Definitely some Aladdin "A Whole New World" vibes as well. I went up there with the air conditioning technician that I hired, and apparently he works on roofs all the time fixing stuff, so he must be used to the views. But for a common peasant like me working at home staring out the window trying to see all the interesting lives other people are leading, it was quite the experience. Sometimes the best places to go are right under your nose! Or right above your head, in this case. 

Ever go into a language test feeling thoroughly unprepared? I'm sure most high school/ college students can empathize with going into a test without having studied (I didn't do that too often, but everyone gets surprised by a pop quiz once in a while or just flat our forgot it was test day) but a language test isn't something you can just "BS" through or hope you get lucky on multiple choice or "it'll come to you." Language tests have a distinct characterstic of totally embarassing you, to the point of having a scarring experience. A lot of "you either know it or you don't" stuff where a word is just a word. Language testing is also something where you can't just study the night before in a "cram session" or even for a week.......languages take years of consistent study to develop the amount of vocab, grammar, and usage to fully understand the language, forget about trying to pass a translation test (Oh yea, I have to translate the language too). In many ways it's like studying for Jeopardy: you can't just study in a short amount of Jeopardy, it's the accumulation of all the things that you've put in your brains over years and years as well as tons of repetition of key information. I guess it has the same thrill for me too, when I do piece of it together: As I'm reading over a sentence in a new language I'm studying and trying to understand what it's saying, I fell myself pulling bits of information from corner of my brain that I've been developing into a muscle geared specifically for this heavy lifting event, and then on the very tough "key word" of the sentence I have to almost search in the deeper crevasses of my brain to find that one time I saw one flashcard/ one mention of the word that said that and try to remember it. It's actually a pretty intense experience, frustrating if I don't get it, but oh so satisfying if I do, like I've mastered a skill or gained new ground in a new frontier. Jeopardy's the same way: I peruse the clue, look for something I recognize, and when I understand what it is I'm supposed to be looking for/answering, I look deep into my brain to find the buried treasure. I know the long long hours put in is the engine that fueled the ability to know that answer, but that quick gratification of pulling out the answer when needed is what motivates me to keep going, keep studying and keep improving. I'm pumped up now! But still very unprepared for this language test tomorrow! 

Heat Wave (热浪, 熱波, 열파)

There's a 2020 song called "Heat Wave" by the new age band Glass Animals, and it sums up my reality right now: "Sometimes all I think about you......late nights in the middle of you.....you can't find me, you can't breathe........." That's the heat wave going through America right now, where in the day time it can hit triple digit temps, and even at night it's 80 degrees........and my A/C isn't working again. A truly horrific problem (and apparently, common) problem to have during the summer, it makes the room super hot and brain feel like it's melting......I felt like taking a nap all day today and my brain didn't feel like it was working, and I felt super inefficient, not being able to get much done all day. Apparently furnaces/ AC units can get clogged and cease working properly and require something to get it unstuck, like pouring vinegar and/or baking soda into the drain pipe to clear up the clog. Really bad timing for it to happen. 

This past week, tickets opened up for Jeopardy live audiences, something that hasn't been offered for 2 years since the pandemic began......tickets unsurprisingly sold out like hot cakes, or like Coachella tickets. People apparently really like the show, which explains why it's just about to wrap up its 38th season and looks poised to continue its run. It reminded me that a long long time ago, back in my 2nd year of law school, I did actually attend a morning taping of the Jeopardy! show. (October 14, 2009......I wrote about it on this blog). Looking back at what I wrote, I'm kind of appalled at who I was back then, and what details I focused on back then as opposed to now. It's almost as if I thought I had the whole world in my hands and my whole life in front of me, that I didn't need to cherish individual moments and special occasions because I'd have plenty of opportunities, and like I didn't appreciate the good times when I had them. I didn't focus at all on the gameplay of Jeopardy, more just the overall experience of it and could only remark that the contestants were "really really smart" and that some audience members asked "nose-pickingly stupid questions." I didn't list any clues that came up during the game (to this day I can't even remember any of the contestants' faces, the categories of the clues, the Final Jeopardy question......just the vague overwhelming feeling that I'd never be able to learn all that information that was going on up on the stage), any pearls of wisdom that I gathered from the experience, and I do think I was there for all 3 games of the morning session. I just remember that everything went very quickly, contestants came in, contestants came out, and there was very little re-shooting. There were designated "clapping times" for when Alex came up on stage and one of the contestants got a daily double, and also at the end of the game when a winner was announced. It all seemed a little lonely, like a big sports event was happening but only 30-odd people in the audience were getting to witness it. I can only imagine what it's been like the last couple years of no studio audience! As a contestant you know the taping will be broadcast to the entire country in a few weeks, but right there in the moment you're just performing in front of the host (right now Ken Jennings) and a bunch of judges. Pretty surreal. 

The big takeaway was that Alex Trebek was a good enough guy to talk to the audience during commercial breaks and take questions. Even back then I could tell he had a big presence, distinctive voice, and model personality. I just listened to his final message to the world, his book "The Anwer Is...." written during the pandemic right before his passing in October of 2020. At that point he knew he would die pretty soon, and he wanted to just get his story out there, how he wanted to be remembered by, get some closure. It's a touching story of highlights of his life, the major role that Jeopardy played, and a very poignant last chapter in which he describes his last days of sitting on the porch outside with his family as the day passed by just enjoying it all, and maybe they'd go for a little walk....and do that forever. Book ends. Really inspirational way to go out, not flashy, not suddenly (unfortunately not everyone gets to time when their end comes), and almost a happy ending. Alex chose to stop treating the cancer and just face death with aplomb and bravery and live his last days with dignity....it was a beautiful end to a beautiful story. I only wish I can have the ending he had, and hopefully a long long time from now. 

Hole in One (一杆进洞, ホールインワン, 홀인원)

 This past weekend in a whirlwind of golf, long summer days, visiting childhood friends, and getting pulled over by Wisconsin state troopers looking for drivers drinking and driving on a Saturday night, the highlight was one solitary moment among it all, the white whale/ Holy Grail that all golfers hope to catch one day almost fell into my lap- a hole in one. 

I am terrible at golf; my first exposure was in 7th grade where the P.E. teachers created a makeshift driving range in the field to let students whack away with subpar clubs to see if they could even make contact with the ball; I could barely do so. Over the years of being an adult it's always been an afterthought to go golfing, not a preferred option but done a few times when I fell into it. It really is a rich man's sport; not only does the golfer need to buy a set of clubs, but then course fees, buying golf balls, tees, plus appropriate golfing gear figures into it, and that's not even considering the country club fees that some private courses charge to even be considered admission into their prestigious, often-watered and exquisitely- maintained courses. Watching Tiger Woods drive 300 yards and conquer the Majors tournaments during his time was enough for me. 

So of course when I played with my friends who were much better at golf than me this weekend, I was lost: constantly slicing the ball, often missing the ball entirely, never mastering how to actually hit an iron, and pulling out the driver every time a tee was involved because its large club face was the only way I could somehow make contact with the ball. I hit balls into water, into wild fields, into the woods, behind me, all over the place. It was a wonder I didn't die of embarrassment. The one thing I could actually handle was putting; I've always enjoyed games of minigolf and the fine precision required for rolling the ball up towards the hole, and actually holed in a 10 to 12 footer to the stunned amazement of the foursome I was golfing with. 

As the day went along, I learned how to work my slicing drive into my advantage by aiming way off to the left and then allowing the ball to curve back towards the course. At one par 3, I pulled out the driver, took aim, tried to keep my left arm straight (I've learned that I'm using my arms and wrists way too much when swinging, instead of properly using my hips) and let it rip......the club met ball with that familiar sweet "clank" that all golfers are familiar with and keep golfers coming back, that sound coupled with the gratifying feeling of looking up from your swing and seeing the ball moving (hopefully) precipitously and in a straight line screaming towards the hole. Because it was a par 3, the hole was less than 170 yards away, and the ball actually ended up on the green! And it looked like it was headed towards the flag! "Hole in one!" I yelled almost just jokingly to share my excitement, and my golf partners gave that small "oohhhh" of anticipation....and then it happened: the ball hit the flagstock, bouncing off of it harmlessly without any anticipation of actually dropping into the hole, and noticeably changing direction. "Oooooooohhhhh!!" I exclaimed as if I could feel the impact of the ball bouncing off the stick, even though I could only see it like a tiny speck off in the distance. At that moment I understood why so many adults take up golf: that feeling of achievement of doing exactly what you wanted with the ball, and the ever-elusive hole in one, much more satisying than shooting a basketball through the net because it's so much rarer to do it with a golf ball (it's like that gratifying feeling of the ball dropping into the cup after a successful putt, rattling around and sounding like a pin pong ball finding its home). No matter that I'd used a driver which caused the ball to be on one too much of a line drive and way too fast to actually drop in the hole: regardless I'd gotten pretty much as close to getting a hole in one as I will probably ever get. I should probably just retire from the sport now; I've done all I can do. 

Oh and we drove golf carts! It's just one more cost to the golfing experience, but it really enhances it, especially on a hot day of having walked so many holes, and definitely beats carrying clubs everywhere. The wind in one's face driving the golf cart, plowing through the well-manicured course just enjoying the day and heading towards the ball that one hit with a steel club.......that really is the high life, and I can see why so many golfers love doing it. 

Temptations (诱惑, 유혹)

When I was just becoming a teenager, I was enticed by a show on FOX (back when people watched the major TV networks only) called "Temptation Island," a trashy show about couples hooking up on an island, a tried and true formula for networks to attract viewers that's been tried again and again from the Bachelor, "Love Island," "Too Hot to Handle," etc., etc......even Korea waded in with "Singles Inferno." But Temptation Island was always the first one for me, and it epitomizes our culture: lots and lots of temptations everywhere, too many for most people to handle. 

I might sound like a Luddite or anti-technology, but I do think humans have invented too many things- too much technology (social media, smartphones), too many weapons (guns, nuclear weapons), too many things to make us feel good artifically (drugs, TV shows, etc.). We're in the Aldous Huxley Brave New World of having too many sensories and being lost in all the choices one can make, vs. the sensory deprivation world of George Orwell's 1984. Libertarians mostly support the idea of letting people do what they want and not impose too much, but have you met some of the people in the world? People just cannot handle having total freedom......everyone, including me, succumbs to temptation, and there are just so many out there to latch on to. Just the other day I went to give a blood donation and the phlebomocist (nurse who draws) who checked me in seemed a little slow-paced, low-energy, and then I noticed all the tattoos (not a bad thing in a vacuum) and the lighter she wore on her hip chain, as if to always have it ready. This nurse smokes, and likely smokes a lot. I've never smoked so I shouldn't judge, but there's just something so demoralizing about someone who has to go outside and smoke every few hours to function. All the hurried trips outside to get a smoke, stamping out the cigarette (or, more often, just throwing it out into the street when it's done to get it away from them), it just seems so detrimental yet people are so reliant on. It makes me really sad for the human race in general sometimes just seeing someone outside smoking, imagining how many cigarettes that they've had that day and that it's just become a normal part of their lives while damaging their bodies irreparably, them knowing that it's bad for them but not having the willpower anymore to stop it after making it part of their lifestyle. 

Drugs- Really a net negative for society. One of those things that humans should never have started, but once humans did, they became reliant on it, and they can't quit because they know how good of a feeling it is to have had it, and the longer they haven't had it the more they think about it. I bet hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, methamphetaines are similar, except much harder to kick because they give an exponentially stronger feeling of highness/ecstasy when used) are the same way, and why they're so hard to quit....you can try to quit and stay off it for a long time, but once you've had it, you know what it's like and want it. (Read an article about Shaun Weiss, the former child actor of the Mighty Ducks, who said normal people's pleasure meter is like 80-100 when the happiest, but doing meth made him feel like a 1200. That's really scary, no wonder he couldn't ever quit). 

It's so hard for humans to resist temptation- I know the feeling of craving some kind of cooking, or getting the feel of cold sparkling water on a hot day, or the runner's high of getting the adrenaline juices going, sometimes I'll do almost anything to get those things.......luckily they're not addictive. Temptations are called that for a reason.... they're more appealing than the other option of the status quo, a perceived boring life. In my own life, I get a little upset with MJ and/or my sister sometimes if they seem addicted by the Iphone, one of the newest temptations of life; truth is, my anger in that moment stems from my own inability to control that temptation to check the Iphone and get that dopamine hit I get from seeing something on the Iphone.....that uneasy feeling that we're all being lured by temptation into doom...it's not that dire, but it does seem like we're all always distracted by those temptations that are drawing our attention....just like the drug user, always thinking about our next hit, and lasting shorter and shorter time intervals between use. Scary. 

The Perception of Law vs. the Reality of Law

 Today MJ and I went to a fancy vegan restaurant for MJ's birthday, and it was delightful! Fancy ambience, fancy "mocktails," fancy descriptions of dishes like "sous vide" (under vacuum in French) type of cooking. What struck me more intensely, though, was parking at the nearby parking lot, beneath a building that housed various top-level law firms like Reed Smith and Davis Wright and Tremaine, as well as directions to a branch of the Washington Post in the "West Tower." It's these type of fancy downtown big-law firms that drew me to the law in the first place (unfortunately, because it's not a great reason), was the feeling of getting in that fancy elevator up to the (insert 30+ number here) floor of a law firm with equally fancy office amenities and a receptionist asking me whether I need some water or coffee before I meet for my appointment. I've been in a ton of these big law offices over the years, in many different states and cities.... and they never fail to impress me the first time I arrive at one. All have some view of the surrounding city from on top, and I've always stopped by the large windows to look out onto the city; it's that thrilling "I've made it" feeling that most ambitious people crave, and what you see on TV shows like "Suits" or "The Social Network" depicting law offices. Not going to lie, living the big law life is pretty fancy too on a day-to-day basis (I've had some samples of it): cozy offices, getting an assistant to help out, conference rooms where bagels/fruit platters are set waiting long before the meeting is even going to start, happy hours on Thursdays where other partners attend, and most importantly (for me, I guess, because I'm a status seeker)... your name in front of your office. I had that once at a big law firm in New York City, although I didn't make it onto the website or get the professional-looking picture they take of all associates wearing their best suits. 

All those things about being a big law attorney (I'm not talking about public defenders, pro bono attorneys, solo practioners, etc) are real, but that's just the surface level of being an associate at a big firm; then the actual work actually starts. Responding to partners' demands, answering emails, meeting with clients, writing long briefs and motions, working long hours to finish a case because the case will not wait for you (it's not a 40-hour per week job! Or if it is, you might not be doing a good job or billing enough hours). And the thing I don't see many high school/college students asking as much but should be the number 1 question (it definitely wasn't me!) was, "am I going to be good as a lawyer?" or "am I going to be good as a doctor?" I kind of talked myself into being a lawyer optimistically (like Pollyanna) thinking I would be good at it "because I'm smart" or "because I like to argue," but that's really not what makes good lawyers.....good lawyers know the law but also can apply it to facts quickly, and write good arguments on paper to submit to the judges to argue their positions, and counter the oppositions' arguments effectively, with evidence/law. Often they have to be ruthless about it; and everyone has the basic levels of intelligence needed, it's that special kind of analysis and knowledge that a certain argument will win the day that lawyers need. Not everyone can cut it, and just because one likes the lifestyle and importance of dressing up in suits and going to work at tall downtown office buildings (and this was all before the pandemic happened!) doesn't mean one can do the work required. 

Speaking of which, MJ got me into watching a Korean drama show called "The Extraordinary Attorney Woo" about an autistic lawyer on the spectrum in Korea, but she's really good at being an attorney. Well done show, but I think what attracts both of us is the lifestyle it depicts of being a lawyer......"the good life." All TV shows tend to just magically blot out the grinding part of law of researching the law, writing long briefs, and hours and hours of sitting at the office. The characters seem to just show up to work, get in a 3-minute strategy meeting, gather facts on-site, argue in front of judges, and have a satisfactory ending within the hour. That's a really misleading depction of what lawyers, as I'm sure it is for most jobs shown on television (cops have to solve murders every day, according to TV), but especially so because of the glamorous lifestyle that they show.

If I ever do a slice-of-life painting like George Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte," I might consider "Saturday Night at the Target in the Suburban Strip Mall." THAT is the practical depiction of Saturday night in America, not the one seen on social media and elsewhere of partying, booze, and "I'm on a boat."...it's where consumerism meets drab suburban life meets common everyday items meets nothing glitzy about buying groceries plus Brita water filters on Saturday night. Yet there are still a LOT of people at Target on Saturday nights at 9:30PM; that's real life. 

I'm On a Boat

 It's a rite of passage for people of my generation..... at some point in our early adulthood, whether it's a reference from a co-worker, a social group, a family member; somebody, somewhere will turn your attention to the "I'm On a Boat" song by T-pain and Andy Samberg. The song has no artistic quality whatsoever, in fact what's more eye-catching is the music video that accompanies the song, full of over-the-top scenes of Samberg and friends on a boat having a all of a time, everything from flipping burgers to wearing black-tie only to helicopters above a boat, the song namedrops Kevin Garnett and Poseidon within seconds of each other....oh and a liberal use of F-bombs. It totally glorifies being on a boat, and it's a super-catchy song, like the "I'm a Barbie Girl" song or any summer song that just sticks in your head to be summoned over and over again (MJ told me that Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill" was stuck in her head recently, and she hasn't even watched Season 4 of Stranger Things!) 

"I'm On a Boat" is the sentiment that a lot of Americans seem to embrace on July 4 weekend, maybe the whole conglomeration of being American, being free, hot summer days where you can wear almost nothing, cold beers under the hot sun (I have to admit, I don't drink much, but walking by a bunch of dudes drinking Coronoas outside on a porch made me want to have a beer too the other day), be on a body of water, and most importantly.....be on a boat. I've never seen anything like the amount of self-control that Americans lose when they get on a boat in summertime, like they flip a switch from the real world of cautious risk aversion to no-holds-barred recklessness on a boat, like something on a boat just screams "PARTY!" Some boaters that MJ and I passed today on the Potomac River near the Georgetown area didn't even need to be moving; they were docked, essentially on land, and still having the time of their lives, cranking up Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" to maximum volume. 

For me, my experiences on a boat have been infrequent and lasting short amounts of time. I can handle larger boats where the waves don't have much effect on the boat, but anything smaller than a cruise ship dreamliner gets me worried about rocking and my experiences with whale watching, private yachting, and pretty much any kind of boat. Canoes and kayaks are fine, it's just specially these "I'm On a Boat" type of boats that make me want to dive into the water and swim shortly after setting off. So no, booze and alcohol would not help the situation on a boat. 

I do, however, get the appeal of being on a boat on a destination to somewhere, for example sailing down the Danube River, one of the best trips one can take, just ask Johann Strauss in the Blue Danube.... rivers are a great way to see the best parts of a region, cities are typically built near rivers. I have heard that watching fireworks on July 4 in places like Chicago, D.C. and New York are delightful... I'm all for using boats as a ways to sight see.....but I'm totally against celebrating the mere fact of being on a boat. 

YMCA (基督教青年会)

 It' a testament to the pervasiveness and success of YMCA that it's become its own term in Japanese and Korean, so if you want to say it in those languages just use different stresses for those 4 letters. I'm embarrased to say that for the longest time I didn't know the significance of the YMCA in American culture, just knew that at the Chicago Shedd Aquarium the song "YMCA" by the Village People (I didn't know it was by the Village People until recently) and I would spell out the letters with my arms. Yup, I was that kid, and I still did it unironically at baseball stadiums in my twenties. I also went on an Alternative Spring Break trip partly supported by the YMCA, which was actually quite a nice experience as a college student to help worthy causes, and learned the college student/ budget living lifestyle of camping out in churches and other public shelters and showering in YMCAs and calling it temporary living (that's actually my preferred style of travel when I'm traveling alone, as long as it's safe and I don't get bedbugs). 

Speaking of camping, I felt varying emotions about the Supreme Court's decision last week to overturn Roe v. Wade, and MJ made me feel the pain of women who have to go through childbirth, go through menstrual pain, and suffer through things men don't have to, which are important considerations when assessing whether they should be forced to keep their babies and not get a abortion (the type of bans that many states immediately ratified as soon as the SCOTUS decision came down), and then there are legislative angles as to whether Roe v. Wade was even a good decision to begin with, why the US can't get legislation passed to make abortions a right (it's because it's not as popular as it needs to be and politicans aren't willing to lose votes to fight for it), and then Ken Jennings (my first reference point for everything!) viewing it as women aren't being forced to have abortions (they can choose to have the baby), so the inverse should also apply that they can choose NOT to have the baby. What's NOT helpful, I don't believe, but which I saw a lot of, was plenty of social media posts saying "To my friends in other states, please feel free to camp in my guest room/ couch/etc." I get the urge of wanting to show strong support for women adversely affected by the abortion bans in other states, but how many women like that are out there right now who really need that help? Do you really need to post it on social media? And what are the chances they need help specifically from YOU, someone in another state who is part of the privileged class who likely can afford trips to other states? The people who are really affected are likely lower class people who can't afford to drive or take a plane to the next state, somewhere deep in a red state like Texas or something. So all the "come camping here!" posts are just really showing how good a person you are to offer, not actually helping the cause or advancing the conversation about whether abortions should be allowed. 

YMCA stands for Young Men's Christian Association, which I never got the vibe of strong religious presure or heavyhandedness, when I went on my college trips religion rarely came up (certainly the controversial topic of abortion never came up, an issue most religious organizations take a strong stance on) and everyone worked together just for altruism and because it seemed like other people needed help. 

I visited a YMCA and triggered many of the memories of those past trips: the swimming pools, the locker rooms, the basketball court, the showers, the air conditioning on a hot summer day, the treadmills where dozens of people march side by side, the families taking their kids to the pool to teach them their first steps toward swimming. YMCA's are usually placed in the hearts of communities, and they reflect the general population of people in the surrounding area, so it really feels like going to a community center, and at least filtered a little bit for people who are genuinely there to work out, meet others, and generally be polite, not like a hospital where if anything it filters for physically unhealthy and likely psychologically unhealthy people who can be rude and bitter due to thei illness/other problems. So yes, I did feel like I could get myself clean, that I could have a good meal, and I could do whatever I felt, because it was fun to stay at the Y.....M....C....A.!