Ladders

or getting a leg up on the competition. As an infant one cannot walk, but as soon as s/he can there’s a ladder.

I probably did not know the concept until my teens, but learned the reality soon thereafter. Think of our supposed “melting pot” of cultures. Each one that got in to our nation kicked down another culture to make their way in the world.

As a kid people talked about Wops and Micks and Polacks. They were friends and neighbors. I didn’t understand the terms of the diatribe because I didn’t know it was one, didn’t get the words and that I had to take a stand. I did, at age eight, in favor of a boy who was gay. I didn’t know it, nor about sex or gay. I just knew he was seen as “different.”

Did I climb the ladder and push anyone, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation off that ladder? NO. Job inequality? Yes, equal rights and pay. Do I fight for the rights of my family? Yes.

The question is if I keep a person from a different condition, let’s say someone with one parent who doesn’t have money for an education, and kick her off the ladder, NO, I would never do that. Not for being a citizen, voter, retired worker, perhaps I should call this blog Melting Pot Mom, but I still need to be Napping Dog Press! I have met so many wonderful people over the years, from everywhere. It’s been a lifetime of adventures.

My husband is still sleeping off a tough work week and long commute home. We have three days together, a treat for me and Zoe the dog.

One of the reasons husband and I have been together so long is that we do not believe in the ladder of age, color, anything. We believe in bootstraps. Education, jobs, belief in one’s abilities. We’ve never kicked down, we lift up. A happy July 4th to you, your family and friends. Dee