Diversity ~ Equity ~ Inclusion

 The Normal amount of Post Views has apparently resumed and I'm glad about that, not all that fond of Web Crawlers and what they may be up to?  Today the New VA Nurse whose supposed to be the permanent one is coming and The Man is agitated and wound up tighter than a 7-Day Clock about it.  I'm hoping he calms down before she arrives and isn't contrary and difficult from The Jump?   He really like the temporary Nurse and we'd of liked to have just kept her.  Alas, we couldn't.  And I'm being very Optimistic we'll be sent another good Nurse from her Agency, which is subcontracted with the VA.  She was an excellent Representative of her Agency.

 She told us the Name of the New Nurse and it sounds like a Foreign Name too, so I'm hoping her English is fluent enough there won't be a communication barrier for The Man?  He's not good with Accents at all, he never could understand my Mom or my Welsh Uncle in all the Years he knew them, I'd have to Translate. *LOL*  With the TBI and Dementia he gets confused sometimes if you're speaking perfect English to him, so it just makes it harder if there's a foreign to him Accent being spoken.  The previous Nurse was of an African Immigrant Family, but a 1st Generation American, so her English was completely devoid of any Accent except a typical American one.  I would be hard pressed to have pronounced her first or last Name correctly tho'.  *LOL*

One of The Man's previous Cardiologists was from Africa and he had all his Patients just call him Dr. Kiki... coz his actual name was Dr. Bonifasiyo Ssennyamantono... now that was a mouthful, and I guess Kiki was a Nickname?   *Smiles*  He was a very good Cardiologist and we liked him, but he had to transfer The Man to Dr. Singh, who is East Indian, becoz he does more Specialized Heart procedures for higher risk Patients like The Man is.  Every single Specialist any of us has seen for the past several Years has been from another Country originally.  We are apparently needing to attract Specialized Medical Doctors from Abroad it seems and most Nursing Staff also are Immigrants now too. 

 The Nurses told my Mom and I Years ago, that they were Solicited from their Home Countries to come Work in America, coz of the Nursing Shortages here, and told if they came it would be a Pathway to Citizenship.   Now, if you remember, many other Companies have done the same, which is Why that one Hyundai -LG Battery Factory had the numerous {over 300} South Korean Workers detained and deported in a Raid by ICE, even tho' they'd been Solicited to come here Legally on Work VISA's and Train American Workers!!!   We are not doing ourselves a Service by alienating all the Fine Skilled Workers who are willing to come to America and provide much needed Skills, fill positions we have Shortages of American Workers to fill, and to Train our own Citizens how to do the Work.

  Many Scientists, Doctors, Healthcare Professionals, Food Industry Workers of all kinds in our Food Chain and Hospitality Industry, Construction and other Workers in the Trades, are no longer Home Grown.  To imagine otherwise is not only naive, but deeply in Denial that the fabric of America and what built this Nation into Greatness came from a diversity of peoples from all over the World and always has.  I Welcome DEI since Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is beneficial to our Country.  Promoting the Fair Treatment of and full participation of people from a wide range of backgrounds is not a Negative or Bad thing this Regime is making it out to be. 

 You have to be very insecure about yourself and what you bring to the Table, to imagine that to treat every Human Being inclusively and with equity is somehow gonna be harmful or detrimental to you personally, to provide a place at said Table for everyone or anyone not like you.  I'm confident enuf in my Abilities and what I bring to the Table to not feel the least bit threatened by anyone else having equal inclusion at attaining the American Dream along with me and mine.  I rejoice when anyone has a Success and can attain a good Life for their Loved Ones and a decent way of Life that I'd expect to have for myself and my Loved Ones too.  I'm Grateful for each Individual that contributed to our Country and made it what I Love so much about it. 

 But sadly DEI became the Red Meat Bait and Dog Whistle for MAGA World to try to do away with and get Hatefully Ginned Up and Frosty about.   And therefore, I wanted and Needed to do a Post Title Hook about it and bring it up as a Blog Topic.  Not having civil dialogue and the ability to get along and play well with others is precisely why America is falling apart right now, so deeply divided and extremely polarized, being in such Trouble the whole World is Witnessing it's Meltdown and destruction from within.   Nobody had to attack us from external Sources when we're attacking ourselves.   When we have made our Neighbors and fellow Americans our perceived Enemies, due mostly to Political Partisan Theater and Religiously Theocratic Extremist Views trying to Oppress, Vilify and Dehumanize the rest of us.

I fully Support your Right to Vote for whoever you choose to and to Worship as you choose to as well.  I just do NOT Support your Agenda to violate my Rights, to Vote and have my Voice Heard, to Worship or not Worship as I choose to, to have Autonomy over my own Body, and to live in Peace, with Dignity and Respect, regardless of my Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Country or Ancestry of Origin, Abilities or Disabilities, Age, etcetera, so on and so forth.   What you want for yourself you should also want for anyone else if you're a decent Human Being and your Best Self is being projected outwards to Society. 

  If you profess to be a Godly and Spiritual Being, ACT like it, show by your Actions that you do have Godliness IN you.  Becoz if Hate is displacing that, you Need to reassess your brand of Religion perhaps, coz it's toxic and has been perverted, it's NOT bearing Good Witness, that's for damned certain.   I'm Offended actually, as a Christian, to have these Hateful Cruel Christians professing to be the same as anyone who actually and sincerely follows Jesus Christ's Teachings and represents the Faith.   I think any Extremist Violent Offshoot of any Religion actually bears a Bad Witness for their entire Religion and it's a shame that it does.   Every Religion has sadly suffered it's share of Zealots and Bad History that really had no form of Godliness about them.  They are Scarier and more Devilish than anything Halloween Holiday Frights could offer us.

  And, tho' I'm a deeply Spiritual Person, I don't particularly like Organized Religion for that reason, a lot of it has been poorly Represented and perverted by it's worst Followers.   I totally Respect the Rights of my Atheist and Agnostic or Pagan Friends to follow their own Paths as well in their Journey of Life.  It's their prerogative to have as much Free Will expressed as I do and have it Respected as their Choice, not to be interfered with by any of us.  If any Religion Needs to be Forced upon someone, against their Will, it's likely Cultish in Nature, coz the difference between a True Religion and a Cult is what happens when you try to Leave or NOT follow it.   MAGA is definitely a Cult and it's Members display all the Signs of Cult Devotion and being Mind Fucked.

 

But, Moving On, since I know my Dear Readers are Kindred Spirits and so I'm Preaching and Venting to the Choir here.  *Winks*   I don't presume to be out here in Cyberspace Changing Hearts & Minds of the MAGA Afflicted, I think that would likely take Professional Help in Deprogramming for most of them?   Those that aren't beyond Help I do Hope they get some.  My Niece just called last Night to tell me that incredulously her Dad, who she's been Estranged from since about 2016, mostly due to his Politics and acting Mental himself, called and apologized to her and said he'd been so Wrong and regrets now Voting for this Madman... Twice!   And I do have one Co-Worker Friend from Work who said the same thing to me a Month ago, and he apologized to me too for being so misled for so long, Two Terms long.   

So, a few are finally realizing, this is just way too Abnormal, Disturbing, Mental and Dangerous to keep Supporting or Following, it's gone completely Wheels Off from what they mebbe Imagined it would or could be.   It's not Solving any Problems or offering Sane Solutions, it's Creating them daily now.   And personally, I do suspect those who are confessing they were Wrong have known it now for a while but Pride and being Humiliated to admit it, had kept them from saying so openly or publicly?   I could be Wrong, but considering the Friend at Work, I don't think so actually.  I know he has Strong Views and Opinions about some things that we've always openly civilly agreed to disagree upon.  He was definitely fed up with Politics as Usual, since it's broken and wasn't working for anyone but the Politicians.  

 

He wasn't ready to become a Moderate or an Independent, he saw no point in that, which, can't say I blame him, I've been a Moderate Independent always and our Voice is never Heard or Represented Politically in this Two Party System.  Even tho' we ARE now the Majority of Voters, it makes no Sense to have no suitable Representation for us too.   Anyway... enuf of Politics, I'm so Sick of Politicians and the Far Right Fundie Religious folk with their Posturing and Politics, they're simply exhausting.    The New VA Nurse just called, she has a very thick Accent that is definitely African and probably a 1st Generation Immigrant, unlike the other Young Lady who was probably Raise here, mebbe even Born here and so has probably always had English as a predominant Language.  I was Worried only becoz The Man looked at me and asked if I can understand her well enuf to Translate if necessary?  I think I will be, her English is fluent, just a heavy African Accent, which, I've become accustomed to becoz we have a large Population of African Immigrants in our Community.

Most speak some African Dialect and others speak French as their First Languages, depending upon which Country they hail from.   Most here in Phoenix are from Somalia, the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria and French Guyana.     But, most Top Three Countries in Metro Phoenix that Immigrants hail from are Mexico {25.6%}, India {5.9%} and Canada {4.5%}.   And the percentage of Foreign Born Residents from all Countries locally is 50.4%, 14% in the whole United States.  We have a significant Population from about 50 different Countries in our Urban Setting here, the vast majority of which are here Legally and many have lived in the United States now a long time so aren't "New".   My own Mom was Foreign Born and an Immigrant, she lived in America Legally for over 60 of her 84 Years on Earth.  Some Americans still resented THAT, you'll always get some who are Xenophobic no matter how long an Immigrant has lived here and Contributed to Society in Positive and enriching ways. 

So, anyway, New Nurse will be here in about 30 Minutes and The Man seems much Calmer than he was earlier this Morning.  I set the Mood for Tranquility, have a nice Scented Candle Burning that is a Nag Champa Blend, which has known benefits of producing a Sense of Well Being.  It's why a lot of Churches and Temples use it actually.   I have Votivo's "Forgotten Sage" in our Boudoir area, since that's my all time Favorite Candle and Room Spray Scent.  Hard to find that Scent now tho' by "Votivo", the same with Gold Canyon Candles, since they went Belly Up during the Pandemic, so when I find any of it from either Company, I order or Buy as much of it as I can afford.  *Le Sigh*

The Daughter may have another Cleaning Job soon, she's been doing Work for Roy, along with her Boyfriend helping with that, but it's not been steady enuf Work for either of them.  He's at least Qualified for 90 Days worth of Nutritional Assistance tho' and said he's gonna assist her in Qualifying for hers too.   She's still skittish about me taking her to Social Security to re-apply for SSI, since, tho' it's been over 20 Years now since she was on SSI, she vividly recalls how stressful and Triggering the whole Process was for her.   Her Paranoia went into overdrive and I don't wanna Trigger her Schizophrenia since she's been doing so good/well lately and not had major Episodes like she used to have.  I don't wanna risk going back to trying to Manage that level of Mental Instability becoz it was Impossible and she HAD to be Institutionalized often when it gets that Bad.  It's not worth risking to MEBBE Qualify for a Disability Check from the Government.

I choose my Battles Wisely these Days coz there's only so much Crazy I can Manage, Handle and appropriately Deal with here at The Asylum.  There's just too many Residents here of them.  *Winks*  I don't think a small Check that isn't a Livable amount anyway to cover all their Costs, that you might not even get parsed out to Help Support them, is worth the Risk involved in making a Mentally Unstable Person go Off Rails coz the Process is too much of a Gauntlet for them to Handle and get through.   Until she has a Peace about going, I'm not Forcing it coz the Help we tried to get her already, we didn't get any and were Declined.  Why?  Not coz she isn't Crazy enuf... but coz they claimed we BOTH were too Unstable for the Program and Services they offered for those with Serious Mental Illness!!!  *LOL*   

Yeah, we still Joke about it coz I wasn't even Applying or being Evaluated, or so I thought anyway... I was there as her Advocate and Emotional Support System, in case she Melted Down during a Three Hour Eval!  She only didn't, she said, coz she was so Amused that they were Evaluating ME too and I didn't even realize it!!!  So she thought that was so fucking hilarious that she couldn't even be so bothered by the whole Ordeal.  *LMAO*  Apparently they thought I was as Bad Off as her, which, well, they could be Right, I didn't think so, but, I could be Wrong, what can I say?   She finds it highly Amusing that I don't think I'm so Crazy... coz she is more Aware that she is now, tho' she didn't used to be either.  *Bwahahaha*   And Yes, they will Decline you if you're too fucked up and Mental, it's not Cost Effective for them, you're too expensive.   We've not had that Decision be our First Rodeo with The System saying you can have TOO MUCH Need, so they just won't give you any Assistance, Benefits or Services at all!!!  Come back when you're more Stable... or a lot more Medicated... AS IF... *Shakes Head while Laughing as we leave.*

I always Share our Experiences with the Mental Health System and the Healthcare System, so that anyone else going thru the Gauntlet of it doesn't feel so much like the Lone Ranger.   And so that anyone not familiar with it and Clueless, doesn't think it's just that easy to receive Help, Services, Qualify for a damned thing if you're not Flavor of the Month.  Or they didn't have big Federal Budget Cuts making even less to parse out to the high demand Needed, and many will be disqualified from receiving for one reason or another.  It changes all of the time, so you never really know the Criteria of the Moment, or Qualifying Factors of The Now, and Tomorrow it could be totally different, so it's like playing the Lottery.  And you know how often you Win at that... so, your Odds aren't much better with The System actually.   The uninformed think it's just so easy to get Benefits... and for the imaginary folks they think Scam it in droves.  They gotta be a highly skilled Scammer to get thru this here System in place, that I will fucking tell ya!!!  Legitimate Applicants can't even get theirs most of the time and are Denied and must Appeal endlessly.

But, the Urban Myths abound still... just like the Myth and Lies that Illegal Undocumented Immigrants can Qualify for Benefits, they can't.  The only Law in place from the 1980's is for Emergency Services to be provided for everyone in a Medical Emergency Situation.  And that was put in place when Reagan, a Conservative, was President.   And if you're of the ilk that thinks a Human Being having a Medical Emergency should be denied Care for said Emergency for any reason, you're an Inhumane and Twisted Fuck, that's all I have to say about  you, I couldn't be any more Clear about my stance on that matter.   Even an Animal having a Medical Emergency and suffering or potentially Dying, should receive adequate immediate Care, let alone a Human Being.

The VA Home Nurse just left, she was a very pleasant Older Woman, The Man couldn't understand her very well but I could, her English was excellent, the Accent is what got him, she definitely has an African lilt to her English.  *LOL*   She was very Kind and said we're doing quite well given our Situation, such that it just is.  She sorted out some things for us that were still confusing, seems the Meds he is on he should be on, no discontinuation of any of them from the VA thus far.  I did find out he's been dumping his Newer Rx into his Older Bottles, so now he's not allowed to handle his own Meds.  He wants to do stuff for himself, but slowly and patiently he's being asked to relinquish those things he's muddling up to us to do FOR him.  She wants him to do what he still can do for himself, but what he cannot anymore, he has to relinquish and have the Present Help from Family and the Home Nurse.  He's stubborn, so, it's a Process.

 It's hard for him, he likes to think he's still a little bit Independent and Free Thinking about what he has to do or Needs to do.  His Pride gets in the way.  But, clearly it's diminished to a point now where he can't be allowed to and that is a difficult transition for any Senior.  Been there, done that with my Parents, they fight you every step of the way and he is too.   Now The Daughter and I will handle all Meds, period, he isn't allowed becoz he's too confused about it now and might overmedicate, under-medicate or overdose himself.  He has to now do the taking of any Meds or Shots in the Presence of another Family Member and never do it Alone or without another set of Eyes to verify what he's doing and getting into.  His Safety Prompts keep increasing but we get compliance once it's his Routine he's used to. 

The Nurse took my Blood Pressure and Oxygen Levels even tho' she didn't have to.  She said with all I'm responsible for as Primary Caregiver, for more than a few Loved Ones, she's Amazed my Blood Pressure isn't Sky High, it's Low and my Countenance is High, my Oxygen was Excellent, she said I must have Nine Lives like a Cat!  Which was a Kind way of saying she was Surprised I wasn't Dead yet!  *LOL*  She would expect me to be faltering a lot more, so she commended me on what I'm holding up and keeping together here in more Order than she would be expectant of with most Clients who have less to Manage.  I liked her, she was Funny, but no nonsense, not pushy, just very Helpful and explained things well.   She could see he was Anxious and a bit contrary and very Guarded, but she finessed him with Patience, Kindness and a Sense of Humor, she was like that Favorite Older Aunty you might have in the Family who just wants what is Best for you.

  She changed our Visits to a Tuesday from now on... which Works for me better actually.   She liked that I wanted to Learn to do everything rather than let her take over, since she said you never know when the VA will cease Services and it's important I can take over whatever she's doing for him and for us as a Family.   She said she leaves it up to the Client, they're in Charge and some want her to do it all FOR them, but, she knows that if she can't come anymore, they're then Dead in the Water for doing it themselves becoz they became too reliant on the Help.  I know that come Nov. 1st there's a chance we won't Qualify for the Home Nursing anymore.  So I want to get as much Present Help to do for ourselves and have it running smoothly as I possibly can, until he Qualifies for something else.  Veteran's Services are cut all the time, regardless of which Administration is in the White House, but with this one, it's particularly being slashed and upended.

*******

Abundant Autumn Vibes be yours... Dawn... The Bohemian