21st Century Appropriation

Well if you've made it to today's blog post via my facebook link you'll see that a LOT of different things mashed up in today's musings, including my banana!  But more on that later!

Today started out with a very ambitious ride.  In just over three weeks I will turn 57 and I'm attempting to go back to a little ritual I started the birthday after our Cross Country ride - my birthday ride.  I started that year with the goal to ride one mile for each year I've been alive.  I kept it up for four years but then dropped out because I started having knee and back issues which curtailed my riding.  I'd start training with the goal to ride on my birthday but then one or the other would act up and I'd be out of the running.  This year, knock on wood/fingers crossed, I'll be able to restart my little ritual.

So I began the day with the goal of riding 35 miles.  Since it's also National Bike Month, I had extra incentive to get out of the house and get back so I could work!  I coffeed up, got Betty ready to go, put a banana in my pocket (more on that later) and headed out the door!  Feeling the need for some inspiration I put on one of my favorite albums, Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown.  And the title song in particular got me to thinking;

As I listened to the lyrics (and start pedaling to the rhythm - 114 bpm, perfect for CPR) it got towards the end and something clicked when I heard:

Oh, dream, America, dream
I can't even sleep
From the light's early dawn
Oh, scream, America, scream
Believe what you see
From heroes and cons

And all of what has been going on lately came rushing to my mind.  Heroes and cons.  It's so hard to tell any more who is who when it comes to those terms.  I mean, I know who the heroes today are.
As much as we might want to emulate the Avengers (gotta love Cap, right?), sports stars (Go 'Boys!), entertainers (Hugh Jackman, anyone?) the REAL heroes today are on the front lines every day fighting Covid-19 and trying to keep those infected alive.  I have friends across the country, in the hospitals of New York City and here on Long Island who are dealing with loss every day as they fight to stave off the beast.  My heart goes out to them and I wish I were more like them.  For you see, I know I'm no hero.  People thank me for my service when I'm out in my EMS uniform picking up groceries on the way home from a shift or even buy my partner and I dinner.  But I'm not a hero.  I'm no superman;

I'm just a regular guy trying to help out my community.  But there ARE heroes and they're the ones we SHOULD be listening to.  Instead we're being guided by cons, people who have sold us a bill of goods people are paying the price for it.  Chaffing at the same precautions and proclaiming that "a few deaths are worth restarting the economy" these charlatans have convinced a large chunk of the American populace that we should be relaxing restrictions and getting back out there.  These cons have inspired marches on state capitals by armed protesters, forcing legislatures to sit in session wearing bullet proof vests out of fear for their safety.  A true 21st Century Breakdown.

And part of that acting out is seeing posts on my Facebook feed from people complaining about the restrictions.  They've bought the bogus baloney from Emperor "No Clothes" and want to break free of the social distancing.  And they're complaining about the fact that since bars are closed in most states they can't celebrate Cinqo de Mayo.  "C,mon!," they bitch and moan, "isn't it enough we had to lose St. Patrick's day!  Now we can't celebrate Cinquo de Mayo - and it's on Taco Tuesday!!!! How are we going celebrate the Corona!" Because you know, nothing says America like celebrating a holiday important to the very people we're building a wall to keep out because they don't belong in our country!  And never mind that none of them have EVER heard of the Battle of Puebla!  Yes, my family will be making Tex-Mex food (including copious amounts of James' guacamole) and yes, we will talk of the Battle of Puebla - and these thoughts while cycling led me to think about the various appropriations we have made in our country for national holidays, Cinquo de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day being two prime examples.  America, in all of it's cultural sensitivity, has taken two holidays that celebrate events of national pride for two immigrant populations who weren't (or aren't) welcome to the general American populace.  It wasn't that very long ago that signs could be seen saying "Irish Need Not Apply" for jobs.  Of course, they became the mainstays of police and fire departments far and wide.  But today we're facing the similar sentiment with those of Mexican heritage.

Which led me to think of my own family and how we ARE the story of America, the melting pot of cultures.  Looking at my immediate family we have myself (or Irish heritage) married to a woman of (Russian Jewish extraction). Both of us a fairly "pure" in our lineage so our three children are primarily Russian/Irish in makeup.  But then you throw in on my side the DNA I received from the "Mama Who Bore Me" (and yes, I promise you I had this thought and the Spring Awakening connection to it while climbing a big hill) and now you have about an 1/8th Cherokee Indian thrown into the mix from her side.  Also, in my dad's background (according to a DNA test he took) we have a bit of Dutch mixed in.  Not much, but perhaps enough to explain my love of cycling!

And then we extend out to the Mother who raised me being from Pusan, Korea and the fact that makes my two sisters are Irish/Korean.  And my Uncle Israel Cortez from Bakersfield, CA (and has every right to REALLY celebrate Cinquo de Mayo) who married her sister so their children are Mexican-American/Korean.  And my sister Angela who married someone from Sweden so their children are Korean-American/Swedish.  And my sister Winnie whose children (my niece and nephew) are African-American/Cherokee-Irish.  And there you have it folks, my little family of the United Nations.  The melting pot of American in one extended family!!!!!

Which led me to my next thought as I "time trialed" against the wind on my way to the next big hill - America is like the Borg!  (If you don't understand the Borg, don't know who the Borg are, or if it's been a while since you've thought about the Borg - click on the link) We assimilate the good from other cultures and make it our own. Fortunately, unlike the Borg we don't usually destroy the entire race.  Unfortunately, like the Borg we tend to take the best parts and mutate them for our own needs. Hence taking two holidays of identity and turning them into excuses to get drunk and vomit.  Nothing to do with celebrating an important victory or the life of a Saint.  Those were the thoughts I had when I smashed my banana (if you know what I mean!)

Let me be clear, I love bananas.  It's no wonder my second favorite animated character is Kevin, only beaten out by Stitch.  So much so that both have featured as my Facebook profile pic at various times;
                             
And we ALL know minions love bananas;

So it just goes to reason that I would like them too.  But here's where our tale of today's ride goes sad.  After cresting a particularly punchy and nasty little climb eleven miles into my ride I found they were doing road work on the LIE service road.  You know, the type of work where they grade the road down to the previous layer leaving it all bumpy and rough.  Even though it was only a mile and a half, I wasn't in the mood for bouncing along on my road bike so I made a decision to go a longer way around.  I crossed the bridge spanning the LIE and found the same condition on the other side.  "Not a problem," I thought to myself, "I'll just cross this and be on my way."  And as the quote by Woody Allen goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans".  Because as I rolled off the smooth road onto the rough surface my front wheel turned and I went over the handlebars - right in front of four cars waiting at the red light!  Thank God for my stage combat skills because I literally tucked and rolled - I didn't even scratch my helmet and my bike only sustained minor scrapes.  But my banana, my poor banana!  Or as the Wiggles put it so eloquently (WARNING: IT LOOPS FOR 10 MINUTES!);

Problem was, I didn't realize I had mashed my banana until I managed (eleven miles later) to roll into Syosset High School where I was going to take a small break before heading the 13 miles home.  I got to school (you know, part of that whole "Ride Your Bike to Work Month"), reached into my jersey pocket and extracted a glove full of goo!!!!  Not the most appetizing.

At this point I decided to just pedal home.  I had a slight wind to my back and I had an online meeting with one of my classes in an hour and a half so it was time to wend my way homeward.

The rest of the ride was, fortunately, uneventful except for the fact my cycle computer battery decided to die.  It's okay, I logged 35 miles today, climbed a bunch of hills, fought the wind and didn't crack my head open - it was a great ride!!!!!!

So in conclusion, I'll leave this blog as I began it - with a mashed up Borgified combining of the Irish and Mexican holidays we have appropriated and show you what happens when Irish bagpipers assimilate appropriate the music of another culture.  Or shall we just call it fusion?

  That's it for now - I'll see you on the road!

RRL - Shopping Cart, Car Mat, 1 Liter Bottle of Vodka (1/3 full), 16 gloves, 3 Surgical masks, 1 N95 mask, 1 pair of protective booties for treating Covid patients.
FFR - One raccoon, one possum, two birds