Despite having €36 to my name, I'm still sending Linh Dinh his €7 this month. When I first arrived in Ireland, my meagre life savings were quickly drained away over 6 months by one AirBnB amateur landlord after another while I tried to find work. In Galway, down to my last €4, I gave a homeless street beggar a €2 coin. She was a thin woman in perhaps her late 40s, who was either brown, or white and just very dirty. I spent my last €2 on a scratch ticket and won €100, which funded my stay at a cheap hostel for another few days upon which time I finally got one of the jobs I'd been interviewing for.
Was that Karma, or just a howling void randomly bestowing a little respite here and there on a couple of beggars, as the Earth rolls round its diurnal course? Poetry is imagining the dog is smiling, rather than understanding that's just the shape of its face.
Seeing the kids in their school uniforms reminds me of American classrooms where fashion is it's own uniform. Reading, Writing and Arithmaticing sit masked and neglected at the back of the classroom almost unnoticed while everyone oos, aahs, boos and nahs over some special brand of shirts, jeans or sneakers.
I remember the old days of being perpetually made fun of over my off brand clothes and shoes. I didn't learn until high school that Nikes are complete crap that fall apart after about a month of normal use. It was a demonstration of how little people grow up when I learned in my 30s that the women of my church were gossiping about my cheap clothes.
I remember showing up for the third or fourth grade in a pair of five dollar shoes with plastic soles that my Mom thought were a bargain. They clicked on the tile hallways. The PE teacher didn't want them scratching the gym floor so I had to get a pair with real deal rubber on the bottom. Oh the horror!
The photos of the school children demonstrated the divide between east and west is smaller than I'd thought. 4 children - 1 fat, 1 slightly overweight, 2 normal weight. That was the case in the 1990's in the USA (which now has 1 very fat, 2 slightly overweight and 1 normal weight).
I know it's only a tiny representation but it's striking how quickly Asians have assimilated the western diet, to the detriment of their health.
The forthcoming world war and supply chain collapse might, ironically, be beneficial to the health of people who have access to arable land but are presently unwilling to grow their own food.
Despite having €36 to my name, I'm still sending Linh Dinh his €7 this month. When I first arrived in Ireland, my meagre life savings were quickly drained away over 6 months by one AirBnB amateur landlord after another while I tried to find work. In Galway, down to my last €4, I gave a homeless street beggar a €2 coin. She was a thin woman in perhaps her late 40s, who was either brown, or white and just very dirty. I spent my last €2 on a scratch ticket and won €100, which funded my stay at a cheap hostel for another few days upon which time I finally got one of the jobs I'd been interviewing for.
Was that Karma, or just a howling void randomly bestowing a little respite here and there on a couple of beggars, as the Earth rolls round its diurnal course? Poetry is imagining the dog is smiling, rather than understanding that's just the shape of its face.
Seeing the kids in their school uniforms reminds me of American classrooms where fashion is it's own uniform. Reading, Writing and Arithmaticing sit masked and neglected at the back of the classroom almost unnoticed while everyone oos, aahs, boos and nahs over some special brand of shirts, jeans or sneakers.
I remember the old days of being perpetually made fun of over my off brand clothes and shoes. I didn't learn until high school that Nikes are complete crap that fall apart after about a month of normal use. It was a demonstration of how little people grow up when I learned in my 30s that the women of my church were gossiping about my cheap clothes.
I remember showing up for the third or fourth grade in a pair of five dollar shoes with plastic soles that my Mom thought were a bargain. They clicked on the tile hallways. The PE teacher didn't want them scratching the gym floor so I had to get a pair with real deal rubber on the bottom. Oh the horror!
The photos of the school children demonstrated the divide between east and west is smaller than I'd thought. 4 children - 1 fat, 1 slightly overweight, 2 normal weight. That was the case in the 1990's in the USA (which now has 1 very fat, 2 slightly overweight and 1 normal weight).
I know it's only a tiny representation but it's striking how quickly Asians have assimilated the western diet, to the detriment of their health.
The forthcoming world war and supply chain collapse might, ironically, be beneficial to the health of people who have access to arable land but are presently unwilling to grow their own food.