OK, I fired the maid.

The truth is that I have never had a maid before and I realize now that I never wanted one. I wanted cleaning help with my big house. I never figured out that a maid is there, like every time you turn around. She was so much more work than doing the work. In this particular instance, she was always late, and I mean hours late. She had no phone so I never knew whether she was coming or not. So I would wait 2 hours for her to come for 6 hours and so I was stuck at home or having to run home to pay her and let her out. I hated her cooking and never asked for it, but she would spend hours making me food. I could make a peanut butter sandwich in about 2 minutes. Did I tell you? Yes, I did, that she used seran wrap as a lid on the pan while cooking stuff.

Therefore I decided she was actually trying to kill me, which doesn't make sense because I was paying her well. I also finally figured out that she really didn't like me. I understand quite a bit of Spanish and she made sly remarks about me to my face. And the final straw was the Jesus thing, So she spent a good deal of her lunch break telling me that I was going to hell because I had Christmas decorations, I smoke, and I am not a Seventh Day Adventist. Heavy duty stuff.

In my middle class upbringing, we had cleaning help. That is all I think I can cope with. Now I feel free and lighter and slightly dustier, but was out and about all day feeling liberated.

But there is that other heaviness. The Connecticut school shooting heaviness. I am really glad the TV doesn't work. I don't want those images stamped on my brain. In Cuba, when the government decided that they didn't choose to have a society with gun murders, and gun threats, and they wanted to be a bit more civilized than their neighbor to the north, they made a plan that took care of the problem quickly. They said "No more guns." They had a gun buy-back program. Didn't matter how old or rusty or anything, all guns got a certain value, during a certain time period. Then after that it was against the law to own or carry a gun. If you got caught with one, you went to jail for a certain amount of time (like 2 years) The result of this dictator imposed, violating human rights, horror, was that the problem was over. The government meant that if you had a gun you went to jail. No wiggle room. Few people went to jail. There is virtually no gun violence in the whole country  days.

The reason I mention this, is that where there is a will, there is a way. Their path would not be ours. But if we ever choose the right to live without threat of being shot (even for a 6 year old) over the right to have a closet full of Glocks, we could solve the problem. I like the idea.

Blessings and compassion to all those who are suffering because of our inability to be rational. Blessings to all those who are suffering.