Anxiety Antidotes

And so, after staying up nearly all night, two nights ago, and letting my mind run rampant with worry, I decided, last night, to create normalcy despite the potential chaos coming and try to focus on positives in my everyday life, which is something I've learned to do to combat anxiety.

I also learned it's important to get outside of your own worries because there's always somebody with worse (something I learned from Johnny Cash a long time ago, which is another story).

So last night, we ordered comfort-food pizza with my neighbors across the hall - the ones with the new baby and my little honorary nephew, the one whose birthday party I mentioned on Saturday.  

They are from Puerto Rico.  They moved here in 2017, after Hurricane Maria - for which PR received restricted aid from the U.S., despite being a U.S. territory -  with Trump literally throwing paper towels into the crowd during his visit.

They are fun, loving, college-educated, highly-intelligent people, with a close-knit family - both here and in Puerto Rico - who are equally fun, loving, college-educated and highly intelligent, and who show up all family events and support each other, come what may.

They are also are triply worried, compared to us. 

Not only are they worried about the same stuff we are, with the US election result, but they are worried about what could happen as a result of misperceptions/American ignorance about Puerto Ricans here - who again are automatically legal in this country, as Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, so they can legally vote for POTUS, etc. when living on the mainland - and thirdly, they are worried about family still in Puerto Rico, who also had elections on November 5th and thus, they're stuck in a 4-way tie.

Now - unlike most Americans, I already knew that PR was a US territory and thus their residents are automatically legal here and they can vote for POTUS, etc. if living on the mainland - but here are some more things to share that I learned that might help combat misperceptions. 

We tend to forget to focus on our own struggles here in the U.S., and at most, that our leaders tend to create a domino effect on the rest of the world, but we especially forget that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory that we neglect like a red-headed stepchild, despite the fact that we invaded it during the Spanish-American war and they are our responsibility as a US territory.

Despite a comedian at Trump's NYC rally calling Puerto Rico an "Floating Island of Garbage,"  Puerto Rico is actually a beautiful island, and it's not just from them that I've heard this - anyone I know who has ever been to Puerto Rico finds it beautiful.

"Floating island of garbage?"

I don't think so ... 

They also have a unique, diverse heritage and history of Spanish, French, Dutch, British, and African, such that one citizen can look "black," others have dark skin and hair, while the next can have light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair! 

Although the original West Side Story meant well - and as much as I love Puerto-Rican-born Rita Moreno - the movie otherwise used light-skinned, dark-hair/dark-eyed American actors who weren't Puerto Rican or even Latino descent!

They were of Greek, Filipino, and even Russian descent, including California-born Natalie Wood to play the lead !

This did nothing to reflect the true diversity of Puerto Rico, which includes a wide spectrum of hair, eye and skin color!

(It's also fatally flawed in its depictions of Puerto Ricans living in America in general.)

Spielberg did a better job with the remake in 2021, trying to represent actual Puerto Rican diversity with skin/eye/hair color in his remake, with Ariana Debose playing Anita ... 

... except the lead playing Maria still isn't Puerto Rican - she's half Columbian and half Polish-American! 

This is despite us having a plethora of very talented Puerto-Rican singer/dancer/actresses who could've done it. 

(Well, at least she really sang and danced, too - versus having to dub Natalie Wood's singing voice, as well as keeping kept her out of most dance scenes the first go-round, because her voice wasn't strong enough and she wasn't a trained dancer).

And the story is still the story - well meaning, but still fatally flawed PR depictions, even for the 1950s.

Also, though Puerto Rico's first language is Spanish, most can also speak English.

(My neighbors speak only Spanish to their son at home, but he can speak both languages at 5 years old.)

And this diverse heritage and history shows up in the beautiful architecture of Puerto Rico, reflecting all of these influences as well.

See? 

Very tropical, colorful, and beautiful!

It's ironic that comedian at Trump's rally called it a "floating island of garbage" - because I consider Trump to be a floating island of orange garbage!

Even IF that were true about Puerto Rico - which it's not (the comedian likely never having been there)  - it's a US territory, so we'd be responsible for cleaning it up, then, wouldn't we?

(And with more than paper towels thrown by Trump after major hurricanes!)

But there are "slum" areas, just as there are here - it's just those "slum" areas are a bit worse because of the job and housing shortage. 

So there is a job and housing shortage, made worse by the two prior administrations misappropriating (stealing) funds that were supposed to be set aside to assist, with no prosecution for the corruption.

Much like here, corruption and cronyism (rewarding loyalty with high-ranking jobs despite not being qualified) are now "cool."

Things were made worse after Hurricane Maria in 2017, for which they were not eligible for full FEMA benefits or US tax credits such as the child credit - until Biden sponsored a bill approving them more aid and tax credits and increased federal disaster-relief support.

Privately owned farms are shrinking - the US claiming most of the crops, with PR's citizens having to buy back their products at high prices, as their sales tax is 11.5% on products. 

(For comparison, our sales tax on products here in Kentucky is 6%)

Though they pay less than some states in federal taxes, the difference is made up for, and then some, with that 11.5% sales tax on products.

And yes - they do pay Medicare and Social Security as well.

As for the current election, Puerto Rico is in a 4-way tie for governor (well, the 4th candidate just conceded). 

There are generally two parties in PR, just like here, with different names, but a third independent candidate - backed by reggaeton star Bad Bunny - is in the tie. 

The two main contenders, in fact, are Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon from the New Progressive Party (Republican rep in the US) and Juan Dalmau, from that new third party, the New Independence Party (left-leaning) - the two middle candidates in the photo.

Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon (politically right, Trump supporting) is expected to edge out Juan Dalmau (politically center-left), in the end.

So to oversimplify things, based on my brief conversation and limited understanding, last night, here's a brief overview: 

Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon is a Trump supporter -  Juan Dalmar is not.

At stake are people wanting full statehood versus people wanting full independence from the U.S.

This is because although Puerto Rico has a certain degree of autonomy, they also are restricted in some ways by US law, as well as restricted in what type of tax funds and aid they receive (which has recently been stolen/misused) and little oversight.

Thus, the message is, as worried as we are about things for ourselves in the U.S., there is always somebody else with even more worries.,  and you may find it helpful to get outside of your own worries and help them?

It's also helpful to try to find the positive and forward-think.

For example, though we were tense, arriving at the polls on Tuesday, half-afraid of some gun nut letting loose, it was actually less tense than in 2020.

We arrived at 5:45 a.m. and a large line was already there, made worse by the new iPad they were using to scan driver's licenses wasn't working.

I saw many of my neighbors there,  and we all chatted and cracked jokes with each other, Trump voters and Harris voters alike, never mentioning who we were voting for (we just knew based on prior conversation or small worries mentioned).

Directly in front of me were two women I hadn't met before, who were chatting amongst themselves and made clear they leaned right, without using Trump's name,  and my senior veteran neighbor and his wife, who I did know and despite being Trump supporters, are very lovely people. 

So the conversation went something like this: 

Me:  "I love your black-and-white tortoiseshell glasses, I haven't seen ones like that before, where did you get those?"

 

Lady 1:  "Thank you!  Simpson Optical, they're awesome there, I love Simpson Optical."

 

Lady 2:  "I need to get some, but first I get some knee replacements.  I picked the wrong job for that, or standing in this line - I work at day care. Or I should say "child development center," they tell me (eye roll)"

 

Me: "Ha! That almost sounds worse than calling it day care - like they're little lab specimens instead of children  lol. But are you okay? My mom just had two knee replacements, and has it rough both before and after. There's some chairs down the hall, there.  I'm surprised they didn't put them right here."

 

Lady 2: "Nah, I'm fine, it's just I hope they fix it soon. "

 

Lady 1:  "You'd think they'd have a backup one, but no. It's not their fault, really, they work with what they're given and they're volunteers, so we appreciate them."  

 

Lady 2:  "True, the stuff they probably have to put up with.  So I hope y'all don't mind my Louisville Cardinals attire.  I was already worried something might happen at the polls today, and then I wear my Louisville stuff, which is grounds for trouble in Lexington with UK fans lol."

 

Me: "Um ... have you ... MET my husband, proudly wearing  his Michigan State stuff today?   Don't worry, they'd head for him first  😂.  Plus it could be worse - you could be wearing Duke stuff."

(Everyone laughed 😂).

 

Lady 2:  "Okay, I'm gonna have to sit down, this is killing my knees."

 Then she sat right down on the floor. 

Everyone - including the veteran and his wife, Lady 1, us, and the Harris supporters behind me, asked if she needed help.

Lady 2:  "Nah, I'm good, I do this all the time, working in a day care - I mean - child-development center. It's the getting back up part that's hard."

 

Me:  "Well, you've got an army of people here to help you back up, if you need it, it seems, so let us know when you're ready." 

 

Lady 2:  "Well it will take one, because I'm pretty sure I'd pull you and your husband both down with me lol."

Finally, they fixed the iPad driver's license scanner and the line started moving, and we all helped her back up. 

It was kinda cool to see that, after so much tension - people being kind to each other, sharing jokes, etc., right? 

Gotta find little positives where you can, when things get rough - I learned that a long time ago.

It takes me a minute at first, but I always do - it helps 😄