I have one of those friendly faces that encourages people to open up and spill the beans about their lives. And what I’ve learned lately from my daily encounters is that people are anxious, angry, and aware that things are going south very quickly. This past Wednesday, in the nail salon, I had some brief conversations that exemplify some of the issues people are worried about. That was followed by a lengthy conversation in Costco on Thursday and a complaint session lead by my game partner that lasted the entire hour and a half of Bocce on Friday.
On Wednesday, the first thing I noticed, but didn’t address as soon as I sat down at my usual nail station were the ring cameras set up all around the salon. I had long been concerned about their “cash only” operation and the potential for robbery, but I can only guess that fear of desperate people because of the economic downturn or the potential for an ICE raid of a shop employing Vietnamese immigrants must have motivated this drastic change. I didn’t ask for an explanation. Just a few months before, I’d unsettled the peaceful nail spa when I expressed my annoyance that they had Fox News on their large screen television. I, along with several other customers, convinced them not to trust Fox News and they haven’t had it on since.
On this day, the owners of the salon had on a compilation of 80’s music accompanied by video clips of beautiful scenic roads. Having traveled to places like Hawaii, Alaska, Switzerland, and Canada, I knew firsthand that such idyllic scenes existed. I commented how much I appreciated the beautiful scenes and that I wished there was a label identifying the locations of each of them. The owner doing my nails casually replied that they might be AI generated. The customer beside me expressed her confusion and disappointment that we could no longer tell the difference. I agreed and shared that I recently heard an AI engineer say that soon we will only be able to trust the things we see in real time with our own eyes. We all expressed great disappointment in that kind of future.
As previously mentioned, the owners of the salon are Vietnamese immigrants. For a few minutes, the husband turned the channel to watch a Vietnamese immigration attorney. I couldn’t understand what was being said and turned my attention elsewhere. But within minutes, the husband turned to me and said that he just learned that Trump was no longer going to allow people like him to have more than one passport. Apparently, they have dual citizenship. He asked if that meant he would have to obtain a visa to travel back to his home country. They travel to Vietnam frequently and he was concerned. Our conversation turned to the newly announced immigration bans, the removal of protective status, the ICE raids, and Steven Miller’s push to revoke green cards and even citizenship. There was a collective sigh throughout the salon. The angst was real.
I’m always shocked these days by how quickly most conversations turn into a litany of complaints about the Epstein files, illegal bombings of fishing boats by the Navy, brutal ICE raids, blatant corruption, the outrageous pardon of yet another criminal, some revengeful firing or prosecution of anyone who tried to hold him accountable, funding cuts to education, research and public programs, higher prices, the revoking of the professional status of professionals, the rolling back of environmental protections, the ballroom, and the lining of his pockets. The corruption, cruelty, and incompetence are unlike anything we have ever seen, and people are beside themselves with anxiety and anger mixed with a feeling of hopelessness. My husband’s anger and anxiety are no longer tempered, but on fully display as each new outrage crosses his news feed.
I feel those things, too. I just try to remind myself that it is my duty to resist. I resist by not ignoring the wrongdoing and acknowledging it. I resist by supporting candidates at all levels who will oppose his policies, hold him accountable, and do what is best for the country. I resist by participating in protests, boycotts, and writing campaigns while also supporting the organizers (like Indivisible) with donations. I resist by subscribing to reliable online journalism like NPR, More Perfect Union, and The New York Times. I resist by donating to organizations that defend our Constitution in court like the ACLU, Democracy Forward, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. I resist by using my small social media presence to post my disapproval of current events. And most importantly, I resist by being a good human in my community and by encouraging others to do the same. I realized on Friday that I resist by talking about it, listening to others vent about, and encouraging participation in resistance efforts. I will no longer shy away from public conversations. Gone are the days of polite conversation when our country is on fire.
With an approval rating of 36%, it is evident that we still need to convince Americans who are either unaware, apathetic, or complicit that this current state of affairs is not only indecent, intolerable, and destructive, but it is unstainable for a nation to thrive with lawlessness, cruelty, a lack of investment in its people, and total incompetence. I’m convinced that the power of the people is greater than the people in power when we rise up together.