The Adventures of GeekGirl

Dear Racist Asshole on Bike:

I’ve had a shitty, shitty week. My dog is sick, my paycheck was lost in the mail, my boss is correcting ridiculous grammar things, I had to bail on my speed workout because I thought I was injured, I’m worried and lost about my future, I need to write 2 papers by Tuesday and have not even sat down to figure out what I need. You know. Normal first world problems.

This morning I bounced out of bed determined to dominate this day and take care of all of my problems.  First things first? Go on a nice – hopefully pain free run.

I set out on my run and my hamstrings and back felt much better. Yay stretching! I was breathing ok, it was hot but I wasn’t overwhelmed I felt like I was conquering this day.  I even brought water with me. I was pwning this day!

Until I ran into you.

I thought nothing about you riding your bike towards me. This is the main route to the beach and lots of people ride their bikes along there. You’re wearing a workshirt and look kind of miserable. Yeah. I’d be miserable to if I had to rely on a bike to get around in South Florida in the summer. Whatever.

As you go by me you say, “You need to turn around”. I was confused. Maybe there was an accident or something on the beach. Thanks guy. Then you say it:

“You need to turn around. A1A (the beach) is only for white people”.

Wow. You seriously went there you piece of shit?  You see me, minding my own fucking business in my neighborhood and all you can think to tell me is that I don’t belong there.

FUCK YOU!!!  You piece of fucking trash.

Of course, I didn’t say anything. Why? I’m a single woman running at the crack of dawn by herself. The street is well traveled and there seems to be others around, but really. I can’t risk anything here. Further, it makes me almost cry.

I continue on my run. I see the sunrise. A guy tells me to be sure to enjoy the view while I’m working hard. The old guy I always see gives me a “Go get ‘em, Tiger!”.  I run the last 2 miles with one of the women I help at the running store.

Despite the racist bullshit that fell out of your douchey fucking mouth, I had a good run.

GeekGirl – 1   Racist Cockbib – 0

As some have stated I shouldn’t have let this get to me. You know what? Anytime that you are reminded that you are in the minority and perhaps not always wanted around it’s going to bug the shit out of you. Particularly in YOUR neighborhood and on YOUR beach. I’ve run these streets for years. These are MY streets.

But you know what bugs me the most? I. Felt. Powerless. I felt like the lowest rung on the ladder. You  would not have said this to man. Black, white, green, red. You would not have said it. You probably would not have said it to a particular type of black woman. Instead, you said it to the 115 lb rather timid looking woman running alone at 6:30 in the morning.

You, sir, are a coward. A pathetic, weak, POWERLESS coward. Riding your bike at 6:30 in the morning with your work uniform* on tells me everything I need to know about you.

It was when I realized this that I felt ok about it. Some people must try to show their power in any way they possibly can. If this is what it took for you to feel better about your pathetic life then good for you, because in the long run I still have more power than you. I am educated, gainfully employed, and privileged  enough to own a car and live in a great neighborhood. A neighborhood where I have never felt uneasy, scared, or powerless prior to you. (Even with the huge number of homeless peeps!)I have free time and am able to go for runs, bike rides, and just hang out. I travel and basically do what I want.

Now, with that said Racist Guy on Bike, keep in mind that I am upwardly mobile. Who knows where I will end up in this crazy thing that we call life. And I NEVER – I mean NEVER -forget a face. Period.

Truly Yours (Not Really Douchebag!),

GeekGirl

PS – Everyone hopes you fall off your fucking bike or it gets stolen or something. I have to agree here.

PSS – I can NEVER tell my mom, dad, or sister about this because they’ve always hated this side of town. Too urban for all of them. My dad will be threatening to follow me around in the car and my mom will want me to come over to her place to run.

* Note –  I point out his work shirt to make the point that he is not out riding for exercise. This isn’t like up north or a place with great mass transit. If you’re biking here in this neighborhood, wearing a work shirt your life isn’t going so great. I DO NOT have issues with blue collar guys or people on bikes.

I’m going to climb on my little soap box right about now. Some people are going to be offended. Some are going to stop reading me. Here’s the thing. I don’t give a shit.

Today at 2:00, I make my first visit to see a gynecological oncologist. The short story on that is that the past 1.5 years I’ve had abnormal paps. When my biopsy was done, they found more abnormal cells, but decided to wait and see.  We’re done waiting and seeing and now it’s time to act. I’m worried and scared, but that’s not what I’m upset about.

As I receive another $1200 doctor’s bill in the mail thanks to my insurance deciding it doesn’t want to cover something, I’m forced to face reality. What if I have cancer and how the fuck am I going to pay for it? A few blood clots on my lungs cost me about $7,000. That’s after what my insurance decided to pay. Now, $7,000 may not be a lot of money for you, but for me that’s almost a year’s worth of university classes. That’s about 2.5 months of pay. I’m actually struggling to pay off the original $4400 that I owe. I now am adding another $1200 to that.

Any tests that must be done will most likely come out of pocket at this point because I have crap insurance. It’s the best that I can afford since my job doesn’t offer insurance. It was picked while I was nice and healthy and I didn’t think that I would need the type of coverage that I now need.

I’ve done everything that I’m supposed to do. I work. I pay my bills. I follow “the rules”. However, the insurance companies do not. I’m sure some of you will remember that I was kicked out of the fucking hospital after my embolism. I was supposed to be in for a week, but they yanked me out after a couple of days since I “had no coverage”. They claimed that I didn’t pay my bill which was bullshit. We got it all worked out, but only AFTER I was sent home after a major illness and left to care for myself.

It’s hard for me to sit back and watch half of our nation pretend like we don’t need to do something about our health care situation in this country. Honestly, they all sound like a bunch of greedy, privileged assholes. That includes Glenn Beck, Bitchface Palin, et. al. Palin is getting people worked up over death panels. We already have death panels, bitch! They’re called insurance companies. They deny coverage all the fucking time.

From now on, when I hear dumbfucks spewing shit about socialized medicine and complaining about insurance reform I am going to call them on it. I’m going to get right back in their faces and ask them why they don’t give a shit about their fellow countrymen. Why are they so afraid of EVERYONE being able to get the health care they need without worrying about taking out a second mortgage or going into bankruptcy. People shouldn’t have to decide between taking care of their health issues and say, paying their rent. This is not a threat, it is a promise. I’m calling out every single one of you greedy assholes.

It’s as simple as this: When one is being sent to see an oncologist, the first fucking thing on their mind should not be how the fuck am I going to  pay for this.

If you don’t understand that, then you’re really no friend of mine.

Most regular readers of this blog know that I am pretty much obsessed with the panda. I have been know to arrange races/vacations around heading to the zoo to see pandas. Yay pandas. So, imagine how upset I was to read this, from “conservationist” Chris Packham:

‘Pandas are my frequent whipping boy,’ said Mr Packham, a host of Autumnwatch. “Here is a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. It’s not a strong species. Unfortunately, it’s big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into panda conservation.”

Wow. Let’s not help the pandas and just let them die out. Is this guy crazy? First and foremost, I  don’t think ANY animal should be allowed to just die out. Especially since it’s generally our fault that they’ve lost their habitat.

To say that the panda has gone down an “evolutionary cul-de-sac” is ignorant at best. Pandas have always lived in the mountains where there was plenty of bamboo to sustain them. However, thanks to us, their habitat is disappearing. I will always be on Team Panda.

It turns out this guy prefers to protect bats. I happen to like bats, but bats do not equal pandas.

He later “clarified” what he meant after a whole bunch of people got upset with him for being an asshole. Whatever. Time to wash the palette with cute panda pics!

I stumbled across this story about a Tennessee couple that took out a $2000 loan at 59% interest. That’s not a typo. That is fifty nine percent interest.  It turns out that the couple are illiterate. They saw a commercial for CashCall and decided to give them a call for a loan. Once they got in contact with the company, they told them they needed to fill out an application online. Since they don’t know how to use a computer, they had an acquaintence fill out the application for them. The couple didn’t understand that filling out the form was binding. They were soon sent $5000 (though they had only asked for $2000).  They later found out that the interest on the loan was 59%. Craziness!

Even crazier, this quote from Ms. Brown:

“I ain’t got no knowledge of spelling and writing, but the Lord gave me a good memory,” Brown says. “And I know they never said anything about 59 percent interest.”

Whoa… I don’t even know where to start on this. First and foremost, I understand that this company is completely unethical. Tennessee puts a cap on the amount of interest that can be charged, so of course this sleazy company is based out of another state to get around that. The first Google search I found the rates. For California, they’re 99 fucking percent!!!  Is that even legal? These people are scumbags. Flat out. I’m in no way endorsing what they did. With that said…

WTF is wrong with these people? How does one go through live without managing to learn to read and write. What type of work do these people do? They obviously have jobs or income of some sort. How the hell do they manage from day to day. In this day and age if you don’t know how to read, write, or use a computer that’s your fucking problem. There are too many opporunities to get an education and learn to read.

Finally, since you know that you can’t read or write why wouldn’t you have someone that can read over everything for you?  Somene filled out the ap for them. Why didn’t he check thing out? Does illiteracy = no common sense?

Wow…I don’t feel bad for these people. They should be the poster child for why you need to learn to fucking read! If this makes me evil and elitist, then so be it.

(Yay for finding a purpose for Evil Homer!)