Why I am not wearing a safety pin.

Yesterday, I got out a safety pin and put it on my coat. Friends have been changing their profile pics, talking up the idea of showing that you are an ally and advocate, pleading to apply a pin to your coat as a way to build a circle of safety in public spaces. My pin was well sized, properly shiny, and fit nicely over the Eddie Bauer logo.

#safetypin

I took off the pin and put it away.

Hopefully, the safety pin campaign is massively successful. At best, for me, it was untrue. At worst, it was selfish. The spectrum between is a fertile ground for misunderstanding. I'm not going to spend my energy on correcting that misunderstanding when there's a lot of other work to be done.

Election 2028 and Generation O

The girls laugh at me that I ask them to send pictures to my old phone. Six years and it still trudges on. Brightest and biggest screen that I ever had, and I replace the cover every few months when I drop the thing. They think I should get the display in my glasses. But they grew up with that technology, so it’s second nature to them.

Today, they sent pictures. I’m glad I could take my glasses off and still look at my phone and see the pictures through big ugly happy tears.

My oldest girl was born days before Barack Obama was elected. My youngest daughter was born almost exactly two years later. Today is November 7, 2028. They sent me pictures of their ballots. Today, Generation O voted in its first presidential election.