"Loan Sharks Will Be Understanding"

It’s total bullshit.

Steel instead of concrete makes sense to me, since look how easily the Berlin Wall fell with some sledge hammers. You'd have to be pretty skinny to slip through those steel slats but it still won’t be much of a deterrent. Hasn’t Trump heard of shovels? No, only rakes.

If our President wants that wall so badly why doesn’t he pay for it himself?  Would he still have been elected if we'd been told WE would foot the bill?

But what do I know.  I know my ears perked up this morning when I heard that SNAP benefits might not be there come February.  Oregon has made her citizens breathe easier by declaring there is enough money for February’s payouts, but after that?  Well, I did want to lose some weight.

The most absurd thing I’ve heard Trump say this week has been his response to questions about how people are supposed to pay their mortgages, bills and babysitters during HIS government shutdown (sic):

“Loan sharks will be understanding.”

Here’s a short tale, somewhat embarrassing but hopefully entertaining.

When I first married Ex-Man 1 he was a Private in the Army. We lived in a dive of an apartment in Asbury Park, NJ, but we were young and didn’t care.  It was the first time I lived away from home and older women still intimidated me. (Who am I kidding…they still do.)

One month something happened with the military pay system and the soldier's paychecks were delayed, which meant we couldn’t pay the rent on time. The landlady knew this, and it was the Army after all, but she didn't care.  While I was Home Alone she blustered her way in, looked around, then grabbed the TV, toaster oven and whatever else she could manage, snagging my upright vacuum cleaner on her way out; declaring everything would be returned when the rent was paid. I was shocked but didn't put up a fight, if you can believe.

I called my husband and within short order he came home with a JAG officer, who went to the landlady’s straightaway, fixed her wagon and brought home my appliances.  The military has lists of approved off-base housing and he threatened to remove her name from that list, but the damage was already done.

Even though I was a grown woman of 18, I was traumatized by the experience and scarred for life.  Understandably, then, every time rent-time looms my stomach flip-flops a bit until it’s paid.

Think about that as you listen to the news. Don’t see the President through Rose-Colored Glasses.

Note:  the drawing at the top is by a friend in Puerto Rico. Billy earned some extra cash with odd jobs, and one summer he poured this slab for the homeowners (to keep the neighbor's runoff out of their yard). Billy would watch Czar from time to time, and his depiction is spot-on. Click on the link to visit Sea Czar, my Salty Dog.