IsThis What it Takes?

This morning from the White House at the break of dawn,
our dear leader sent a tweet, as usual, but this one was frightening.
He said that the cure for this situation is worse that disease.  By the
disease he means the financial collapse.  He is flummoxed by the
fact that no matter what he proposes, the economy is still in a
free fall.  The numbers have far surpassed the Great Recession.
This morning the President has said that the 'shelter in place' orders
are too draconian and we need to resume our lives.

To our north, the Toronto Globe and Mail Newspaper reports that
PM Justin Trudeau has told the Canadian people to 'go home and 
stay home'  and if they don't they will be subjected to fines and/or
arrest.  Gee, what does he know that Trump doesn't?  In addition,
Canada has said they will not send their athletes to the summer
Olympics.  Both the Globe and Mail and The London Times, are
reporting that this is the new normal until August at the earliest.

During the Great Depression the Federal Reserve was accused of
not acting fast enough, or doing enough to stem the economic down
turn.  During the Great Recession the Fed did act, it began a QE
program that saw it's holdings rise from $1 trillion to $4 trillion,
and it has remained there though the economy was going thru one
of the greatest booms in history.

Once again, the Federal Reserve is stepping up to try and stem the
economic collapse.  Last week it announced an influx of $700billion
to buy safe securities and bonds.  That temporarily gave the market
a boost.  It didn't last.  This week, the Fed has said it will buy
$375 billion in Treasury securities and $250 billion of mortgage
based securities.  And in the future they intend to also buy corporate
mortgage based securities.  To free up liquid assets, they have been
buying money market accounts from the banks to allow banks to be
able to make personal and small business loans.

This is a great stopgap measure.  But what will happen when this
pandemic begins to wind down?  When will the Fed stop QE?  And
if they don't, what tools would they have left if the virus comes back?
The Congress is working on a financial bailout also, to the tune of
$2 trillion.  Right now the government is running almost a $1 trillion
deficit yearly.  Let's add another $2 trillion to that.

Now let us consider the damage to the economy due to Covid-19.  The
GDP is expected to drop to -24% in the second quarter. That is three
times worse than the 2008 recession.  Unemployment claims reached
2,250,000 and the unemployment rate is estimated to reach 30%.
The earn-spend-earn cycle is unraveling.  Consumer spending accounts
for two thirds of the U. S. economic output, and people who shelter in
place don't spend money.  Like ripples in a pond, the problem grows.

Someday the pandemic will end.  What will be the new normal?  The
Covid-19 is a RNA virus and as such it is significantly more prone to
mutation.  If so, it will return again, most probably in the fall, as a
different strain for which our vaccines will have no effect.  Will we
be ready?

Our government has put into place, a plan for Martial Law should the
pandemic get any worse, or if there is wide-spread disruption, or
disorder.  Think about a scenario where Joe Biden is elected in a close
contest, marred by people staying home in fear of a virus.  Could that
or would that cause wide-spread disorder?  Could the present administration
invoke Martial Law and throw out the election?  Something out of a
Sci-fi movie?  Don't bet on it....

                                                            I'm just sayin'.

Is This What it Has Come To?

I am now in day eight of solitude, self-imposed exile, quarantine,
whatever you want to call it.  Last Wednesday, a week ago, was the
last interaction I had with another human being.  I went to the grocery
store in the morning as I am wont to do.  Fool that I was, I didn't realize
that it would be my last time for a long, long time.

I had heard the buzz about the coronavirus, but there were no reports of
the virus being anywhere near my town, how quickly things changed.
By that afternoon in my writing class, it was announced that all further
classes would be canceled, indefinitely.  Now, they had my attention.
By the time I arrived home there was a notice that senior pickleball
league was canceled and the Y was shutting down also.

That was something I was not expecting.  One after another, planned
events were being canceled; my Thursday night Euchre Tourney, girls
night out Friday Fish Fry, tickets to the Opera House, all now defunct.
All this in the space of two days.  So, I had decided to err on the side
of caution and isolate myself from the virus as best I can.  How hard
can it be, I thought?  Well let me tell you...

Day One:  Thursday, I awoke at my usual 5:30-6:00am, and I realized
I didn't have to pop right out of bed.  I wasn't going anywhere anyway.
So I spent a luxurious forty-five minutes planning my day.  I still had
a few odds and ends to finish up from my trip to Peru, and I had all
day to do them.   At 7:00 I turned on NPR and went about getting ready
for the day.  The news wasn't that alarming, there was a brief segment
about the virus, but then news turned to politics as usual.  I passed on
my usual bowl of oats with cranberries and walnuts and opted for ham
and eggs and toast.  I could get used to this. I settled back and read the
morning papers, I get five, and when I looked up at the clock, it said
11:02.  I had whiled away the entire morning and I felt not one shred
of guilt.  This isn't too hard to take, I thought.

Day Two:  Friday, I awoke at the usual time.  I have to start going to
bed later, I told myself.  Myself didn't answer.  I went back to my bowl
of oats, and then I noticed something.  There was maybe 4 or 5 servings
left in the box.   Huh, what to do?  I checked out the egg situation, sixteen
eggs.  Well, if I ration things, I can last almost three weeks with what I
have for breakfast.  I decided after I ate, I had better take an inventory
to see how long I can hole up here.  I decided I was good for a least a
month.  No sweat!  All that silliness took me into the afternoon, so I
thought I would call it a day and read a bit.  I was having trouble
concentrating, it seems those stolen minutes that I would use to read
the books that I consider candy for the mind, meant so much more
than actually sitting down for hours reading.  Who knew?

Day Three:  Saturday, up at dawn again.  I realized how much I used
to look forward to the weekend before this.  Now it is just another day
of finding something to fill the hours.  Breakfast of toast and coffee.
don't know what I am saving the oats and eggs for, but it seemed like
a good idea.  I have taken to talking aloud to myself, and wonder if
I could be losing it after only three days. No, I answered myself.  The
first thing on my list, laundry, then I will clean the house.  Not like I
do every Saturday but a thorough cleaning, a move the furniture and
vacuum underneath cleaning.  My condo is 1500 sq. ft. not exactly
a palace but big enough for me.  I attacked the job with fierce
determination, moving from room to room, I was unrelenting.  I
searched for dust bunnies and cobwebs and if I found one it was
vanquished.  Mopping, vacuuming, polishing, dusting, if it didn't move
it got cleaned.  By 4:30 the house was done and so was I.  Ta Dah!

Day Four:  Sunday, my favorite day of the week!  A day for a leisurely
breakfast, three cups of coffee and the Sunday papers, then a lovely
dinner and a long walk.  The papers were filled with doomsday predictions
of how the virus was going to spread and kill us all. Finger pointing was
rampant, I skipped half of the editorial pages, as they were just so much
of the same.  Dinner was sparse.  Don't know why, I was looking forward
to the debate in the evening.  My choices amounted to voting for Crazy
Uncle Joe, or Angry Jewish Grandfather.   Fie!

Day Five:  Monday, up at dawn.  NPR was reporting that Crazy Uncle Joe
had won the debate.  I decided I had to take some control of my life and
after breakfast I made a list of things that I had wanted to do but had been
putting off for months.  This was more like me; I could put some order back
into my existence.  I set aside a time and dedicated so much time for each
task; working, writing, reading, computer time, no more just wasting time.
yet all I have now is time.  I posted the list next to my computer, as I
completed each task I would check it off.  After all that organizing I decided
I earned the afternoon off!

Day Six:  Tuesday, up at dawn.  The first thing on my todo list was my taxes.
After breakfast of oats (one of my last) I sat down and gathered all my figures
together and began in earnest.   It was 9:00am.  At 11:30 the taxes were e-filed,
the forms were printed and filed, the tax-deductible receipts were gathered and
filed and I checked the first thing off my list.  That was too easy.  I made lunch
and went for a long walk.  It was sunny and cold and I walked briskly, I felt
great when I got home.  By bedtime, Crazy Uncle Joe had swept the primaries.
Whoopie!

Day Seven:  Wednesday, up at dawn.  After breakfast I would tackle the rest of
the items on my list, a break for lunch, and by 1:00pm I was done.  This can't be,
I cried!  Back outside for a longer walk.  It seemed impossible that I could walk
for 75 minutes and not pass another soul.  I felt like I was in a Stephen King movie
and no one told me.  I came home and called a dozen friends just to hear their voices
and laugh with them.   I am not alone!

Day Eight:  Thursday, oh hell, I stayed in bed until 7:30.  Nothing to get up for.  The
mail did bring me my assignment for the election polling, something is still happening
in the outside world.  I have noticed I am hungry all the time.  I know I am not hungry
I'm just bored, but if this doesn't change I will be fat and board. Damn!

Day Nine:  Friday, in bed until 8:00.  Are you as bored as I am?  If you have read this
thus far you must be.  If this is the new normal, God save us all.  Only seven weeks
to go!  

                                                                    I'm just sayin'.

Do You Have a Plan For That?

If there was one thing that Bernie Sanders got right in last
night debate, it was when he told Donald Trump to shut
up.  It seems every time Trump opens his mouth the
situation gets worse, and let's face it, it will get worse, a
lot worse before it gets better.

Last night the Federal Reserve essentially lowered the prime
interest rate to zero in an attempt to put the brakes on the
downward spiral in the economy.  It also announced a series
of steps to free up the money supply, called Quantitative
Easement, or QE.  QE is when the Federal Reserve, the
U.S.'s Central Bank, pushes a virtual button and increases
the supply of money in the country.  It used to be called
'printing money' but now the money supply is in your mind
not your wallet.  It's a good bet, what is in your wallet is
plastic, not greenbacks, anyway.

The Fed then uses the virtual money to buy actual securities
from banks, mostly in the form of low risk and mortgage
bonds.  That frees up money to the banks and allows them to
lend money at reduced interest rates and that puts money into
the economy.  The Fed is tying to prevent a temporary health
emergency from becoming a global recession.

Why do we need to do this at this time, it's called Covid-19,
now declared a pandemic?  The global economy is grinding
to a halt, right now the hardest hit are travel, leisure and
retail industries.  But as time goes by the problem will spread
and jobs will be lost, spending will crash as companies and
people will begin hoarding cash, and defaults will surge. The
economic impact of self-imposed containment is unavoidable,
and the ensuing market sell-off is rational.

Right now there is little more the Fed can do; they can't make
people spend, they can't cut taxes, they can't free up the supply
chain.  The rate cut won't have that big of a stimulative effect.
We've reached the 'liquidity trap', with rates of zero percent
because of pressure by the Trump administration.  Trump's
insistence on lowering the prime rate over the past 18-months
to protect his economy that he needs to insure his re-election,
has left the Fed with little wiggle room.  Thus forcing a QE as a
last resort to avoid a recession.

Quantitative Easing's main effect is on the psychology of the
market, however as sometimes happens, this time it had the
opposite effect.  After the announcement last night, just before
the Asian markets opened, fearing the move by the Fed meant
more pain in the future, the Asia markets tanked  again.  All
across China, Japan, and North Korea, markets fell.  And as
markets opened across the EU and the UK the same thing
occurred.  U.S. futured were down at the opening bell and
trading had to be halted for the third time after the first fifteen
minutes of trading.

The Fed can only do so much, they cannot prevent the job lay-offs
which are coming.  What is needed now is a huge government
stimulus program that will guarantee wage replacement, and help
with mortgages and rent.  And will pay any medical bills associated
with the illness and deaths occurring from the virus.  The best guess
is the virus's effect on the economy will last until next Spring.  And
the contagion is not expected to peak for another three months in
Europe and perhaps longer in the U.S.

The question is whether there will be a global recession resulting from
the economic trauma, and if there is will it be a 'V' recovery or a 'U'
recovery?  In the long run, 'printing' more money will just devalue the
dollar and while that is good news to industries who export goods, it will
mean an increase in the cost of goods coming into the country.  It may
raise the cost of that Mercedes or Lexus, but it will also increase the
cost of basic goods purchased by those in the lower income bracket.  And
may lead to inflation higher than the mark set by the Federal Reserve.

Another problem with QE, is that the expanded cash in the economy more
often than not ends up as profit, and adds to the already extreme income
inequality.  QE has been called a regressive redistribution program, boosting
the wealth of the 'haves' and passing little along to the rest of the country.  Also,
many countries do not know when to end the program.  The lasting result of
the QE of 2008 in our country, is that the holdings of the Federal Reserve is
at 4 trillion dollars up from 1 trillion dollars before the recession.

Adding another Quantitative Easement program hopefully will shorten the
length and the pain of the recession, but the cost of the stimulus that is
needed to assist those affected by Covid-19, will balloon the already
burgeoning deficit.  This with the projected reduction in the GDP, will
result in a multitude of problems for years.  Let's hope the winner in
November has a plan for that.    

                                                        I'm just sayin'.

Now That There Are Only Two, What to Do?

Sunday will be the meeting of the minds, the debate between the
last two MEN standing in the Democratic primary for the
presidential election in November.  But because of the threat
from the Covid-19 virus, they will actually be sitting, in a
closed room, with no live audience.  The debate is being held
before another round of state primary elections on Tuesday, with
nearly 600 delegates up for grabs.  Included are the swing states
of Florida and Ohio, those two states turned the tide for Trump
in 2016.  Also in the mix are Arizona and the delegate rich
state of Illinois.

Since the 'Super Tuesday' rout by Biden and then the March
10th continuation of Biden wins, this Tuesday looks to be either
Sanders' big return, the nail in his coffin.  The media has all but
declared Biden the presumptive nominee, and his resurrection
does look impressive.  And because of that, there is now a target
on Biden's back, a big target.  Biden, as an opponent, is what
Trump feared most, and what he tried hardest to prevent.  He
risked his presidency to do it.

And so, the attack dogs are out, as we knew they would be.  The
Senate has opened an investigation into Hunter Biden's involvement
in Burisma, the Ukrainian oil company.  The inquiry is being led
by Senator Ron Johnson, the Senator from my state, Wisconsin.
I am familiar with Senator Johnson, and as such, I am not that
worried.  Ron Johnson couldn't find his hat with both hands, as
they say.  However, it will cast aspersions on Joe Biden much as
the Benghazi affair did to Hillary Clinton.

Point of fact, I would bet a years wages that a majority of voters do
not know where Benghazi is or what happened there, I would even
give you odds.  But the mere mention of Clinton and Benghazi sent
Republican voters into spasms.  And the talking heads will try to link
Joe Biden with Burisma, hoping for the same results.  That might
backfire though, and also link Trump to the impeachment, one can hope.

In this morning's paper, The Wisconsin State Journal, there was an
article on the editorial page, by John Kass, the columnist from the
Chicago Tribune, a notoriously Republican newspaper.  In it he
attempts to portray Biden as being senile, his opening line was:
"As Joe Biden and senility become twins in voter's minds, like
macaroni and cheese..."  Not exactly subtle I would say.  He goes
on to point out some of Biden's gaffs in his speeches, and the fact
that he has made errors and slips with proper names.  He goes on to
say that Trump has noticed this and was not the first to wonder about
Biden's mental acuity.   If this was not so pathetic, it would be hilarious.
For one thing Trump is too self-absorbed to wonder about anyone or
anything but himself.  And second, anyone who has listened to Trump
speak has wonder if his elevator goes to the top floor.  If that is the
position you wish to take Mr. Kass, I can guarantee you, even I could
match, and beat you ten to one, Trump's verbal blunders versus Biden's.
And if I throw in deliberate lies and misleading statements, the contest
is over before it begins.

The speech Joe Biden gave after his wins in last Tuesday's primaries was
pure presidential.  His demeaner and calm assurances made me long for a
president who could again bring sense and civility to the White House and
the country,  I am tired of being ashamed of the boorish oaf who represents
America, tired of explaining to friends in other countries what went wrong,
and how we lost our way.

I lament the loss of, whom I considered the most qualified person running
this year, Elizabeth Warren.  I am hoping in his wisdom, that Joe Biden can
see his way to selecting her as his running mate.  Even if he selects Kamala
Harris, or Amy Klobuchar, both capable women who ran against him, I think
it would go a long way to insuring the calm, efficient transfer of presidential
powers in the event of an unforeseeable tragedy.  And it would set aside any
doubts of Biden's age and longevity.  And as a bonus, it might be the only way
we have a chance of seeing a woman president in my lifetime.

Biden's opponent in Sunday's debate, Bernie Sanders, did not speak last Tuesday.
He opted to go home and lick his wounds and perhaps re-evaluate his chances.
His boast of staunch backing by the young voters didn't materialize.  May I
say, I hope some of those foolish young 'Bernie Backers' of his, who stayed
home in 2016 in protest, have matured enough to understand what their silliness
cost them, and the nation as a whole.  Elections have consequences!

Sanders says he is winning the 'Generational Debate' but losing the 'Electability
Debate'.  No, you are not, Bernie!!  There is only one winner and the American
people have decided that your policies will not work, they are pie in sky, pipe
dreams.  Yes, you have been espousing them for years, and yet in spite of all your
talk you have not accomplished one damn thing.  And now you are throwing
down the gauntlet, you have a list of ten demands that you want Biden to agree
to.  And if Biden accepts your demands, you in your magnality, will cede the
election and turn over your band of idolaters to him.  I just have one thing to
say to you, Bernie.   The loser does not get to dictate the terms of surrender.

                                       I'm just sayin'.

Hows is This Working Out for You?

It has been quite awhile since I have been back to visit with you.
I seems as though the world is spinning out of control.  News has
been coming at us from every direction and none of it good.  But
I will humbly try to make some sense of it, at least as I see.

I am in a state of quarantine, not self-imposed, but my senior
classes have been canceled for the unforeseeable future.  And
the facility where I play in a senior sports league, has asked
persons of a 'certain age' to evaluate whether to continue
participating.  Since I fall into that certain age, I now find
myself with more time on my hands than I know what to do
with.  Too late to take up a hobby, so I shall bore you with
some of my musing and brain droppings.

The WHO, World Health Organization, has declared the
Covid-19 outbreak a world-wide pandemic.  And that has
finally got the attention of the Trump administration.  It
seems for weeks that the president and the Republican
Party were more concerned with the effects of the virus
on the November elections rather than the health of the
nation. Trump equated the Coronavirus with a cold or the
flu, saying that most people get better on their own by
resting or even going to work.  The callousness of his
concern was mind-bending.  And his cohorts in the U.S.
Congress were saying the virus was just a hoax by the
Democratic Party to undermine confidence in the Trump
administration.  Going so far as to mock the seriousness
of the illness by wearing a gasmask on the floor of the
Senate.

But try as they may they could not wish away the bad news
coming from the rest of the world.  The stock market was
reacting erratically, wild swings down one day and up the next,
that uncertainly would never do.  If there was one thing that
Trump counted on for his re-election, it was the healthy economy
and the booming stock market.  In response to the market's
downward slide, the president took to the airwaves last night to
present his plan to the American people and to the World.  In
his usual emotionless monotone, with dead fisheyes, he read
from the teleprompter.

Trump's speech was so erratic and non-specific that his staff had
to issue clarifications within fifteen minutes of its conclusion.
The plan called for a travel ban from the EU to the United States,
not from the country with the greatest number of cases outside
of China, North Korea, nor from the UK, which has more cases
than most of the countries in the EU. nope just Europe.  The
announcement came as a gut punch to the Europeans who had
no advance warning that it was coming; but that behavior is
typical Trump.  At first, he said that the ban would include all
goods and trade, that was immediately walked back after the
speech.  Perhaps he lost his place on the teleprompter, or it
might just be he  has trouble with the English language.
Americans in Europe began to panic, until clarification came
that American citizens and permanent aliens were exempt.
Airline stock fell thru the floor.  And how did the big plan
work out for the administration?  Markets around the world
tanked, and the futures market in the U.S. followed.

The striking omissions in Trump's speech were what the
administration was going to do to quell the spread of the
virus; where were the testing kits, how were they preparing
for the influx of new patients into hospitals, what should
someone do if they were showing signs of illness?  The only
concern seemed to be monetary; tax holidays, insurance co-pays,
small business loans.  Are we talking about the health of
Americans or the stock market?  The medical professionals
are saying the situation will get worse before it gets worse.

So here we sit with no clear leadership, no plan of action.  The
total incompetence of this administration borders on the criminal.
Trump had decimated the agencies that were responsible for
acting in cases of an emergency such as we are facing now,
his budget cut funding for the CDC despite Coronavirus being
on the horizon.  over 1600 health professionals have left their
jobs in the administration since Trump became president.

Some say the Covid-19 is Trump's Katrina moment.  I am not
so worried for his downfall as I am for mine; for his survival
as for mine and my friend's survival, we are all of that 'certain
age'.

It is too late at this point to change the outcome, but this should
be a wake-up call to everyone who thought putting a businessman
in the White House would bring about reform, and better their lives.
Just ask yourself how are you better?  Your health is in danger and
so is your 401.

                                        I'm just sayin'

How Long Must I Wait?

Well it's another election cycle and the big news is the last woman standing
just gave up.  Elizabeth Warren has suspended her campaign for president.
That leaves us with two old, very old, white, very white, men; Crazy Uncle
Joe and  Angry Jewish Grandpa.

I am disappointed, disillusioned, and soon to become disengaged.  Tell me
why I should keep participating in a process that ignores me and more than
half of the population of this country?  Please explain why we are not taken
seriously,  why we are still patted on the hand and told; now, now, politics is
a dirty business.  You don't want to be involved in such sordid shenanigans,
now do you dear?  A woman certainly cannot have the stomach for such as
this.

Let me be perfectly clear, many of us women are smarter, and much more
capable than the two men still in the running; Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris,
and Amy Klobuchar any of whom would have made a more than capable
president, and would probably live out their four year term in office and still
be viable for another four years.

Around the globe there are more than twelve countries that have women
heads of state: Denmark, Thailand, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Austrailia,
Liberia, Bangladesh, Iceland, Costa Rica, Finland, Lithuania, and Scotland.
What does the electorate in these countries know that we in the United
States do not?  What is the fear?  Are the men in this country so intimidated
by a strong woman that they fear putting her in charge of the affairs of the
state?  Or do they think their own wives would get the 'wrong idea'?

Pundits say that it is because there is a dearth of women in politics, but
there were enough women (five) in the race at the beginning, granted two
were airheads, one of which was eliminated early on, and one is still hanging
in there.  Though I can't imagine where she is getting her funds from.  But
speaking of airheads, just look at the current occupant of the White House.
There are hundreds of women who could do a better job than he has done,
without breaking a sweat.

The process by which a person is vetted after entering any of the races, from
city, county, state, or federal, can be brutal.  But chances are pretty great that
none of the women would be accused of grabbing another woman by her
genitalia, or forcing her into a sexual liaison, well there is one chance in a
thousand.

I used to think that I would live long enough to see a woman president, but
I am beginning to wonder, even though I am younger than the two men
running on the Democratic ticket.  But then so is four-fifths of the country.
Do I have to wait another four years?  Or will one of these septuagenarians
select one of the great women that shared the debate stage with them. The
first one that does has my vote.

                                            I'm just sayin'.

Donde Esta Mi Casa

What does it take to leave everything that is familiar, everything you knew
and believed in behind, and start again?  I just spent a few weeks finding
that out.

I have traveled extensively in the past ten years since my husband passed
away.  I have been to fourteen countries; some years in the Spring and
Fall and some years just in the Fall.  Many of my trips have been with a
travel company which books most of my transportation and accommodations,
and then just leaves me to wander on my own, with some intervention when
requested.  As such I have been lost in some of the most beautiful cities in
the world; Krakow, St. Petersburg, Rome, Istanbul, and Beijing.  I have
survived those encounters, for the most part unscathed, physically anyway.
With the exception of Beijing, where an old woman struck me with her
broom for taking pictures of her and her hutong.  I guess she didn't like
my pronunciation of 'nee how'.

But the trip I returned from yesterday has changed me and my thinking.  I
was asked to join some friends who had rented a condo in Trujillo on the
beach and then Lima for carnival. We were to spend a week in Trujillo,
and then drive down to Lima for the carnival celebrations.  I eagerly
accepted, I have never been to South America, though I have been to
Europe, Asia, and Africa several times.  Just after Christmas I booked
my flight to Peru and home again, and began packing my summer duds...

I am a native North American, born and lived most of life in Chicago.  My
family background is Polish.  A little more than one-hundred years ago
my family emigrated to this country from Poland and settled in Chicago.
When they came to this country they were welcomed by a large Polish
community, they had a job waiting for them and a place to stay.  And when
they had saved enough money for a down payment, they were able to buy a
house with the help of a Polish fraternity that held the mortgage, for little
or no interest.  Their neighbors all spoke Polish, and we children went to
school and were taught all of our lessons, with the exception of English,
in Polish.  This continued until we were acclimated to life in the United
States, and were able to assimilate into the culture of the country.

As painless as that appeared to be, I imagine it still took a great amount
of courage to leave home and homeland and begin again,  Though for
most Poles that decision was made for them by others than themselves.

Today, so many people come to this country without that support system
that enabled my family to move up and into the social structure that is
America.  For the last few weeks I have had a taste of what that must
be like.

My journey began at O'Hare airport, where for the sixth time in the last
three years my luggage was out-sorted and I was asked to surrender my
passport.  I was questioned and my luggage was opened and inspected.
After twenty minutes or so my passport was returned, my luggage was
relocked and I was allowed to go on my way.  I have ceased asking why,
because the TSA doesn't say why, they just smile and say thank you.  If
I were a stranger to the U.S. I would be terrified; I was troubled the first
time it occurred.  Now I just go along with the program, but as a citizen
I know my rights.  What would happen if I were a new arrival here?

I made my way to my gate and awaited my flight on Interjet Airlines.
Interjet is one of the largest airlines in Latin America, and I must admit
I never heard of them before booking with them for my flight to Peru.
I took my place in a seat near the boarding area.  My seatmates were
chatting away all around me, yet I could not understand a word they
said.  I tried on my best smile and it was returned as a blank stare.
Then came the announcements regarding the flight.  They were in
what I assumed was Spanish, the English translation was so accented
as to be unintelligible.  That was OK, the board listed the flight as being
on time and I figured I would just go with the flow.

My flight was to layover in Mexico City, I have a passing acquaintance
with conversational Spanish that has served me in emergencies, so I
figures I would be OK.  The announcements on the plane were in Spanish,
where I could catch every fourth or fifth word, but since I know the safety
announcements by heart, I wasn't too worried.  That announcement was
repeated in a language similar to Spanish, in what I was soon to learn was
Peruvian.  How stupid of me to assume that all Latin Americans spoke
Spanish.  Lesson number one.

Disembarking in Mexico City, thirty minutes late, I had to go though customs
and immigration, to accomplish that I needed to fill out a declaration form,
it was in printed in Spanish.  Thankfully a young man who noticed my distress
translated the form for me and allowed me to cut in line in front of him.  After
exiting the secure zone, I had to get to the gate for my connecting flight.  I am
sure I was looking a bit harried by now. A man guided me to a waiting taxi to
drive me to my gate area, and after driving around a bit he pulled up to the
door for my airline.  The driver said 45, I said pesos? He said American dollars.
That is when I realized I had 'been taken for a ride'.  I sat up as erect as I could
and told the driver if he did not open the door and let me out I would begin to
scream.  I think I frightened him enough as he unlocked the door and I retrieved
my luggage, tossed two dollars into the front seat and fairly ran into the terminal.
Lesson number two.

I realized how close I had come to being robbed or worse, and my confidence
was waning rapidly.  I made it to my gate with fifteen minutes to spare.  Another
five hours in a plane where I felt like an alien, transported into a strange place
where I didn't know the language or the customs.  It was now twenty-two hours
since I had eaten or slept.

Arriving in Lima, Peru's capital and largest city, I had a nine hour layover.  There
were only two flights daily to Trujillo, one in the morning and one in the late
afternoon.  I had booked the afternoon flight with good reason; the connection
would have been close if everything went well, it didn't.  The flight into Lima
was fifty-five minutes late and the plane to Trujillo was lifting as we landed.

I changed my dollars for Peruvian soles at the airport bank and proceeded to look
for something to eat and drink.  the food signs looked like they had in Chicago;
KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Burger King, but for one thing, the descriptions
were in Peruvian and no one spoke English.  I decided to forgo American fast-
food and opted for a sit-down meal.  With much pointing and hand gestures I
managed to order a bowl of soup, an empanada, and a glass of papaya juice.  It
was outstanding!  I was regaining my confidence and feeling better by the minute.

I spent the remaining seven hours waiting for my flight, reading and dozing on
and off.  Sleep was next to impossible, the din in the airport approximated the
noise from a jack-hammer, and it was a constant, all-pervasive noise.  I
hesitate to call it conversation, because it sounded like babble to me.  I could
not even catch a word here and there.  Looking around me, I couldn't recognize
faces that looked like mine.  The faces were browner with black hair and dark
eyes; beautiful people, but not like me.  I was beginning to feel isolated and I
had only been in Peru for thirty-three hours.

In Trujillo, my friends met my flight with smiles and hugs, it felt so good to
touch someone who was like me, spoke a language I understood and who
understood me.  The world made sense again.  I was told not to get used to
riding in the car, they walked everywhere, and on the trip to the condo I
realized why.  I have never experienced driving with such abandon, horns
blaring.  It made Rome traffic look like a stroll with a baby buggy.

Peru is beautiful, crowded, clean, old and new, chic and kitschy, European
and Incan, all rolled into a dizzying, crazy, ear-splitting cacophony.  I
walked the streets and tried to imagine melding into this culture, I could
not. I was glad I went and even more glad to come home.  But I have a
new respect for any immigrant who is trying to make their way in America.
And the next time I see someone with a map in their hand looking like a
deer in the headlights, I will stop and ask them if I can help.

                                                      I'm just sayin'.