A former friend of mine
tricked me into becoming
something I am not
The volunteer President
of our condo association,
a position I clearly cannot afford
midst trifling disassociations.
We were starting our Autumn tradition
of arguing about next year’s budget
which typically continues
until we recommend something utterly preposterous
to our membership
which they will certify
remains inevitably inept
and fail to ratify.
As usual
I had brought my manicure
and pedicure kit
and was just starting to work on my nails
when I noticed our Treasurer
became more animated
whittling his thick stick
as he became more concerned
about what residents are losing
More than interested
in what resilience we all might gain
by cooperatively discussing
what we hoped to win
by remaining together to complain
rather than lose
by fostering further
whittled down polarization,
debate,
predative Patriarchal Capitalist
zero-sum economic games
not for the faint hearted to explain
and weak-nailed to refrain,
furthering our political apartheid
without EarthJustice
therapeutic rebate
Our parsimonious Treasurer
operates from a presumed strategic position
of holding Aces
in all four empowered
and enlightened suites,
empirical voices,
win/lose trumping win/win choices:
- Legal institutional document authority
which provokes a yawn, - Political membership voting power
with an 88 to 5 majority
on his oppressive side, - Economic responsibility
to our tax and fee paying majority
with neglected cuticles, and - social-cultural expectations
for rational
Straight White Male privileged
self-interested
capitalist business behaviors
like playing golf
and paying lap dancers
to do what I would gladly do for free
if I could avoid these dreadful
defeating meetings.
While switching to my feet,
I also noticed
our tax-payer responsible Educator
vigorously responded
while vehemently knitting two
and furiously purling three
She moves away from
prior win/win positions
favoring therapeutic strategies
when she votes against
a loan for beat-down residents
to fix our leaky
crumbling corporate problems
Rather than abstaining
because now,
unlike last week,
she has become unclear
about whom
and possibly why
the Treasurer
and the Accountant
and the Bookkeeper
will debit just the 88 Residents
or the 5-vote School
for improvements
exclusive to the residential side
of our sadly governing equation.
I also notice
our scarf-knitting Educator
has moved away from supporting
a win/win trade formerly championed:
White Mansion for the School
and Glass Factory for the Residents
Now she contests this even-steven
to invest in another strategic competition,
win/lose backpedaling,
now claiming disproportionate future values
for bargaining,
debate positioning,
repolarizing
while she rips out yet another ribbing row,
another year too ripped off
not grow
Perhaps,
one day in our dismal future
we will see where this might go
More cooperatively thawing
drawing toward win/win center
for indigenous sacred wisdom values:
- licit equity of whittling natures
and knitting medicine spirits, - politically crafted co-empathy,
- economic health-nailed co-investments, and
- socially therapeutic
restorative justice
favoring win/win strategic right
and left-handed
and footed
health is polyculturing wealth
communication
Because clearly this night
we are not having our best
multicultural non-fright
cooperative mediation
of momentary delight
Wherein we retain well-manicured focus
on what we anticipate
moving forward more beautifully together
rather than lost in whittled down anxiety
about what we will never support
For lack of egocentric
anthropocentric
monotheistic
monocultural predative gain
As our corporate Treasurer’s win/lose strategy
to some better deferred peace day
EarthJustice regain
without all our polarizing
hocus pocus
To retain a more regenerative win/win wedding
less autonomously win/lose divorced
More cooperatively
and therapeutically discussed
of course
while I re-examine my left pinky
with absent minded disgust
About a now former friend of mine
who tricked me into becoming
some hang-nailed treatment
I am not.
gdill52 