Once upon a time a gymnast teacher told a girl,
and all her classmates,
to gather around the trampoline
to spot the student currently bouncing on the trampoline.
They circled around
to volunteer a ring of imperfect
but positively intended
desire to help,
should the witnessed bounce go horribly
accidentally wrong.

This same request for a spot was one familiar to this same girl,
and these same classmates,
when they were bench pressing at the gym,
not because the teacher asked,
but because the fully abled weight lifter asked
if they could work out together,
and spotting each other during the bench press
was simply Standard ReAssurance Operating Procedure
for humane care givers
and receivers.

Anyway,
the unfortunate girl bounced sideways when one of her knees gave out
and she came flying directly toward our spotter
who did her very best to get out of the way,
to go to the other side of the street,
to walk on by,
to pull out her cellphone camera
to get it all delightfully recorded
for the more proper punishing authorities.

The teacher was
(1) concerned for the wounded
splattered girl on the matted
and yet still not inviting
floor, and
(2) furious with the spotter turned distant recorder.
When the classroom administrator asked, “Why?”
the girl said her father told her not touch others
at risk of injury
on their way down
because she might be liable for post-touch injury
and, besides, it’s not like she’s going to be financially rewarded
should she be successful with mitigating harm,
so, there is no “on the other hand” potential reward system
worth mentioning.

It’s the same reason she,
and those witnesses huddled
in a supportive constellation around her,
pulled out her star-gazing
witnessing camera
while George Floyd struggled to “I can’t breathe” communicate
while being deliberately suffocated
to overpower him when he was already down,
and about to blink
wink out.

The liability attorneys
and corporate accident insurance actuaries
get paid bigger bucks to tell front-line administrators
why touch
and help
and prescriptions
and medical procedures should be denied,
because the risk of trying to care for each other,
when it just isn’t enough,
is a last touch liability.
And, on the other hand,
there is no reward for the person,
the agency,
the health care giving and receiving
reassurance win/win anticipating
corporate system
doesn’t economically
cooperatively exist.
Compassion doesn’t pay–
it just regenerates more health care risk
and personal star witness liability.

Care giving,
especially for those who have already sustained transparent
vulnerable losses
in their compromised physical and mental health lives,
is responsible for first and last caring touch of hand and voice
every day,
every custody minute of care,
whether standing behind,
in best-effort solidarity,
or standing nearby,
spotting each win/win cooperative constellation,
reassuring wounded OtherStars.

Care giving opportunities,
health care spotting for each other, pays poorly,
when compared with what star corporate liability insurance attorney
and accountants
use to buy second homes;
sometimes including financial bonuses
for successfully avoiding any realistic possibility of harm,
unnecessary financial loss.
Care giving with active compassion
bears a long patriarchal tradition of being feminist underpaid
to believe cameras up,
but hands and eyes down,
deflect,
stand back,
don’t get involved–
are not politically disempowering
run-away capitalist actions and inactions.

Potential financial risk for helping to prevent further harm,
for doing your win/win best,
for cooperatively investing in all sacred stars,
for health care compassion,
for nurturing at-risk humanity in the face of immediate injury,
wounds,
losses,
suffering,
especially falling risk to marginalized persons of color,
it doesn’t pay well to the left brain dominant
patriarchal corporate
win/lose zero-sum mind–
but really is what life is all about,
at its most invigorating compassionate best chance
of win/win solidarity success
to the right brain feminist
constellation of enlightening hearts.