Communicate and Survive

When all else fails, communicate. The best way to survive tough times is to talk to each other.

Note from Glo: The following text is a very loose transcription of a One-On-One Podcast Episode I recorded on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. I did not write a script. I just wanted to share some thoughts with my listeners. Please share and subscribe.

Hi, everybody. It is Saturday, September 11th. 

Ya. We have deep-rooted memories of September 11th in America. We are a young country compared to other countries, and we are going through some growing pains in the United States.

 When I look at all the stories about nine-eleven, twenty years later, I think we need to stop looking back and deal with some of the mess we are in right now.

I’m Gloria Moraga; this is One-On-One, Communications in the Digital Age. How is everybody? I hope you are all very well. As you know, getting ready for an election in California. And my mind has been on that lately. 

All My Recall Posts

So much so that I am dreaming about it. I have a bit of an obsessive personality. I worry about that. Throughout my life, I have worried about my obsessiveness because addiction runs in my family.

The Moraga Family

My father was an alcoholic; my grandfather was an alcoholic; my uncles were alcoholics. Many of my relatives have diabetes. A lot of my young male cousins have died very early on because of diabetes. It hits the Latino population very hard if you don’t watch your diet. And many of my cousins did not manage their diet; they were drinkers. 

Not only were they drinkers, as one cousin said to me, but I’d also rather die than give up beans and rice and tortillas. He was talking about Carbs; carbs are evil because of the high sugar content in carbs. 

So in case you haven’t guessed it, I am doing an unscripted podcast right now. I rarely do these, and I like to have scripts. One of the few podcasts I’ve done that was live and unscripted was “I Had A Bad Day.” 

Communication and Bad Days

I had a horrible day when I was trying to visit my friend Mark Hyman’s mom. 

This happened about two years ago before COVID. And she was in the hospital with a contagious disease. I didn’t know; I didn’t ask, I didn’t take precautions, it was a bad communications day. I was so stressed out when I got home I sat down with my tape recorder and recorded, “I Had A Bad Day.”

I’ve been busy writing videos and shooting videos on the Recall. 

Still, I wanted to produce a podcast about communications. 

And 9 -11 and what’s going on right now in the United States. 

Times are Bad – This is Me Talking to You

I just decided to sit down and talk about my thoughts. My One-On-One, this is how I feel. 

I feel safe recording this, and I feel secure that my listeners understand where I’m coming from when I talk about controversial subjects.

I don’t get many comments. I don’t get many shares. But I do know I have listeners all around the world. 

My shares have dropped off. I don’t know if that is because all of my relatives stopped listening. (Laughs)

I had some things to say about my father. 

My father was an alcoholic. He was not a nice man to my mother. Or to us kids when we were younger.

He was absent from our lives. He was a party animal. He was at the bars getting drunk. His alcoholism didn’t affect his work.

But he worked at a laundry, and he supported us financially as best as he could. Later in life, after my mom died, he tried to connect with us. That wasn’t easy. 

Some of my podcasts have ticked off our relatives.

These families not speaking to each other brings us to the current situation in the United States. Some people cannot talk to their relatives about various current events in the United States.

This is a puzzle. It is a problem. Family members are estranged because some people support Donald Trump or right-wingers, or what do we call them? Do we call them what they are? Are they racists? They don’t believe in civil rights for poor people. 

Now we have the situation in Texas with abortion rights and the dismantling of Roe versus Wade. 

I am a Californian. 

When I lived back East and covered various demonstrations and protests on serious issues, I was frequently asked, Gloria, what do you think? How do you stand on this issue or that issue?

I would respond, “I’m a reporter; I ask the questions. I’m not here to give my opinions.” 

But in my most honest moments, among friends, I would say, I’m from California, I believe in Free-Love. 

I believe, as long as you are not hurting anyone, do what you wish. It is nobody’s business what you do.

It’s my body. It’s my life. I don’t have to talk to you about what I’m going to do if I get pregnant.

Or how I like sex.

COVID is Killing Us Now – AIDS Was Killing Us Then

We had a couple of real conservatives that worked in the Bureau. This was the Cox Bureau in Washington, and I will, where I worked for ten years. 

They were conservative guys. They were ex-military; they did not believe in gay rights. 

We had a television station in San Francisco, and there was the issue of President Ronald Reagan not recognizing the AIDS Epidemic. It was an epidemic that was ravaging the Gay Community.  And his administration did not address the health care issues that were needed.  

We had people coming to the Bureau, and I was interviewing them for our Stations in San Francisco, and the conservatives in the Bureau didn’t want them in the Bureau. 

I admired one Gay Civil Rights leader very much, and he needed to use a telephone in private. So I showed him to an audio booth. After he left, one of the gentlemen I worked with went into the booth with gloves on and threw the telephone in the garbage can.

I said, “What are you doing?” 

And he said, “I’m throwing the phone away. I don’t know how contaminated that guy is. And you just let him come in here and use our phone.” 

So the bigot tossed the phone in the garbage, and it was my fault because I treated a human being like a human being. 

I said, “There is no evidence that you can contract AIDS from a telephone. It is a sexually transmitted disease.” 

He said, “You don’t know that.”

Unity After 9-11 – No Unity in 2021

Fast-forward to now. More than 20 years later.

And we’ve got people saying, “we don’t have to wear a mask.” and people trying weird antidotes to beat COVID. But they won’t vaccinate. And they are dying and overwhelming hospitals.

At one point today, I was looking at my Twitter feed, and an author posted photos of people dying of COVID. They’ve got the ventilators masks on. And he said you have the freedom not to take this disease seriously, but you don’t have the freedom to give it to other people.

And he equated the COVID virus to drunk driving. 

That’s an excellent example of people spreading this disease, not getting the vaccine, and not wearing masks. And now they are fighting; this blows my mind, school districts from wearing masks. 

A Video That Will Haunt Me Forever

There was a video of school children burning masks. 

That is now really scorched in my brain. 

I may never recover from that image. 

Why? Masks work.

Countries that have had strict enforcement of masks have low rates of COVID infection.

So it’s 9-11, and all these things are running through my brain. 

I do listen to left-wing podcasts. 

I love these guys; the MeidasTouch Podcast. 

They have produced a lot of anti-Trump videos. 

Love them.

Note from Glo: At this point in the podcast, my granddaughter bounces into the house:

Oh-Oh. Here comes my granddaughter. Ad libbing here for a few seconds. A personal story about my Granddaughter here.

I love my grandkids. And the whole COVID thing with these psychos fighting against masks in schools is just sickening. 

It’s sickening because my grandchildren are at risk. 

And you do not have the right to put my grandchildren in danger. And that’s what you are doing.

I was talking about the MeidasTouch, and they were talking about this Cult. It’s a cult. 

Who are these people fighting against voters’ rights, fighting against a woman’s right to choose? 

You know what, it’s not your body. Nobody tells a man what operation he can or cannot have.

Women’s Rights and Bad Parents

You don’t have the right to tell a woman you will have a child, and you will raise that child. You are going to be responsible for that child all of your life.

It is all your life. Some parents can separate themselves from their kids.

My daughter had a good friend, and after she turned 18, she came home one day from high school, and all of her belonging were packed and outside the front door. 

She called her mom, who had remarried a young man who didn’t want kids, and asked her what she was supposed to do? And her mom responded, you could live life with your grandmother for a while. I’m not responsible for you anymore.

Goodbye.

I do despair our species. 

I wonder sometimes how have we have survived this long? 

Oh, I know why. 

I Do Love Strong Women

Women. 

Women are strong. 

We are strong. We put up with a lot. I’m not saying that men don’t. But please hear me.

I’m just saying it hasn’t been an easy road for women. We have had it more challenging than men. 

Because we are responsible for childbearing and raising the children.

Maybe I could stop reading Twitter, the Washington Post, and the New York Times to calm down. I’ve been reading the LA times lately because of the Recall. 

I love the LA Times because of George Skelton, a political columnist. I knew him when I worked at the State Capitol as a political reporter for ABC News Sacramento. But we became friends after I will left TV for University.

He’s brilliant; I’m pleased that I know him.

I Feel Like I’m Living in a Psycho Ward

So these are my thought’s my unscripted thoughts from my personal Psycho Ward.

I worry about:

Could it possibly be that Governor Gavin Newsom is going to be Recalled on Tuesday?

Could it possibly be that women’s rights to manage their bodies will deteriorate in the United States?

Are we going to have to go to Mexico if we are going to have reproductive rights?

Possibly. 

But that is in flux because the U.S. Justice Department is now stepping in. But who knows?

Our U.S. Supreme Court has moved to the Right thanks to the psycho Donald Trump.

I’m still waiting for the insurrections who attacked my beautiful Capitol will have some sort of justice. 

Why is it all right for them to get away with this attack? People died. Cops who were there protecting our rights have committed suicide. 

It’s disgusting that there isn’t justice. 

And regarding Texas and abortion. 

Justice for the Rich – Justice for the Poor and Abortions for the Rich and No Abortions for the Poor

Rich women won’t have a problem getting an abortion. 

Rich people never have a problem. This is about poor people. 

This is about them (Republicans) controlling the lives of poor people.

When 

1. They don’t care about poor people.
2. They don’t care about poor children.
3. They will be forced to have children.

Nobody cares about the children. It’s hypocrisy at its worst.

Communications

I wanted this episode to be about communication within families. But my mistake was not writing a script first. 

Some more enlightened family members are estranged from family members who listen to Fox News and follow Trump.

That is another big problem: Fox News and all the LIES. It’s just embarrassing that they lie like this. And people believe them.

It is a cult. And it is Racism. And it is against anybody different from them.

That would be me. Women. People of Color. 

Still, I have hope. 

Women outnumber men when it comes to voting. It’s just that so many women vote along with their husbands—especially older women.

And I hate to say it; they are older women. I’m an older woman. 

Wake up, Ladies!

It was a turning point for me on election night when so many people voted for Trump. 

Biden almost lost, but he didn’t!

We are not talking to relatives who disagree with us about masks. We are not talking to friends who disagree with us about COVID.

We are not talking to anybody who disagrees with us about anything. 

And that is a problem.

We can’t have open, honest disagreements and then compromise.

That’s it—that word. Compromise.

That’s what a good marriage is about. That is what a good relationship is about. Friends. You compromise. 

Not everybody wants to see the Horror Movie. I used to drag friends to see a bad horror movie on my birthday.  

It was great. We would take up the entire row, eat popcorn. It was fun.

Okay, they are not my friends anymore. 

That’s not true. I’m still friends with a couple of them.

We’ve forgotten how to compromise.

We’ve forgotten how Democracy Works. 

And agree that the majority Rules.

Look, Fox Liars are already saying that if Governor Newsom is not recalled, it will be because of voter fraud. 

A fake. 

That he cheated.

What is the answer? 

 If they are going to say it’s a lie when it’s not a lie 

There is no arguing with them.

Unable to Communicate With Thor – My Dog

It’s like talking to my dog. Here’s how it goes. 

I say, Potty out. We go outside. He pees. I say, Good Boy, good boy. 

We go inside. I give him a treat. And say, good boy for the Potty Out.

But he saves some pee, and the first chance he gets, he goes into the living room and pees on the carpet.

So now we have gates put up. I can’t even go into the living room without fighting with a gate.

And the kids forget to put the gate up, and the second the gate is not up, he goes in there and pees. 

Even if I just gave him a treat for the potty out.

So these people are cult members. I don’t want to call them Republicans. Some Republicans are very smart. Some of them just want to win. So they go Along.

How can they go along? I don’t know. 

Not after the deaths. 

Not after the violence. 

Ya. Talking to the Dog. Cocks his head looks cute. Big eyes. Wags his tail. Then he goes in and does what he ways. And we say he doesn’t understand. 

Communication

I am trying to talk to people about what is going on in California and the Country. And you know you can see people’s eyes glaze over. They don’t want to talk about politics.

Two short stories about Working Women

My Spa Ladies 

Two people that I talked with. One was a lady who gave me a manicure.  I asked her if she was voting in the Recall Election. 

She said no.

I said, why not.

She said I don’t understand what is going on. I’m busy. I have my business. I have my family. I don’t have time to figure out who is lying and who isn’t

I explain what is going on and show her a couple of my videos.

She says. I understand more now than I did before. 

I said, will you vote now?

She says I’m not registered. I missed the deadline. I should have watched that video before.

I’m sure she was just tolerating me. 

Now my hairdresser. She is a former spa owner. Both women were hit hard by the Pandemic.

They both work more than full-time at their jobs; they have kids and husbands and extended family.

They spend most of their time working, caring for their children and homes. They have time to read five newspapers. 

That’s a lot of women. Right there. 

The Recall, the election is not at the top of their minds.

I understand. We have to change that. We have to start working right now to change it.

If we don’t change it, we are in Deep Kimchi. 

The guy I worked with in Washington always used the phrase; we are in Deep Kimchi. 

It thought it meant “deep shit.” 

It is a side dish in Korea. In the podcast, I say it is Vietnamese, and it is soy sauce. OY!

Communications.

Not being able to talk to each other. Not getting invited to the family parties because people aren’t going to wear masks or wear masks. 

It is sad, and it is terrible. 

And it’s not getting better. It is getting worse. 

I began this podcast to encourage people to talk to each other. One-On-One, we all have bad days. We still need to communicate.

We have relatives we don’t like. 

We all have bad days; we have bullies at work.

I’ve survived all that, and I know what we should or shouldn’t do. And yes, it is discouraging. 

Survive Tough Times – Talk To Each Other

What’s keeping me going is my vacation. My vacation at the Beach. My loved ones. I was hugging my nephew. Hugging my grandkids keeps me going. 

And when I think of people putting them in danger, I just want to scream.

That is what’s important, people. The people you love will be with you when you are dying. 

I said to my nephew, you know when I’m dying, if you can be there to read me a story with I’m still conscious, I will die happy. 

I will die happy, my friend. And that is everything.

That’s everything in life. 

That we have people that we love and we talk with them.

And we connect with them. And we try.

Right now. I don’t see much trying.

It’s September 11, twenty years after the planes hit the towers and changed life in America. 

Now we are going through devastating times just like that. 

COVID. Trump. Haters. Racism. A Civil War Going on in America. These are my thought from my Psycho Ward, n Elk Grove, California.

I’m Gloria Moraga. Communicate. Talk to each other One-On-One.