Who are the 5% on the poor part of the planet Earth?

Peace.


I went to the gas station this morning and I got $15 worth of gas. I always prepay inside the store. I had a previous situation where I was on a road trip and paying at the pump tapped my debit card out in the middle of my trip. They were holding $100 every time I stopped to get gas. It was a 15 hour road trip! Luckily I had another credit card and some cash plus I was only really a serious full tank from home; that allowed me to make it home. Otherwise I would have had to wait at the gas station until 2 am when the charges were released. I always go inside now.

This morning I asked for $15, paid $15 and got a prepaid amount of $18 worth of gas. I went back inside to pay the other $3. It's not like I could unpump it. Why did I do that? Because it was the right thing to do. I didn't know the chick who I bought the gas from. I wasn't scared that someone would arrest me because I bounced with $3 of their gas. I didn't fear retribution from the mystery god, nor did I do it to build up a credit of good karma somewhere.

The man offered me free coffee, I declined. I had already purchased coffee. It freaked him out that I didn't need an incentive or a reward.

I say all this to say, that I am a civilized person. I m not so civilized that I'm a punk. There is a time and place for everything under the sun. If I needed to steal for some reason.... and it would have to be a helluva reason.... I would. If I needed to lie, I would. But I don't need to steal $3 worth of gas. And thankfully my life is such that I have no reason to commit crimes.

Folks like to think that folks won't do right without threats. And those people earn my pity because they are telling on themselves. That's what they need to do right. They also earn my avoidance because I no longer trust them.

Folks don't need religion to be good people. Everyone is calling Muslims dangerous right now because of Isis. But Christians have committed atrocities in their own god's name. Look at the colonization of North and South America. All indigenous people with the slavemaster's tongue in their mouths, worshiping the slavemaster's god. Jews are committing them right now, but folks act like that's okay. They went over there stole the land from the occupants who lived there for generations and that's cool? Al because they owned it a milenia ago? Not that it makes an ounce of difference, but can they even prove that they are descended from the same people who lived there so long ago? I guess since the Muslims are doing their shit currently, they are the ones earning all the angst.

But what of us non-religious people? We can't be trusted because folks don't know what we are thinking. I have come to learn that when folks cannot instantly categorize you, they get uncomfortable. That feeling of discomfort then leads to hostility. I wrap my head so folks instantly think I'm a Muslim, but I might have a long skirt on with a sleeveless shirt... or a knee length skirt with long-3/4 sleeve top. Now what am I? I cover my head everyday, but... I may not cover all of it. Some might dangle out. What am I now? Folks assume I smoke ganja because I have dreads. Nope. Never touched the stuff or any drug in my life. The God wears a crown, but our crowns have a tassel. Who is he now? When some pseudo-enlightened person greets us with a Muslim greeting and we say, “Peace” they are confused. And by the end of the event they are ready to fight us. What did we do wrong? We didn't satisfy their expectations.

Goods and Earth go on being the good people we are. Someday.... folks will get it.


Peace