June 1, 2020

by drplasticpicker

The country is hurting so much right now. I posted about #blacklivesmatter to be on record that I support racial equality and equal representation. I had friends who had reminded us on social media that silence equals consent for the status quo. As someone who is trying to influence people to decrease their plastic use, I know that this is true. But I did not physcially go protest. We stayed home. Like everyone else, I worry about the increased spread of COVID-19. with the mass demonstrations. But the truth is, this was going to happen because COVID-19 presents a real danger as does institutional racism. People had had enough. How much racist rhetoric and brutality can people take? I will go to work today and I am sure it will come up in clinic.

I have been trying to escape into space and Star Trek. I rewatched more episodes yesterday, read some decent fan fiction, and watched more fan montage videos of Trip and T’pol https://drplasticpicker.com/the-star-trek-enterprise-romance-of-tpol-and-trip-im-going-to-give-them-the-ending-they-deserve/. When a wonderful love story ends, you want to grasp the last remaining wisps of sentiment. But I think it’s finally time to say good-bye to that chapter in my life. I have my real life love story with Mr. Plastic Picker, but the fictional ones I adore. I am embarrassed about the number of romance novels I own. But now I realize that my previous romance novel reading habit was the same urge, the urge to grasps that fleeting sense of first beauty and sentiment again.

But it is Monday morning and it is 613AM. Monday is a stark reminder of reality. I do think there are aliens out there. It’s just not possible that we could be the only sentient life-forms in the universe? But for now, we really need to concentrate on saving the current plantet we live on. Effectively there is no planet B. Recognizing that, there is not country B, city B, neighborhood B or house B – is a very powerful step. Also there should be no marriage B. And there is no body B.

I have American friends who post disdain for America and Americans, and maybe it’s time to move to a different country. Yes I live in the world of the 1%, and it’s an odd surreal world for someone who considers myself middle-class. Middle-class values are important and will anchor our society. When friends posts things like that, I judge. We all judge. I judge because at some point one has to decide where one’s home is. And for most people they do not have the choice to change their nationality and pay their way into a different identity and place.

But I realize now that judgement does not help, and in truth I stopped judging as much. I now look inward more into my own thoughts and outward more into nature. There is something powerful that happens when you decide, this is it. This is the house I will stay in. My father asked me recently if I wanted to upgrade from my already really nice neighborhood to a “nicer” neighborhood. We can see the ocean already from our roofdeck, but this neighborhood you can see it from your backdeck. The school district is a little bit better, but we already send our kids a stable school so it doesn’t effect them. I know this seems a small choice, but Mr. Plastic Picker and I talked about it. Financially we can do it easily, but we decided that our current home is our home. This is where we have raised the children for 5 years, and we want to finish raising them here. This home, this marriage, this neighborhood, this state, this country and this planet – this is it. There is no option B for us. And that is why I pick up plastic. I am at bag 199 now, and today will be bag 200 – if I can finish work on time and get home.

And above is a picture of dinner last night, and I was amazingly full after eating an early dinner at about 530PM. It is reheated black beans, tomatoes from our garden, just cabbage and sweet peppers, and some corn tortillas (I made sure they had 2g of fiber per serving). It is vegetarian because some cheese snuck in, but better for the planet and better for my health. Dinner had at least 8 grams of fiber per person yesterday. And I don’t obsess over my weight too much. But I stood on the scale and it confirmed what my clothes have been telling me, I’m getting to a healthy steady state. There is no body B, and I have to love the one I have by loving the planet I have by eating a sustainable plant based diet. So I will pick up bag 200 today, and go to work and be a good pediatrician for all my patients (white, black, yellow, Vulcan, Andorian, Denobulan).

Wishing everyone a safe week and to please support racial equality, but I actually prefer you not to protest right now because I don’t want anyone catching COVID-19 and we need to stop the spread. Your pediatrician recommends to make sure to register to vote, speak up on social media, pick up plastic, or protests in another way that does not put you in danger. I am being selfish as your pediatrician, and I don’t want you to get sick. If we don’t get our act together, the Vulcans won’t come. First contact is supposed to be April 5, 2063. But before that according to Star Trek cannon, we are supposed to go through world war 3 and the genetic wars with augmented genetically engineered humans almost destroy the Earth. Maybe Star Trek isn’t the greatest thing to watch these days?

Below is a picture of Vulcan Plomeek soup. Did you know Vulcans are vegetarian?