In the throes of the dog days of Summer




 

By Lindy Rosales

Where I work, I am constantly reviewing electronic medical records and hearing grousing about rising health care costs. My own insurance company just raised my premiums! Our doctors and social workers walk past me as I sit at my desk reviewing my next patient’s file.

Welcome to the dog days of summer. I think a lot about what’s happening to the world in this punishing, three-digit temperature. I can’t figure out its madness.

The U.S. political climate remains undecipherable. Donald Trump’s poll ratings are going down the more he opens his mouth. Hillary Clinton is struggling to win the support of disenchanted Bernie Sanders’ loyalists. ISIS remains a threat. Citibike has added 2,000 more bikes to their inventory. The FBI captured 46 alleged mobsters up and down the East Coast, including John Gotti’s grandson and namesake. A jogger was found dead in Howard Beach while out on a 5 p.m. run. She and Gotti knew each other. A 16-year-old shot and killed his mother and father. What is going on?

While 50 percent of teenagers are unable to find summer jobs, Sasha Obama takes her first summer job in Martha’s Vineyard. She will be bussing tables and taking orders at a seafood restaurant. Meanwhile, my 5-month-old grandson will be dropped off in daycare for the first time. Ah, the joys of parenthood in the 21st century. Research shows that by the time a kid is 18 years old, the parents have already spent $250,000 raising him. Let’s wait till he gets to college.

There comes a point in every one’s life when you reach a crossroads, unsure of how to proceed and where to go. My children are grown. I was an empty nester, has been for years until my mother came to live with me in my Bronx home. With the advent of my new reality came the moment when I was restless, looking for something new.

What’s next for me? I think about this a lot. What else is there to do? I gave myself a little experiment and decided to return to work, albeit part-time. I’d like to know whether I can remain productive and still find time for my true passions in writing and photography.

To date, 26 children have died nationwide after being left in a hot car. Kabayan 2 opened the day after Kabayan 1 was closed by the NYC Department of Health over food safety violations. I hear talks of a conspiracy. Promdi Kitchen and Bar celebrated its first anniversary, calling itself “the place to be.”

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is on her seventh month as reigning Miss Universe, and delivered a $10,000 check (courtesy of PIDCI) to a Philippine organization, in support of her advocacy for HIV/AIDS awareness. How about her advocacy against cyber bullying, asked somebody on Instagram. What has she done about it? Locally, Nena Smith’s foundation held simultaneous coronations for the Mrs. Philippines America 2016 and Ms. Teen Philippines USA 2016, and won praise for bringing in beauties from Colorado and Florida to NYC.

Angel Ram, the “Filipino Etta Jones,” is having a concert almost every week. I am reading that she has lost 24 pounds in one month since she’s been under the close watch of Doctor Alicia Almendral. Nice math if you can do it.

NaFFAA had Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo as its guest speaker. It is her first trip since being elected VP, and some sectors are hating on her because her so-called junket had nothing to do with her official duties as housing commissioner. Some people just won’t quit! President Rodrigo Duterte has been working nonstop, which means no end to drug-related killings. He just read in public the names of more government officials with alleged ties to the drug trade. My husband was shocked and saddened when he heard the name of his close friend, the current mayor in his hometown. Public shaming has become the new norm in the Philippines. Duterte is resurrecting the political ghost of Ferdinand Marcos.

During the NaFFAA conference in Pennsylvania, members of the Fil-Am Press Club of New York were branded a “threat to the security of VP Robredo.” I am one of the members, and being called a threat to someone’s security just brought me nearly over the edge. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Over at the Rio Summer Olympics a young Filipina, Hidilyn Diaz, won a silver medal in weightlifting. She is the first Filipina to win an Olympic medal since 1996. A year and a half into my experiment, I still don’t know if I’m on the right path.

In the meantime, I have remarried, became a grandma, and started writing. I look forward to other unknown adventures in life with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words resonating, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

Let’s go home, I told my co-workers. I have Pokémons to catch.

The author beside a Banksy graffiti: ‘It’s a maddening world out there.’ Photo by Boyet Loverita

The author beside a Banksy graffiti: ‘It’s a maddening world out there.’ Photo by Boyet Loverita



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