1331: The Middle and the End

This ‘newsletter’ - I wouldn’t call this ‘news’, as I have no desire to compete with Honolulu Pravda and its ilk - is representative of the mess that is my life. I had hoped to publish it daily this year, but I failed to post on New Year’s Day.

And I failed to address

LEAFBOX

’s comment citing Kalihi Valley Druid, who wrote that illegal fireworks in Hawaii

sound like freedom […] this is the one time of year when the criminal racket running the state twists it's hairs in frustration, powerless against the black market and the will of the people.

Is the “criminal racket” really frustrated? Or is it merely putting on a show for the anti-fireworks faction among the people, making money off the very fireworks that it pretends to condemn? The laws - prettywords - are part of the show. Lax or nonexistent enforcement is in accordance with the will of the (pro-fireworks) people - the majoirty of voters who keep the One Party in office forever. “The criminal racket running the state” tries to have it both ways, and is rewarded by reelection by both factions. The system works - just not in the ‘way’ that you’d expect from prettywords.

My understanding is that the police can only arrest people if they see them launching fireworks. I’ve seen a video on Hawaii News Now of police cars driving right past a launch on the sidewalk. Hardly an act of “frustration”. More like nokea (no care = don’t care). The Ainokea (I Don’t Care) Spirit. It’s not just among the masses; it’s among the enforcers too. To a degree. Because LEAFBOX wrote,

The irony though i add of my 70 year old mom getting a ticket for sitting at the beach at Kaimana’s during the covid stupidity… and yet… 20 containers of fireworks get in… Ainokea…

Again, the system works. Fireworks are not a priority for it. Unlike convid.

For months it was illegal to be alone on a beach. Even with a mask. And then when single visitors - no families! - were permitted, I was alone on a part of Waikiki Beach where my class had played three decades earlier. Waikiki seemed deserted except for cops and the occasional tourist.

It’s almost normal now. I was there on New Year’s Day (which is why I failed to write that day). I saw Japanese tourists for the first time in years. But fewer that I would have seen before convid because

International tourism continues to lag badly, with Japanese visitors recovering to less than half of their previous levels. The important Canadian visitor market is also running about 25% behind.

I don’t regularly see Japanese tourists because my Hawaii is not Hawaii™. It’s a sorry state with a serious homeless problem.

A homeless guy was lying in front of a Burger King here. Just makes you want to go in. Which I did, because I had a coupon that will expire on the 13th.

Burger King here often issues coupons that expire at the end of the month. I suspect “13” on the coupons is a typo for “31”. The high prices on the coupons - still lower than the even higher regular prices - indicate the coupons might be unique to Hawaii. And “13” could be an example of the slipshod Ainokea Spirit.

In any case, I’m trying to use as many coupons as I can before they expire in the middle of the month.

(Yes, Burger King is an evil globalist corporation [redundant] pumping out poison. I don’t have money, and I do need to eat. I’m not on Your Diet, and I’m not sorry about that. Moving on …)

I’m running out of time, so what was to be the middle will just be a rush toward the end …

While I was waiting for my food poison, a big, bald Pacific Islander man went up to the counter and asked if he could use the toilet. The toilets of fast food restaurants here now have codes for their doors to deter the homeless (like the guy outside this Burger King). He was told the toilet was out of order.

But the man objected that only the men’s bathroom had an out of order sign - and that he was a woman.

The counter lady said something to the effect of, yeah, I can tell.

The man/woman/whoever asked if xe could use the women’s toilet if xe bought something. I didn’t hear the answers, but apparently it was no, because xe just got angrier and barked something about “lying” and “your attitude” before leaving.

Somehow I don’t think that scene would have played out the same way in Portland.

Shortly afterward, a Black man came up to me, looked down at me, and asked in Pidgin, “Yu get dala?” (Do you have a dollar?) I have never seen a Black person speak Pidgin before. Was he raised here? (Few Blacks are.) Was he actually a Pacific Islander? I gave him a firm “no”. He may have correctly smelled fear, but he moved on to two little old Asian ladies eating in the back. I’m guessing they said “no” too. He left.

And I got my food poison. I said I’d eat here but got a takeout bag. Which often happens. Without napkins. A first.

Ainokea.