Juneteenth 2024: Honoring Freedom's Triumph and Embracing Unity in Today's Narrative

On Juneteenth 2024, amidst the commemoration of historic strides towards freedom and unity, the air resonates with both celebration and profound reflection.

     How's it going out there? Everything going alright? Hello world. 

     First, I'd like to talk about work. There's been a lot of buzz at my grocery store job because recently there was a beating. It was captured on our store cameras, which somehow was handed over to the news, which is actually a big no-no inside our company. Apparently, there's an agreement sheet employees have to sign stating that if ever there arises any incidences in the store, we are not to talk to the media about it. An older employee, manager of the online department, an adult male, 50 years old, stopped a shoplifter earlier that day, a black lady, and she left without being able to steal her items. 

     However, later that day, she came back with two 'friends,' who accosted our employee from behind while he was working. He was beat up, and they even beat him with the garbage can. He seemed fine, as he was at work the next day, he didn't have too many bruises, but he was deeply rattled by the experience. When the news came to our store to ask to interview him, his answer was, 'no comment,' smart man, as he knows we're not supposed to talk to the media about whatever incidents might occur. 

     However, that's not all there is to the story. There seems to be more. On top of a customers being now scared to shop at our store [I actually had a few customers tell me they will be avoiding our store for a while, probably resulting in a small loss of business], I believe there is still fallout left to be had regarding this beating video incident. Management has become very tight lipped about it, and I believe shits rolling downhill in terms of some shit that might be about to go down. Managers are tight-lipped right now to the point where they appear rude and uncaring and mean to both employees and customers, which means that probably somebody is going to get in a lot of trouble; like perhaps a writeup, or suspension, something of that sort. Why? Because we as employees and managers aren't allowed to share video, talk about, or share any information regarding incidents that occur in the store. So the question is who did it and why? 

     So now, it's been a week later, possibly upper management will find out who went into the backroom, got the camera footage, and released it to the public news, and at some point someone will probably be punished for it. Why shouldn't they be punished? Think about it, we don't really know the reason why whoever did this released the video to the public news. They 'said [according to the news],' that they wanted the video out there because they want people to recognize the perpetrators in the video and hopefully they can be charged and/or punished legally. But I have to ask myself this question, did they release the video to the public news for cash money? So now I can see why certain managers in particular are angry, tight lipped, and/or confused on the job right now. There's a shit storm brewing! 

     Lastly on this issue, I'm not a big fan of upper management at my work, because they're major assholes that probably do deserve a good beating here and there because they low-ball hardworking people and pay them lower than they deserve, but my question to whatever management that released the store camera video of the beating to the public news, did you really think you would outsmart upper management? Only time will tell. 

     So, the store has become more hardcore. I've said this at other times throughout the years right here on this blog, especially during the plague journal covid years, but I think now it is at its worst point. It was almost to the breaking point during the covid years but somehow nothing major really happened, it's a blessing, as those were difficult years with lots of irate customers that sometimes wanted to get physical. 

     Well, now our old lady security guard doesn't work at night. Now, at night we have beefy armed security guards that are bigger than me [I'm 6 ft, 240  pounds], so the store is being much more closely guarded and secured by armed security. It has helped a lot but now I have that creeping unsuspecting feeling that the store has become like some sort of 'Big Brother is Watching You Zone,' which is totally not what I wanted, but it does seem to have made the job easier because I don't have to confront shoplifters as much, because armed security is already on it. 

     In addition, the store has had a Big Brother Watching You vibe for as long as I can remember, because upper management has a camera up above every cashier as they're working, 24/7, recording, but now it's got this added aggressive element, which, again, makes the job easier, but it is not the most comfortable vibe to work or shop. I think this is how most stores have become in America. Not really the kinds of places I would want to shop, especially if you're black, because most of the time, security guards in retail environments think blacks and hispanics are the most common perps, and in these businesses they're the ones who usually get caught stealing red-handed.

     Also, I wasn't really going to go here but because its Juneteenth, I saw Charlemane Tha God [a radio personalty] on Bill Maher last night and he said something that I think resonates with black America. He said if you're black in America you have to work five times as hard as a white person to get the same success. I think this quote speaks volumes to black people and people of color in general, not just black people. I think about my struggles and contradictions. Most of the newer staff at my work are young and dumb and they complain about the work most of the time they are there. One guy keeps complaining about doing carts all the time. I replied and told him that I pushed carts for years before I became a main-time cashier. And they reply back with a whip saying, "I'm not going to stay here as long as you did, you worked too hard for them," which you know, is a pretty dumb rebuttal, but hey, what can you do? I know for sure who has it in them to be a hard worker and who is a whiner and complainer and isn't helping the work staff on that fabled night shift I'm working on. 

     However, I think the quote says volumes. I would say as a black person in California, from out of the state, I worked five times harder than most white people I've known in my entire life, not just the ones from California, but also the ones from my home state of Wisconsin. Now, just because I know I worked five times harder than them doesn't mean that I think I'm better than them, it just means that I struggled more and persevered more. Is it because of my race? Yes, to a large degree, but that's how it is in America. Immigrants and people of color have to work harder than white people to compete in the same arena and get the same kind of success, that's just the reality. If you don't acknowledge this reality, you aren't living in America. But this doesn't mean that black people will work five times harder, not every black person will do that, some will barely work hard, and fall behind in the economic spectrum, or have to rely on a rich girlfriend or wife to support them. I think Biden's executive order allowing immigrants to become citizens via wives/husbands family was a big win for Juneteenth day. I know most immigrants that come here are usually hispanic but I think right now Biden needs to appeal to working class people of color to make sure he secures the votes to win this election. 

     Lastly, there's lots of reading, guitar, piano, ai art, political news, good meals, and good jazz and opera going around in my life but there's a feeling that the social culture is and has been collapsing. I find that the people I know or used to know are kind of lazy, dumb, and they all want to get rich quick. Nobody wants to work hard the traditional way, working a regular job and clocking in hours, like a moral conservative. 

     Instead, they've turned to these schemes and get out of jail tricks that they think will save their bacon so they don't have to work a 9 to 5 under a boss. One friend thinks inheriting stuff is the key, one friend to become a real estate guy, one friend to work multiple jobs and pay our friend rent, one guy to be an armed ATM security guard, one guy wants to become a full-time paid bassist but has no original songs and a weak voice. These guys are planning to break open pandora's box and hopefully it will save their bacon inshallah. 

     But again, nobody is staying consistent, working hard, building up, living clean and spiritually, having good energy with people they meet even on a bad day, and working their way up anymore. Now, people think they can get rich quick and that they don't need to pay their dues. It's deeply saddening and troubling. Because, in a sense, I see that most of the young and even older people around me are delusional. But hey, what can you do, its retail, right? I'm working the next nine days straight starting tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck, God Speed. 

*Have a safe Juneteenth everybody, also summer covid is a thing, lots of people are getting sick*

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, 

I haven't written a general what's up blog in a while, so here we go. I'll describe in detail what life has been like on the job, more personal lifestyle details and fun, and the harrowing social current events of our time. 

First, work is getting a lot better. We're getting better pay with the better contract [there was a fight between the union and the company over wages], we seem to have the personnel to run the shifts, and generally, the employees seem to be happier and to be doing better, bit of a caveat there, but for the most part retail grocery is calm this spring season. Not to mention sales are up even though prices have skyrocketed due to inflation. There's actually a noticeable difference in the amount of groceries we're ringing up daily as there's a lot less visibly and physically. People just don't have as much cash right now. Also, only one recorded covid case this month. The guy was horribly sick. He came in one day to tell the bosses he was taking some time off, and his face looked like death. Scary. The threat of covid within the job is still lurking at the corner. 

Second, more personally, I've just been having a blast, living life to the fullest, and loving every minute of it. This goes more to the heart, the capacity of happiness that lies within yourself is more important than actually being happy all the time or often. Remember, it's not happiness that's the main focus, it's your capacity for happiness, meaning, what can you do daily that can ensure that you can increase and/or regulate your capacity for happiness daily? 

For everyone this question is mostly existential. For me I do it by reading books and playing the guitar. For others it might be art, or wrestling, cooking, or football, or cars. You have to really learn to love your life and what you do on a daily basis. The problem is that, especially right now, at this current juncture and state of worldly affairs, its seems that spring can really hang you up the most. Meaning, almost everything out there in the real world [not on a computer or phone screen, not this], has the potential to really bring you down and bum you out. The only real answer to this lies within the last paragraph-the capacity for happiness. 

Lastly, right now things in America are horrible. The recent school shooting has left all of us virtually bruised, beaten, and battered both mentally and physically. We don't need to see the pictures or the livestream to feel the harrowing effects of school children being gunned down by a crazed eighteen year old, the impact of the deaths has hit the virtual reality systems just as much as it has hurt us in the real world. Which brings up the question, when will American politicians stand up to the gun lobby, the NRA? Can we really consider ourselves the good guys of the world, the best country to live in, the most sophisticated, the most everything, if we can't even protect our schoolchildren from being gunned down during class? There's a glaring dilemma here that goes beyond myself, you, the NRA, and the politicians themselves. This goes to the heart of what makes a society of human beings civilized, sophisticated, and safe from harm. Meaning if we can't get this done, maybe we don't deserve to be in charge of what happens to Ukraine or anywhere else in the world. Take care of your home and hearth before going out to police the world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd5VVELfWC8&ab_channel=whoisthisguythen

And for those pointy-headed intellectuals, catch up to what I've been reading on my Goodreads account, https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56122996-orlando-furioso

In addition, for those interested on reading about what it was like to work retail grocery at the beginning of the pandemic, look no further, check out my covid plague journal here, http://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html, a compilation of posts about covid, dealing with covid within retail grocery, and within America itself as a young person. 

Magic the Gathering, Board gaming, and hosting

So I've been having a great time with a lot of friends who are into a lot of different activities. I have a group of friends that are more into metal music, concerts, and hanging out (with some console gaming thrown in there) and another that is more into Magic the Gathering, board gaming, and meeting new people at these events called meetups. These are events hosted by people and advertised online through the website Meetup.com. We've met so many cool people and a lot of them have become good friends quickly. It's been a blast meeting new people, enjoying mtg (Magic the Gathering), and learning new strategic board games on the fly.

I haven't played mtg seriously since middle school and back then I relied on cheap tactics decks. I had an elf deck and a slivers deck as my main decks. Both were all about getting tons of creatures out and killing off the enemy player fast. Playing mtg again now that I'm older has really made me realize how great of a game it is. I even played in a tournament a few weeks ago. It was an edh (elder dragon highlander) setting where you have over 100 cards in your deck and you have a special commander card that you can play anytime if you have the mana on your turn. Its kind of a broken format but I find it to be super fun.

Magic has a lot of strategic and awe-inspiring elements for a trading card game. Its definitely the best card game I've ever played, sorry Yugioh kiddies. So I've been enjoying getting out, hanging out with friends, and playing magic. Sometimes we'll play until 1 in the morning just enjoying the gameplay. I've become quite serious and I'm even down to play in a tournament again even though last time I got curb stomped. They do tournaments at Fire and Dice, the place I used to go for Smash 4 tournaments. Go figure! 

This past Thursday I was at a board gaming event at this older woman's house in Woodland Hills. At first I was hesitant because we've gone to events like this before and my friend was kind of awkward (he walked in without knocking on the door first lol). However, this woman was so cool, funny, sarcastic, and chill. Her son was there too and we were the first people to arrive. Eventually more people came. We brought food and everybody was enjoying themselves eating fried chicken, pie, soda, coffee, donouts, and Doritos Cool Ranch and Nacho flavors.

We played this awesome game called Salem where we had to figure out who the witch(s) was(were) and if we found out and survived without being killed by the witch we win the game. I ended up using this troll-like strategy where I accused a random dude so much to the point that everybody thought I was the witch. But I wasn't the witch. I was just messing around. Haha, it was really fun and I ended up being a survivor, thus winning! Next time though I will definitely play that game smarter.

In addition, we played this great miniature DnD style rpg game. It was a co-op survival horde zombies game called Zombicide. Its on Kickstarter and I highly recommend it. I was this spellcaster Stormcrow dude who had this amazing spell (that I looted in a room) called Repulse where I could reposition zombies to different squares (only one square away per cast) and I got us a torch for a bile blast that killed tons of zombies in one fell swoop. I got insta-leveled pretty high from that. In the end our team just didn't play together on the same part of the board. So we got surrounded by the horde and killed. Rip. It was a fun game and I would definitely be down to play it again sometime there.

The son was a gamer too and we talked a lot and became friends. I added him on Steam and we're planning on playing Team Fortress and Terrarria sometime in the future.

I'm still interested in hosting my own events. I wanna do game nights at Planet Cyber for Overwatch. I'm currently working on doing this. Now that management has changed at my work I'm back to getting two days off a week, which I haven't had since November. You can bet that I'll be using that free time to the fullest engaged in social activity, friendship, relaxation, and fun.

Are board games better than video games? They just might be.