Episode 31: "Fleabag"
We’ve arrived, guys. This is the final episode of season five. I know we say this every time, but seriously, for real, what a ride. We started recording these episodes in January (right?), back when our biggest political concern was helping Elizabeth Warren secure the nomination. Ha. Haha. Hahaha.
I’ll tell you a story.
It was Friday, March 6. I had taken the day off work because work was killin’ me and Elizabeth Warren had just been utterly trounced by two old white guys (one of whom is hopefully our next president…GOD this is relentless). I grabbed my laptop and walked down the street to my neighborhood coffee shop. I ordered an Americano and snagged a seat at the counter and opened up my laptop and…chatted with Kaley. Guys, it ended up being one of the funniest conversations Kaley and I have ever had. Admittedly, it wasn’t hard to make each other laugh because we were both exhausted and annoyed beyond anything we’d ever experienced. Everyone on Facebook was ranting about how Elizabeth “stole Bernie’s votes” and it was all so toxic and mean but also kinda fucking hilarious. I was giggling and ranting like a sleep-deprived toddler and I felt a little weird for laughing my ass off in public by myself but also, fuck ‘em. I had snapped.
I asked Kaley, “How uh...how much do you remember from Ren & Stimpy? Because there is a VERY SPECIFIC Ren monologue that has been on my mind for the last several weeks because it TRULY best depicts where the FUCK I am at.”
“Not very well at all -- I mostly remember the gross visuals,” she said, “and Varicose Veins. Please enlighten me.”
I gave her context: “Ren's cousin Sven is visiting from Sweden. Ren assumes Sven will be a very sophisticated and enlightened European, but when he shows up he looks and acts exactly like Stimpy. So, Ren comes home from work one day and Stimpy and Sven have destroyed the house and all of Ren's stuff, and...and he just loses his mind and starts verbally threatening them. Why I found any of it funny as a small child I have no idea. But I watch it and now I’m like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes. This…this is where I’m at.” She watched. We laughed. She advised me to go see Birds of Prey ASAP, so I bought a ticket and then bought a chocolate chip cookie and then went and saw the movie and…cried, actually.
That night I got fancied up and hopped in a Lyft and went to Koreatown to attend a co-worker’s Bon Voyage shindig at The Normandie Club. When I arrived I hugged everyone and we all stood around chatting and drinking and then we went to another bar and then we ended up at a karaoke place and we all shared a microphone without hesitation. We then went back to the office so someone could grab something out of the refrigerator and I drunkenly shook my ass at the security camera in the break room because, as I said, work was killin’ me. I had no idea that my last day inside that office would arrive one short week later.
Something I’ve been telling people over and over since March is, “I’m at capacity.” The thing is, that keeps turning out to be untrue. Shit keeps piling up and I keep rolling with it and evidence shows I’m not the only one. WE’RE at capacity. WE keep rolling with it. We’re tired and scared and angry and Goddammit, we deserve to be…but Goddammit, we’re fighting back. And we should be proud.
Wear a mask. This shit ain’t over.
Wash your hands. This shit ain’t over.
Call Attorney General Daniel Cameron and demand the arrest of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor. This shit ain’t over. (502 696-5300)
Now. As you wipe down your counters and scrub the gunk off your stove and finish up that work presentation and mute yourself during that pointless Zoom call and walk home after the Black Lives Matter demonstration and buy food for your family, go ahead and listen to something that allows you to relax just a bit. Yes, your mind is only going to go back to focusing on the myriad crises we’re currently facing, but you do need to make space for all that new scary stuff. Our hands are always gonna get dirty again, but we still need to wash them periodically for 20 seconds with soap and water. We just do.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay informed.
March. Donate. Petition. Vote.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @anglopodcast. Email us at anglophiliapodcast@gmail.com. Stay in touch and hopefully, by the time we record season six, we’ll all be just a bit better off than we are now.
xx