Milk

So I finally saw this movie last night...(yes, I have found a new favorite Sunday evening activity...Going to the movies!)...and found it both inspiring and depressing. Equal parts of both, I'm afraid. Perhaps if I lived in a different state I could have watched and just thought, "Wow, look what this man did. He stood up for himself and fought for civil rights for all and truly made a difference." Of course the ending of this true story is tragic and disheartening, but possibly I could have looked at it as "Well at least we have come a long way since then."

Unfortunately, living in Utah, it made me leave feeling depressed that our state of Utah isn't much further along in the battle for basic civil rights for all people than California was more than 30 years ago. Just a couple weeks ago, a bill was presented to the Utah legislature that would have guaranteed that homosexual people living in Utah could not be fired,denied work or denied housing based on their sexual preference. When I heard of this bill it seemed like a no-brainer, I mean I thought it was already illegal to so blatantly discriminate against people in our community. It seemed like one of those bills that should have been added to the books years ago and was maybe just over looked and forgotten about. Sadly, this was not the case and in true Utah fashion, the bill didn't even get past committee! It lost 5-8 despite heartfelt testimony from those championing the cause. How is this possible? How, even in one of the most conservative states, could it be considered okay to discriminate in this way? While states like California have moved on to battling over the more current and controversial issue of marriage, those who care about the homosexual community in Utah are still stuck fighting for the most simple basic rights.

Today the Deseret News patted the Utah Legislature on the back for how "smooth" the legislative session went saying
"all the while, controversial issues, like gay rights ...... seemed to just fade away." How sad that such an important issue was struck down and hardly noticed by the press and general population. What will it take to bring the legislature of Utah out of the dark ages (well the '70's anyway) and get them to truly embrace the love that they so freely preach from the pulpit on Sunday?

Me vs. The Vending Machines

So today, I really wanted an orange juice to go with my breakfast sandwich from across the street. The sandwich shop didn't have any, so I went back up to my desk and gathered a dollar bill, a quarter, and a five dollar bill (just in case it was more than $1.25) and went back down to the second floor to the juice vending machine. Little did I know that the juice vending machine along with its vending machine neighbors were secretly all plotting against me....

I see right off that an orange juice is $1.50. No problem! I load my five dollar bill into the machine and it spits it right out again. Try again. Same result. In and out. So I try the dollar bill changer to hopefully get some quarters. But same result as the vending machine... in and out. I'm not ready to give up yet, so I decide to load my five dollar bill into another vending machine, choose something for later and then use the change to get my orange juice. That machine gave me back 4 dollar coins and .15 cents (and a bag of Twizzlers). So now I proceed to load the dollar coin into the juice machine. It drops through. I pull it out and try again. This time it eats it! Doesn't fall through, won't give it back and no dollar credit. Hmph! However, not easily deterred, I see that vending machine #3 has gum for .50 cents. Perfect! I'll purchase some gum and then get back two quarters leaving me a dollar bill and three quarters. More than enough! Except...I put in my dollar and try to select the letter for the gum. Apparently the 'H' button is out of order....sooooo no gum. No worries, I select something else (this time a granola bar) and get back .15 cents. Add that to what I have and I now have one dollar and 55 cents in change. I'm set! Except... Now the juice machine won't take my one dollar bill either. Apparently the juice machine doesn't like paper money...who knew? But no worries, a nice lady is close by and seeing my predicament, offers me four quarters for my dollar. I am so close I can almost taste the citrus-y yummyness that is waiting for me. Carefully I pop in my 6 quarters and select the number for the orange juice. The machine slides over to my selection, gets the juice, slides it back to the dispenser, the dispenser opens, I reach in and.......(drumroll please!)......IT'S FROZEN!!!! So I get to eat my breakfast longingly staring at my completely frozen orange juice.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the vending machine gods were against me today.