Mending

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/edmundburk100421.html

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. Edmund Burke
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/edmundburk100421.html

I didn't take my laptop out to coffee this morning, I took my bag of Wool Socks to Darn. Usually I email & blog (and job hunt (sort of)) in the morning, often out at one of two nearby coffee shops, and sew later, usually at home.

I decided to turn that around, partly in response to my question to myself that I blogged a couple days ago, being extra-distressed about the state of the world:
What then should I do?

I am not one for protest or committee work (ohgodno). I thought, well, I could sew more in public. I'm mostly repairing things by hand, and that's something of a friendly, homespun political act--mending stuff instead of throwing it out: a handy tool in the Pre- or Post-Apocalyptic Skill Kit!

darn in process, in Star Trek blue and gold

Also, sewing in public knits me into my neighborhood and requires me to be a little bit brave. Funny thing, but though I'm a friendly introvert, I'm a little shy about sewing in public by myself. It's a slightly unusual thing to do, and I'm self-conscious about standing out, and also it makes me available to anyone: 
strangers often stop to ask what I'm doing--curious about the wooden darning egg, for instance.

Today I talked for two hours to the guy at the table next to me, Michael. He's my age--works as a handyman. We've often chatted briefly––in fact, I patched a couple of his work jackets last year.
I've avoided talking to him about politics, however, afraid to because I think he voted for Trump...

Today I engaged. He was going on about how illegal immigrants aren't good for America, and I said, 
"There should be an easy way they can become citizens, like my Italian grandparents did---that's what made America great."

And he said, "That's right! Then they would be part of the country--involved in public schools and owning property. Some of them have been here for years: they should be able to become citizens quickly."

Well! OK, then.

If I wanted to talk politics with strangers, it could be a full time job.
But I'm not going to join in every conversation I overhear!

At another table, for instance, an older white woman was talking about how she'd read that "police stop blacks  …I mean 'African Americans' on bikes more than white people. But they didn't say where they got that information from, they probably just made it up!"

Like that's so hard to believe? And you always fact-check everything you read about white people?
Oy. 

Another good thing about sewing: it's calming, it's meditative, it keeps my blood pressure down. Oh--and of course it gives me more wearable wool socks: winter is coming.