Author: Matthew Groff

  • Parenting: Going to the Doctor

    As we are trying to get ready for the school year, whatever it might be, we are attempting to behave as normal as possible, and that would be the annual pediatrician checkup before the Fall. Normally, this has never been an issue for the kid. To a degree, she sort of liked going to see the doctor. Both of the kid’s grandmas were nurses, and on my wife’s side of the family, there is a long history of working in the medical field. For that reason, the kid has grown up around lots of nurses and doctors.

    I made the appointment to the pediatrician, and let the kid know that it was something we would be doing, but she got very concerned.

    “Will I get a shot?” she asked me.

    I told her it was possible, and did the routine of “It will only hurt of a second,” and “I’ll be with you the whole time.”

    That didn’t work.

    For over a week I fielded questions about shots, medicine, and sharpe instruments that the doctor might use.

    I could feel the kid’s anxiety growing, and no matter how hard I tried, there didn’t seem to be anything I could say or do to make her feel better. It made me feel powerless, and insufficient as her father.

    All I can do is be with her, and encourage her to be strong.

  • Cancel the Election? Just asking…

    So… Trump told the world that we should cancel the 2020 election, and then added some question marks at the end to make it a suggestion, something to think about.

    The President of the United States is a freshman in his first philosophy class. You know the guy. The one who says something really offensive and off the wall, but when you call him on it, he tries to flip it back at you. “What’s wrong with asking a questions? I thought we were open minded here.” So you’re the jerk now.

    Our President is a teen-aged deep thinker.

    This is what happens when the troll culture of an AOL chat room from late 90’s lands in narcissist 70-year old’s brain.

    I remember seeing this shit in 1996 when some guy in Alt-Rock AOL chat room was like, “Nirvana was over as a band in 1992, so what Kurt killing himself a bad thing?”

    Everyone goes ape shit in the chat room.

    Then the guy responds, “I’m just asking a question, you’re the one who can’t handle a debate. I didn’t say Kurt should have killed himself…”

    That crap…

    And was it a joke? Because that will be the other line used. “He was joking. Can’t you take a joke?”

    Fuck man, this is exhausting.

    Is anyone else exhausted?

  • Election Delay? No, Trump is Trying to Distract You

    So, Trump wants to delay the election? I mean, that’s what he tweeted and, seems to me, that’s what everyone has been talking about for two days, right? But, he doesn’t have the authority to do that, and the Constitution won’t allow it, as there are specific dates which Congress and the President must be sworn in on. There is no way to change the election date.

    Trump is up to his old tricks of trying to distract, and change the conversation.

    If we are all talking about changing the election, then we aren’t talking about the huge drop in GDP. We aren’t talking about people about to lose their extra unemployment benefits. We aren’t talking about up to 30 million people facing eviction. We aren’t talking about Federal agents in the streets of Portland. We aren’t talking about BLM. We aren’t talking about Covid-19’s rising infection and death rates. And especially, we aren’t talking about John Lewis, a true American hero, who fought for justice, equality, and voting rights.

    There is so much going wrong, that we need to be focus and working for solutions.

    Don’t fall for the distraction.

     

  • Hydroxychloroquine News Story

    Hydroxychloroquine News Story

    It was just heartbreaking to see. I went on Facebook, and I saw that a good friend of mine from college had posted a pro hydroxychloroquine news story. There was no comment left, or request that we should, “read the article, and keep an open mind,” or any other phrase of have some sort of civil debate about this topic. Through they had left not a word of whether they believed hydroxychloroquine worked or not, it just broke my heart to see.

    Broke my heart because it caused me to fear the worst about them.  This was a person I went to college with, who I would describe as a person of above average intelligence, huge amount of compassion, determination, and not a person I would describe as easily fooled. This is also a person who would describe themselves as conservative, and a Christian, but in no way closed minded to people who are different from them.

    It broke my heart because it made me feel like they drank to Kool-Aid.

    I have friends that are 100% pro-Trump, and to them, there is nothing that he can do wrong. I know people who claim to be libertarians that will argue that you can’t force anyone to do anything, even if it would benefit the world. But these people have always been like that, so when they post Trump stuff, or argue that they will never wear a mask, it fits within their proclivity.

    It broke my heart because it means my old college friend has changed, and chosen to go down this path. They are choosing to believe something that has been proved not to work.

  • I’m More Excited About British Football Than American Football

    I’m More Excited About British Football Than American Football

    Yup, I can hear my friends and family back in Texas shitting a brick right now. Being that football in Texas is a well-documented religion and industry unto itself, they would be dumbfounded that someone who grew up under Friday Night Lights, would somehow become all hipster and start liking soccer. It’s true, and then I would correct them and say, “You know it’s called football all over the world.”

    Yes, it’s true. I found myself more excited about the Premier League starting up again in Britain than I have been for baseball coming back or the basketball bubble. I haven’t cared about hockey since the Dallas Stars won the cup, and I do respect MLS, but I haven’t been able to get behind the NY Red Bulls (Too Corporate) or NYCFC as they are partly owned by Manchester City, and more about that later. American Football feels like they well screw it up like baseball. My true feeling is that American sports team owners don’t care about their players, and are just trying to throw them out in the mix, to grab what money they can. Baseball clearly hasn’t thought it through, as the 12+ Marlin players contracting Covid in the last 48 hours proves.

    I do want sports back, if nothing more than to have something to nap through on a Sunday afternoon, and also to have something to talk to people about. Nothing gets settled in sports discussions, but they sure are fun and do help give you an insight on the person arguing that Charles Barkley was the most revolutionary player in the NBA, period. (Feel free to comment on that.)

    It was fun for the past few weeks following my team in the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, as they fought for a 6th place finish which qualified them for the Europa League. As I follow the Spurs, I have adopted a dislike for all teams from Manchester, and loath Arsenal. And there is something also about how the Premier League took the virus seriously, especially player health. On the week of July 13th, 2,208 players and staff were tested and zero were found positive. In fact, from May 7th to July 19th, only 20 positive test results came back. They all did what they had to do to have a safe end of the season.

    I don’t think America will be able to say the same.