For the moment, life in NYC is beginning to bustle. Businesses are opening and people are getting back to work. Work at the hospital ER has not been too busy; it seems the patient census is returning to normal levels. My contract will end on July 11th and I will find another place to journey to on the nursing path.

I’m really enjoying the neighborhood I’m living in! People are compassionate and happy, they value their neighborhood and peaceful protest. There wasn’t looting or rioting in the area I’m living in but the businesses that put up ply board on their windows took them off and created some nice art with uplifting messages. The Dominican and Jamaican food is delicious!

So many people, mostly politicians and the media, are playing on the fears of people and selfishly pursuing their own goals and agendas, but they can’t recognize that all that people want in most parts of America is a safe and healthy community in which to live. We could all learn a lesson and be much more compassionate and understanding of the history of suffering and unfairness that our country continues to struggle with. Taking care of a patient in anguish, anger, and pain is almost like ministering to mobs of people incensed and blind to reason. As a society we need to stand strong against those who want to take advantage of fear, anger, and jealousy or use strong emotions to inspire political fervor or zealotry. Well, I have no end of heavy-handed socio-political metaphors and analogies to describe the current situation in our nation, but I’ll just post some of these images and see how people react.