I got this totebag maybe a year ago.
It comes from The
Barnraisers Project, a group I joined sometime in mid-2023, because I
needed help with the concept of community. (And very grateful indeed am I that
I discovered this group.) Their leader, Garrett Bucks, writes a really powerful
and inspirational newsletter/blog called The
White Pages. I strongly urge you to subscribe.
But it’s this tote that inspires my gratitude today because
it was central to a lovely encounter I had last week—you know, the week that
stripped all pretentions of law-abidingness and decency from the administration
and its supporters.
I was at Trader Joe’s, buying milk, carrots and peas. In
the past, one cashier (who’s from South Africa and used to be a flight
attendant—some years ago we got talking because I’d just been to Singapore) had
noticed the bag and gave me a verbal high-five.
(Interestingly, no other cashier at any other grocery store
mentioned it, not even at Whole Foods. I suppose in that job you get to the
point where you don’t even notice what the customer is handing you.)
Different guy this time, a Black man wearing a face mask
(because we’re in the midst of a major flu outbreak, not to mention measles and
still Covid-19). He was zipping through my purchases and then said, “What does
this bag say? I have to see.”
When he did, he looked up at me and nodded. And he said
that he appreciated seeing that message, especially on that day (Thursday), because
we can feel so alone with all this shite (I paraphrase), but we’re not.
“No, we’re not alone,” I replied. And we’re not; we are a
community, and it’s important that we are reminded of that.
So that’s my gratitude for today: for the message on a totebag
I was using that inspired relief in someone I met, and that he reflected back to
me.
Now—here’s another one for my shopping arsenal:
©2026 Bas Bleu
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