Crime and Punishment on a Saturday Afternoon

It seems like Fall is finally here. Not that I've been waiting for it with baited breath or anything, but temperatures have taken a crisp drop in the last 48 hours and it made me think of...closed shoes. You know, not sandals. My feet haven't seen the inside of anything since May (yes, they do look disgusting as a result--but I'm okay with that) and yesterday I started to really feel the chill.

So I was out and about with my trusted shoe-expert/fetishist looking for some trainers. We had some limited success in our Kiez area, so we thought we'd stop by and visit Kalina and Bernhardt who run a fantastic boutique called Episoda ( www.myspace.com/episoda ) and ask them if they knew of anyplace else we could find some hot little euro-trainers for me. Bernhardt was running some errands, so Stephan and I are chilling, talking to Kalina and examining the new arrivals (effing goettliche jeans from Kuyichi and really lovely scarves from Erfurt) when this guy comes in. He tries on a pullover for a pretty penny and says he wants a larger size. I was in the other room, playing with the amazing scarves, so I only registered this on a marginal level. This guy tries the L on, which was on the rack, and before he even has it all the way on, he's asking for an XL. Kalina thought it was weird, but she's super-friendly and open, so she went into the back to get him an XL. I came into the front room a second before she did and saw this guy heading out of the store at a pretty brisk clip. I didn't think anything of it, except that in Germany, EVERYONE says "Hi" and "Goodbye" when entering and leaving a store or other public place. I thought it was weird that he hadn't.

We didn't really take any notice of it and were both trying on various items and chatting with Kalina, until all of a sudden she says, "The cash box is gone!" They're not a big store--they don't have a register or anything, just one of those little lockboxes with a key. And like, 700 Euro. At first, I thought maybe she'd just misplaced it--but no. That bastard had really robbed them. We were all kind of in shock and Kalina was trying to serve the other customers like nothing had really happened. Stephan and I volunteered to have a look around the neighborhood, because he hadn't had any kind of bag with him or anything, so he must have at least theoretically wanted to get rid of the box as soon as possible. We searched our hood up and down, but the problem is that on a Saturday morning, so many people are up and about running errands and shopping and walking their dogs and sitting in cafes and whatever that if you're some guy throwing a lockbox off a moving bike, people just might notice.

Anyway, by the time we got back, Bernhardt was there and had called the police, who were then also there and took statements from Kalina, Stephan and I. I'm an official witness to an official crime. Weird. No one has too much hope of the guy getting caught, and that's the worst part. I mean, Bernhardt and Kalina are the greatest. They sell only things that they really think are cool, that they can stand behind. They're just a small business. I can understand people who
steal from huge facist corporations like Wal Mart or Old Navy or shit like that, but not from two people just trying to make a living selling organic jeans and hipster fair trade pullovers. My God!

It's frustrating when shit like this happens to good people. And it's unfair. I've never really been able to cotton much to the phrase "life is unfair"--it might be true, but it shouldn't be. I mean, I'm sure this guy had a reason to steal--a habit, a pressing debt--but damn it, it sucks for Bernhardt and Kalina. Living here in Berlin as an American, I have always had a certain feeling of safety. The knowledge that in an American city of comparable size, the crime rate is much higher. In the states, this guy would have had a gun. That doesn't really give much comfort, though. You still feel angry and violated. What I'm not going to forget is the first thing Bernhardt said to us when we came through the door. He was like, "I don't know if I should be sad or pissed off." He eventually decided on pissed. I think I'm sad.


Play safe, Kinders.

As if there aren't enough other things in life to get angry and hateful about...

So I was sitting on my couch, relaxing with Henry who was visiting at the time, planning our coup of the Berlin nightlife scene when John McCain drops the bomb of Sarah Palin on my unsuspecting self.

Can we talk about this?

There are so many things about this nomination that get me unbelievably riled. It's like for the first time the GOP has noticed that there are a ton of Americans out there who'd like to see women in higher positions in government--the Hilary phenomenon isn't really explainable any other way--and they thought, "Oh, okay--we want a piece of that action. Women who would have voted for Hilary will indiscriminately vote for another vag as well. Who can we take who'll pose no threat whatsoever to our heinous agenda? H'mmmm..."

...E voila, ladies and gents, that's how Sarah Palin and her charming family were catapulted out of their Alaskan obscurity and into the national (and international) limelight. Oh boy!

Okay, to be honest, I was pumped for about a minute until Henry swiftly Wikipedia'd her ass. After that it was pretty much all over. Initially I thought...well, maybe it's the start of something. Maybe, regardless of their motivations, both the Dems and the GOP are rising above themselves and allowing American politics to ascend to a whole new level. It didn't take long for the wonders of modern technology to send me hurtling back down from cloud nine with a reverberating thud.

It hurt.

According to her Wickipedia entry, she also didn't seem like the antichrist. You know, with all her alleged anti-pork-barrelling and all. And honestly, I'm sure she's terribly nice, and certainly a great mom. I respect her "values" and all that jazz--more on that later--but what bugs me I think, about the whole kit'n kaboodle is that people are forgiving her things that no man would EVER get away with. I mean, she's trying to trump up PTA experience as a qualification for the American executive branch! Sorry, but I'm not okay with the post of VP for an aged potential president being filled via affirmative action. A woman so close to becoming the most powerful PERSON on Earth should be impeccably qualified. Or amazingly intelligent. I am offended by her being held to what appears to be a completely different standard than everyone else in those echelons of politics. It upsets me. She's a GOP poster child--or should I say pin up--and little more.

As a feminist, I've got to be honest and say that I don't want the first female president of the USA to get in the back door like this--as a pawn in the hands of the same old half dead white male elite. I want it to be REAL. I want her (whoever she may one day be) to run and win a REAL campaign, win the popular vote, win over the establishment and go in there and kick some ass! What's happening here is a sham. This woman might just manage to win over conservative voters who fall for the "Oh, she's just like me!" line of campaign logic. It might sound arrogant and condescending but the American president should NOT be just like you and me. What did that get us the last time?! People voted for GW because they thought he was accessable and down to earth and just an all around nice guy. Didn't really help him run the country, though. Did get us into the PR/IR/Ungodly disaster that is Iraq. Didn't help the economy any, or the national debt.

Let's sum up: THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE A POPULARITY CONTEST!


I just sighed. Deeply. I know how things are, and I know that in all honestly, despite whatever Barack Obama is promising, they probably aren't going to change in the near future. I just had to get my frustrations out there, though. I just can't stand people mistaking this woman for a feminist and a role model. Okay, she's a role model in that she's a working mom. I respect that. And I respect the fact that she wrangled with some gut wrentching decisions regarding her youngest son, and most recently her daughter. Before things get all pro-choice-y up in here, I just want to say that whatever decisions a woman makes regarding her reproductive system are just that: personal, sometimes painful decisions and should not now, not EVER be misconstrued as politics, a litmus test or a qualification to hold higher office.


Anyway, I hope everyone's doing well.
Fight the good fight, guys.