I grew up in the barracks in a family of servicemen. As a little child, I thought that one of the coolest things about my father was that he had no fear whatsoever. That man would walk straight into our farm at the darkest of the night to pluck vegetables and to see if the traps had caught anything.
As a little boy, I thought anyone who could enter the farm at night was brave.
My mother wouldn’t hear of it. She warned my father never to ask her again every time he did. My sisters were a different kettle of fish. As far as I can remember, my father only tried asking once. The same night, he had to drag them both crying and thrashing. Even at that, he couldn’t get either one of them past the gate. They held onto the gate-frame crying and wouldn’t budge until the gate and a part of the fence came crashing to the ground.
My brother was smarter than all of us. He always had something unbelievable going on – why they couldn’t go to the farm. There were times he had chronic stomach pains and broken ribs and suddenly became hot with a high fever. They all looked so real that my father would become worried.
Everyone in the house, except my father, believe there were evil spirits coupled with all kinds of creatures on the farm.
There was one night my father got back to the house and realized that he left something behind. Instead of waiting till the morning, he chose to wake me up from the couch where I had fallen asleep doing my school assignment. At first, I thought I wasn’t hearing right until it became clear that he wanted me to go to the farm to retrieve the basket of tomatoes he forgot.
“No way Papa,” I cried, “What of the evil spirits and snakes and the other things?” I packed up my notebooks and quickly reached for the bedroom door.
“Stop there,” he barked. “I just came from the same farm and if there are evil spirits like you people keep saying, how come nothing has happened to me, eh? – put on your sandals, I will go with you,” he said firmly but not assuring enough.
He held my hand as we got to the farm gate. I guessed to stop me from running back to the house.
We found the basket of unripe tomatoes and I took it and headed back towards the house.
“How come you are not scared of this place Papa? – Why do you even farm at night?” I asked as I hurried back to the house.
“Farming is best done when the sun is down” – As for the second question, “When you get to my age, you are not scared of anything.”
I nodded, wishing I’d grow old sooner and don’t have to be scared of the weird noise outside at night.
My father was 79 years old at the time. The same age President Joe Biden is now.
I rooted for Joe Biden for the 2020 Democratic primaries because of his age—The age that fears nothing. And I thought it would take someone with his experience to bring the country back from Trump’s coo-coo land. He was a creature of the Senate for donkey years and Barack Obama’s Vice Presidency for eight years. Out of all the candidates of the democrat side, he was the only one with such vast experience.
It is almost two years into Joe Biden’s presidency and things are not looking as good as we had thought they would. I am not saying every aspect of the country is in a mess, but a lot of things can be better and these are things within the President’s powers to do something within these first two years. Although most of these issues were inherited from the immediate past regime. They are issues the President campaigned with. A serious candidate wouldn’t just campaign about issues but solve them when they get elected.
My question at this point is, ‘why is President Biden not solving any of these issues – even the ones he can sort out without congress?
What is a 79 years old man scared of? Or better still, ‘what does he have to lose?”
Take the issue of high gas prices, for instance – everyone knew when it started that the President was going to tap into the national reserve to lower prices. The president himself said as much, only to wait until the whimpering became unbearable.
Why does he wait for so long only to do it, anyway?
On Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – two individuals holding all of his agenda and the entire country hostage for their gains, can you imagine if this was Donald Trump’s Vladministration, the nation’s capital would have contained all three of Trump, Manchin, and Sinema at the same time? They both would have been primaried and pushed out of the party.
It is one thing if a Mitch McConnell or any of his fellow GOP cultists clog Biden’s agenda. But for members of the president’s party painting a target on his back?
On climate change, the president could have declared a state of emergency, but he refused with the usual excuses. I am sure he will do it eventually after something more catastrophic happens. The flood in Kentucky that has consumed over 25 lives is obviously not catastrophic enough.
Should we talk about student loans? Again, they will eventually be forgiven when the pains of young Americans become severe enough.
Mr. President, we understand that you want to do the right thing – but there is nothing wrong with doing the right thing at the right time.
We may not be able to achieve universal healthcare during your term, but at least lower the price of prescription drugs like insulin. This is a tremendous burden on the elderly and all Americans.
We love you for your genuine sympathy and empathy. We urge you to remain resolute in the fight against Covid-19 and to keep supporting the people of Ukraine.
We want to hear from you. Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.
Do you think President Biden is prompt enough on issues?
