The Politics of a Dark Cherry Dining Room Set

There’s lots of talk about what women are discussing around their dining room table when it comes to the issues of the day that affect how they will be voting. For an instant, though, let me just talk about my own table. You see, I own a light-colored cherry dining room set that I took with me when I divorced my husband. You may think it had some sort of sentimental value or that I really liked the style or the color, but none of that is true. I took it to prove a point: Even when you think you’ve fooled me into getting your way, it’s going to cost you later. I don’t think I’m that much different from the average woman. Republicans are playing with fire if they think they can pull the wool over women’s eyes and not let it come back to haunt them in the end – especially when they talk about issues they don’t have any interest in whatsoever.

The Set-up

You see, my dining room table was a set-up. I told my then husband, I wanted a dark cherry dining room set, and instead of telling me he didn’t like the idea, he told me to go out and price them to see if we could afford them. So, I spent weeks going to one furniture store after another to find just the right table, but every time I brought the details back there was always something wrong with the table. It was not sturdy or it was too expensive or not the right size. The color was never mentioned. Then, magically, one night we were at a furniture outlet and there was the type of table he had mentioned, and for far less than the others I had priced! But, instead of buying it, my ex-husband told me he liked a different dining table better – it was far more expensive than anything I had previously priced and it was light, not dark wood. As he demanded that we buy this offensive monstrosity, I realize that he never meant for me to have the dark cherry dining set – it had been a total set-up. So, when I finally divorced him, I made sure to take that dining set with me and the china cabinet, too. I figured that if he got such enjoyment out of dangling some fake promise in front of me to see me work my butt off, knowing full well he would never agree to buy a dark cherry dining room set, then I was going to take his favorite table away from him so he could feel what it’s like to be deprived of something he really wanted, too – even if I didn’t like it. That’s my idea of fairness, and I really don’t think I differ from most women. Now, that table is one of the most favorite pieces in my home. It represents fairness to me and my ability to right a wrong that should have never happened if someone hadn’t been so intent on deceiving me.

Republican Double-Talk

Let’s face it, all this talk about Republicans honoring the ideal of motherhood is just another cherry dining room set. That’s right. It’s something they don’t believe in, can’t relate to, and will only buy if it comes in their preferred color. What is that color? White. There, I said it. It doesn’t matter that they deprive millions of women who happen to be black, single, or poor mothers the dignity of their choice, for those women – they should be outside the home working and they’re lucky if they’re not called sluts. The argument they give is that poor, single, or black women are too poor not to work and we should give them the “dignity of work.” Yet, white women like Ann Romney who are rich  and have husbands should stay at home and not work outside the home because that’s what “good mothers do.” The whole it’s “too expensive” to stay home business smacks of a certain dining room table that was “too expensive” to buy until a different color was found.

Women Buy It

Unfortunately, like me, many women buy this whole “fiscal responsibility” argument from their husbands and political candidates. I know I did. I bought it when my husband lied to me about the cherry table. I bought it when the Tea Party people told me they wanted to be in office to bring more fiscal conservative policies to Congress. Yet, every time that argument is used, I find these same people go in and spend much more on programs and ideals that they just simply prefer, that’s all. Whether it’s a light cherry dining room table or millions spent to find ways to block access to contraception or women’s programs. The point is to deprive you of what you want and what you think is best for something they want. So, women, please don’t buy the money argument. It’s a red flag meant to distract you from the real reason your desires never get funded: They simply don’t like the idea. Don’t believe me? Just watch…

The WORK Act

Okay, so according to Republicans all mothers should be at home with their kids and that’s the ideal of motherhood? Poor mothers have to work because it’s “too expensive.” Then, let’s fund it and make it possible for low-income mothers, too! Democrats have introduced a bill called the Women’s Option to Raise Kids (WORK) Act. If raising kids is the same as working, according to Ann Romney, then the ideal should not be to make poor mothers work outside the home, it’s to support them so they don’t have to. The Act removes the current work requirements for mothers of children of 3 years of less, and allows them to still receive welfare benefit. So, that should be a total bipartisan landslide, right?! You watch as the GOP blocks this Act.

Just for fun, I told a Republican woman friend of mine about this new bill and the look of horror that crossed her face was priceless. As expected, the first words out of her mouth were: “How are we going to pay for it?” Yeah, right, I forgot! We have NO MONEY, we’re trillions in debt, and God forbid, that money be available for a social issue like motherhood that the Republicans all say they believe in. Do I need to say more? Cherry table, cherry table, cherry table.

Another friend, who is an Independent sat down and noticing her obvious state of agitation asked her what was wrong. When she told her and echoed:”How will we pay for it?” She shrugged and suggested that some of the money might come from daycare programs that were being subsidized so mothers could work. Duh. No, no, no, let’s NOT figure out how we want to pay for something, let’s just assume that if we don’t want it, it’s simply too expensive! ESPECIALLY, if we’re going to be forced to pay for the WRONG COLOR table.

I will repeat it once again in very simple words: While you’re being “fiscally conservative” your political interest is probably out plotting how to spend your tax dollars on their selfish wants and desires. The major issue for women “around the dining room table” right now is not the budget, it is how the budget will be approportioned. Will the money go to large  corporations and the 1 percent that claim to be “job creators” yet have failed to provide any credible evidence that is the case? Will it go towards more wars? Or, will it go to education, building small businesses, and building up the middle class? And, yes, maybe some of it should go to help single mothers to create sustainable families instead of forcing them to work when they have kids in the home.

Ways To Save Money On Food, Year-Round!

When you are intent on making a particular recipe, you may find that the one ingredient you are missing is now too expensive to be worth making the dish. Having that sinking feeling when you go to buy groceries? If it weren’t bad enough that gas is sky-high, food prices have shot up too.

As food prices escalate, you may be wondering how to save money on your food bill. There’s actually a number of different ways to cut costs there. If you are a good cook, it helps to make things at home from scratch rather than buying processed foods. It’s also healthier! But, if you don’t plan ahead, you may end up making a trip to the grocery store only to realize that you could have bought the item already made for less. That’s because certain foods fluctuate in price due to the season and also due to economic conditions, like recently. So, now, we are forced to take the long view in order to save money on food.

So, here’s what I’m doing…

• Preserving lemons for the winter. Who wants to pay over $1 for a single lemon just because they’re out of season? It turns out to be pretty simple to preserve lemons in the refrigerator too, so that you have a few batches all winter long.
• Making my own salsa. A jar of canned tomatoes, a few jalapenos, a half of an onion, some cilantro, and some preserved or fresh lemon. Whir in a blender and I’ve just saved $3 a jar.
• Stock up on basics. Okay, I can pretty much make my own tortillas, breads, pancakes, jams, jellies, etc. So, if I stock up on sugar, cornmeal, wheat flour, and other staples, I don’t have to pay premium prices on convenience foods.
• Embrace beans. I’m half-Mexican so I can’t say this is all that hard for me. I love beans – black beans, pinto beans, lima beans – you name it! Learn to make soups, refried beans, add them to salads, stews, and more. You can even make dips too, like hummus from garbanzo beans. Buy them dry to save money and learn to soak and cook them properly for meals that are literally less than $1.
• Hydrate with teas. Iced tea is one of the most economical beverages out there and if you’re not from the South, you should try it.
• Can your own jellies and jams. Canning kits are very cheap and learning to can is super easy! You can even “sanitize” your jars in the dishwasher, eliminating one of the most bothersome steps of the entire process. Canning your own jellies, jams, fruits, and vegetables, allows you to buy when in season and can them for later use.
• Build a year-round pantry. Buy extras when things are on sale, like extra canned pumpkin during Thanksgiving or things that you know will keep for a year. Then, use them out of season.

Once you have a little breathing room, you can start planning your meals way ahead of time – keeping you from landing in the store when the price of the “must have” mayonnaise is $6 a jar. Or, by then, you’ve learned to make your own mayonnaise and skipped the trip to the grocery store altogether, saving gas.