People on both sides of the ocean keep asking us about our plans. Do we like France? Yes–really, that much? Hm. And does Nick’s contract have an end date, then? No? Huh. So, do we plan to go back?
You know what? No. Forget the lovely working hours, the universal politeness, the fabulous food. Forget that it sounds great to say we live here. You want to know why we don’t plan to leave?
Read it and weep, because I sure did:
and the bill itself.
Shame on them. Shame on Utah and everyone in it. Shame on Iowa, which prosecuted a pregnant woman for falling down the stairs on the premise that it may have been an intentional attempt at a miscarriage. Shame on everyone in a comfy, remote blue state who pulled the lever for Obama and then drove home, smugly confident that they had done all they had to do to usher in a new era where these inhumanly anti-woman fascists would be afraid to show their faces in the light of day, the way they should in any civilized country.
I know it’s no better that we left. But you know what? I live in a country where calculating my individual credit score would be considered an invasion of my privacy. I don’t have to thank my local legislature for the fact that my body, my wishes, and my tragedies belong only to me. And I haven’t seen a damn thing yet to make me want to trade this for that.
Enjoy your “free country.” You know where to find us.