Join us for a summer PUB crawl
A Friday Night Likes for the people
It’s time for Friday Night Likes - where we play a game of Gratitude Ping Pong,™ naming all the free or low-cost highlights of the week.
You know, the best things in life.
Rules: One “like” kicks us off, we riff until it gets weird, then bring it back to the original “like” for a full circle TGIF moment.
So. We’re not super in the mood to celebrate America right now.
And yet, here we are, on the July 4th weekend, firmly planted in the middle of summer, which, on the contrary, we’re always in the mood to celebrate.
We. Love. Summer. And it’s not just because of the long days and laid back vibe. It’s because summer is the season of FREE.
To be truly free is to release the economic shackles that keep us separated, so it’s in that spirit that we celebrate everything that is public - our public institutions and spaces where we can practice mutual aid, collective action, and the freedom to imagine a world that cares for all of us.
This week, we're not gonna get too weird in the middle. We're just keeping in public the whole way … a summer pub crawl if you will.
Jamie: I like public pools. You introduced me to the Commodore Berry Pool a few years ago. It's close enough to our office that we can go there for lunch breaks. Even though budget cuts have all but eliminated the option for lap swim (sorry, I know this is likes, not dislikes), I love having access to a big, freezing, body of water, especially on painfully hot days.
Rachel: The Commodore Berry Pool is the lap (sorry) of luxury. They have lounge chairs! I love just walking by that pool because it's such a vibe. I spent my childhood summers at public pools, and it was so fun because you could go without your parents and be free. But if there's anything better than a public pool, it's a public beach. No one will be surprised to hear either of us say: I like public beaches, but it deserves to be stated again. Have you ever been to a private beach?
Jamie: Yes. I have been to several private beaches.
Rachel: Private beaches are a crime. Nothing in nature should ever be private. But let's talk about what I LIKE about public beaches.
I was sitting at Rockaway Beach the other day and the sun was setting, and I was surrounded by people who were different from me, listening to different music, eating different foods, speaking different languages, and we were all enjoying the same natural wonder: the ocean, perhaps the best free thing on planet earth. And all of us different people, we all approached the ocean in exactly the same way, like children, jumping into the waves with a joy that is so basic to our humanity. We can all benefit from spending more time witnessing each other experiencing joy in a shared space.
Jamie: Rockaway beach is part of our amazing parks system here in New York, and I like city parks. One of my favorite memories from any summer is picnicking in the park for one of the many free movie nights around the city. I used to go to them all the time at Bryant Park, which isn’t exactly the most idyllic park to watch a movie in – but it was one of the only places they did it for years. Now they do it in parks all over the city.
Anyway, back then, I would always get so drunk that I wouldn’t pay attention to the movie. I like that I have aged out of that kind of behavior (or, at least, I watch the movies now) but being around community and watching a movie together (for free!), while sipping on a freezing glass.of boxed wine is quintessential summer to me.
Rachel: I like state parks. In the summer of 2020, my family drove across the country to visit my hometown in Washington State. We camped the entire way and stayed in (mostly) state parks, with the occasional National Park. And it's an ideal way to discover this vast country. When you drive exclusively on highways and then stay in roadside motels, it's really easy to miss out on the natural landscapes of each region. The state parks have preserved nature in these little pockets throughout the country. And each state has a different personality.
(Rachel in a North Dakota state park, walking way ahead of everyone else, but still talking as if they are right behind her.)
Jamie: I like National Parks. Right after I got laid off in 2021, my mom and I spent six weeks driving across the country. It was both of our first times seeing much of the middle of the country and more importantly – many of our breathtaking national parks. We stayed in Yosemite, swam in Grand Teton, walked around Yellowstone, drove through the Petrified Forest – it was a life-changing experience.
Rachel: My dream job would be to work in a park system. I like the idea of being a park ranger. I read this book a few years ago called The Last Ranger about a man who works as a park ranger in Yellowstone. I got it at the library. I love finding books at the library. If it weren't for the library I would probably never have read it because it isn't the kind of book that would be on somebody's staff picks at an indie book store.
Jamie: I like summer reading. I just got a bunch of books at the library, including Ursula Parrott’s Ex-Wife, a novel written in 1929 about a woman “thrust into self-discovery” after a divorce in 1920s New York City. I knew I would like it when I saw that the foreword was written by Alissa Bennett, co-host of one of our favorite podcasts, The C Word. And so far, it’s fabulous.
Rachel: I'm currently reading Pachinko which I checked out at the library last week. It's a great summer read. I like that NYC reinstated the funding to our public libraries. Our city's collective love of the libraries has shown its power. We now have libraries open six days a week again.
Jamie: So if you're too hot but don't want to enjoy the pools, you can go to the library. But me? I'll be at the pool.
xoxo
The Debt Heads