It's not O'Hana

"Doesn’t matter. It’s not O’Hana. It’s not family. It’s not culture. It’s corporate business that doesn’t always know who or what they cut while trying to do who or what they think they know." 

- u/Competitive_Sail_844 on Reddit. 

Fucking WHAT? "O'Hana"??? This is really starting to boil my blood. That's how colonized Hawaii is. "Hawaiian Pizza" is a good example. Made of wheat (not native to Hawaii), cheese (same) tomatoes (same) and pineapple (same - it's native to S. America). Or you go to Hawaii on vacation and go to a luau; a recommended one is Germaine's (a European name) and it's a commercial thing, you pay to go to it. You get a tiny dish of poi because the organizers know you're only going to taste it and go "Ewww". 

I've been to a real luau, the kind you're invited to and you all bring what you can or just come if you don't have anything. You eat all you can, swim a bit in the ocean to get your appetite back up, then eat some more, and take food home too. The older (Samoan) ladies have tattoos on their faces (it means they've got some rank) and nod and smile a lot because they're not too good at English. 

As I've said, Hawaii doesn't operate under racism so much as color-ism. If you're brown, come on down. This means that anyone who's a bit brown can get a job as a "Hawaiian" so at Germaine's luau there's likely not an actual Hawaiian anywhere near the place. It'll be run by Asians and Filipinos. They're brown enough, and you'll go back to the mainland bubbling about how you went to a real feast with Hawaiians. 

Compare and contrast Israel. They revived their language and use it with pride. Christians who try to convert anyone there are kicked the hell out. No one's taking some food or fruit from the other side of the world and saying it's Israeli. 

I realized I was out of a bunch of stuff, most importantly at the moment I realized this, cream for coffee. I was right out of it since I forgot to pick it up at Whole Foods after busking yesterday. I made a list of other things I need, and took off at about 3 to go to Walmart. I stopped in at Nijiya first because I hadn't had anything for breakfast, and got some nice cold grilled mackerel and a can of black coffee. I sat and ate over on the old hospital steps, then continued on. 

I had to whiz so I stopped in at the little food court on First kind of across from the erstwhile Cafe Stritch. They have clean bathrooms that are open. So I went and did that, and noticed there was a lady working at the little bar there, called The Fountainhead. 

I talked with the lady about how I'd been there on election night in 2016, and plan to be this coming election night. The menu used to have a lot of drinks named after architects but she, the owner, had changed it around to drinks people would be more familiar with. She has them named after what the "Bottoms up!" saying is in each country that drink is themed. 

We talked about other places that have managed to stay in business, and just a lot of general things so I ordered a Guinness except when I ordered that I was looking at the word Heineken on the menu so my mouth said Heineken. So that's what I got. I said I wanted a Guinness and she said I'd said Heineken and I said I think I did, because I was looking at the word Heineken. I sipped that and we talked, and eventually after chatting a little with other people who came to sit and drink, I said I'd have that Guinness after all. I ended up getting pen and paper and wrote the "Bottoms up!" saying for Hawaii and is okole maluna, and how to pronounce it, and then two drink recipes I've invented in case she wants to try them. 

This was all well and good except for a few things. Firstly, the beers are carby so that's not exactly staying with a keto diet. Beer makes you fat! And I'll say the Heineken is probably worse for that than the Guinness. 

Secondly, the beers were expensive - $8 each. And lastly, I looked at the time and realized I didn't have time now to go to Walmart, because I had packages that had to go out today. So I rode back to Nijiya, got my cream for coffee at a higher price, and other things. And got back here, packed the packages, and took off for FedEx. 

I stopped at Tom's place because I'd gotten a package of raw peanuts at Nijiya for him. He's been buying them at Sprouts where they're really expensive, so I've been on the lookout for cheaper ones. I got a bag for myself too so I can see how they are. The main thing is they're fun to give to the crows. 

I dropped off the packages at FedEx then got a couple things in H Mart, then went to Lowe's for paper towels. Then dinner and ... packing more things, small ones I can take with me on my way to Walmart.