Super Magic Polar Bear

Bennu Austin

I am sitting in a cute cafe in East Austin called Bennu. I haven’t gone to a cafe by myself and just hung out in years, but my kind-of-sort-of roommate works here, and she told me she’d make me a free drink if I came. 

So I put on my hot pink sweater covered in sequins, my blue pants, and my floral rain jacket. I pushed my moped out of the mud, hopped on, and rode in the rain to Bennu.

I pulled up and noticed two other mopeds parked in the no-parking zone. I was filled a bit with appreciation for the moped culture in this city. I have never seen a moped outside of Austin!

After I found a perfectly cozy looking sofa to set my stuff down, I could hear Erin’s recognizable voice coming from across the counter. Normally I would order an herbal tea because that’s always the cheapest thing on the menu, but I got to splurge and order a hot soy chai tea since it’s free. After some chit chat with Erin, and my momentary admiration of her hair, she handed me a large mug filled with one of my favorite drinks.

I sat down and looked around. Everybody in this place is beautiful. Austin is filled with beautiful people to look at and interact with.

I’m nested in a soft, comfortable couch upholstered in suede, writing away, listening to the beautiful soundtrack of Amelie, hearing the clanging of glasses, the patter of fingers typing on laptops, the soft voices sharing conversation, and the occasional “hm” of my roommate Eco Steve who is sitting a few feet away from me. 

The lights are dim, the rain makes the outside darker than it should be, and I feel truly relaxed.

No wonder I used to frequent cafes years ago.

I Stood With Planned Parenthood

As you are probably aware, a week and a half ago our government was threatened to shut down. One of the main issues preventing budget agreements from being made were the debate about Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. As part of the agreement to prevent a government shutdown, the Planned Parenthood debate was removed and turned into a stand-alone resolution called H.Con.Res.36 that would strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding if made into law. The Senate and House were set to vote on it last Thursday. That was scary times for us Planned Parenthood supporters, but the resolution was voted down, and Planned Parenthood will officially continue receiving $75 million annually from our federal government.

I have been standing with Planned Parenthood since I was 15, when they first started providing me with women’s health services. But last week, I did more than stand. Here’s the story:

Some McBride students at my school asked me to help them raise awareness of the situation on campus. They approached me because I created the website http://saveplannedparenthood.webs.com in February, which garnered over 30,000 hits in just a few days. Anyways, after our initial meeting, I went to the Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia and picked up some supplies— shirts, buttons, stickers, and condoms. I brought it all back to Bryn Mawr and started tabling. I tabled for 3 days for a minimum of 7 hours each day. It was a huge success.

We got at least 140 people to contact their representatives right there in front of us by either calling or emailing. About half of those people contacted Pat Toomey and James Gerlach (PA representatives), and the other half targeted their home state congresspeople. In addition, another 150 people committed to contacting at least one representative; these people gave me their name and email address and I sent them information on exactly how to do that. Finally, several other people, as they walked by, told us they had already contacted their representatives or were planning on doing so very soon, and took fliers.

Of the supplies that were given to us, we gave out all the buttons, raffled off the shirts, and gave away almost all 300 condoms (which is impressive on a women’s college campus). People were seen wearing pink stickers all around campus, and spreading the word.

Anyways, I’m very proud of what we did and SO happy that we won! Thank you all who stood with Planned Parenthood!