avatarAndrew Gaertner

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d over the phone like I was?</p><p id="da3a" type="7">How about this: Try to picture Ivanka, the object of her creepy father’s even creepier lust, punching a time clock! That will happen around the same time I start flying jets.</p><p id="709d">Maybe I’m being overly sensitive. I mean, if I could make my own sea salt while basking under the Mediterranean sun, wouldn’t I bleat about it later? Shit, no. I would not.</p><p id="1c29">So you know, the column’s focus was on scent and how it evokes particular memories. Here is the passage that set me off:</p><p id="d741"><i>When I was in Spain this summer, we sun-dried our own sea salt in Majorca, then went to a little shop near where we ate dinner to buy flor de sal harvested from the same Ses Salines salt flats. When I popped open the can — later back at home, my kids shouted, “it smells like Majorca!”</i></p><p id="c3f4">“Gee, kids! How cool is that? Know what? Get outta here”</p><p id="d35c">For those of us who don’t vacation in Majora, <i>flor de sal</i> means Salt Flower. Now, is it me, or is this type of self-important strutting gag-worthy?</p><p id="0c73">I’m not so offended by the message as much as I am by the way it was conveyed. As if the messenger had no clue of the disparity around her and the reality that people are struggling to make ends meet, for God’s sake. Struggling to feed themselves and their families. Working for minimum wage.</p><p id="051d">I get that this magazine is about beauty, not our country’s economy but all I can say is, the salaries must be pretty damned good.</p><p id="22b4">We, as writers, understand that words are powerful and the <i>way</i> in which we say things is as important, or maybe more so, as <i>what</i> we’re putting out into the world. I’ve learned this particular lesson the hard way. More than once.</p><p id="d5bd">Admittedly, I’m particularly sensitive in that I haven’t received an actual paycheck in almost two years. And I’m better than that. Much better, yet I can’t seem to catch a break. So, where someone else might read the editorial and think of it as “aspirational,” I think, “WTF?” Just as I do when I see TV commercials touting luxury automobiles as holiday gifts. What world are we living in?</p><p id="8d58">This is what doesn’t compute: While the editor raves about her kids raving about Majorca, there are other, less privileged children starving in this country. Their parents would love to afford a bus ticket, let alone a first-class airline ticket to Spain.</p><p id="f2ee">A little empathy for others, folks. That’s all I’m asking.</p><p id="184a">According to <i>nokidhungry.org</i>, in the United States, one in seven children lives with hungry. The bigger picture: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than eleven hundred children in our country live in “food insecure homes,” which means the family members don’t get enough to eat in order to live in a manner that’s deemed “healthy.”</p><p id="7845">Maybe the editor should set her cannister of DIY sea salt aside and chew on these stats:</p><p id="1300"><b>Over 4.5 million U.S. kids live in food deserts and lack access to grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables.</b></p><p id="742e"><b>On average, children in rural areas are more likely to experience food insecurity and lack access to quality health services.</b></p><p id="7f6a"><b>Close to 1 in 3 American children are overweight or obese, and obesity in children has more than tripled over the past 35 years, putting children at higher risk for serious, even life-threatening health problems.</b></p><p id="a02e"><b>In communities where Save the Children works, an average of 59 percent of children do not have access to fresh, healthy foods; in some areas, it’s as much as 98 percent.</b></p><p id="bc2d">Here’s more self-satisfied bunk from the editorial:</p><p id="c1b6"><i>In (country), last summer, my daughter and I treated ourselves one afternoon to tea at the (uber-luxe) hotel. Now, the scent of not only jasmine tea but also jasmine fragrances brings me half a world away to that fancy dining room, nibbling on tiny sandwiches

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and cakes.</i></p><p id="0408">Again, maybe I’m being unfair and bristly. But the manner in which this was written is offensive, in my humble opinion. Plus, the older I get, the less idiocy I can tolerate.</p><p id="712b">Maybe if she’d included some type of giveaway to the first fifty readers who wrote back via email, describing their favorite scents and what they evoked for them. Jasmine fragrance oil could be the giveaway. I don’t know.</p><p id="7d81">Perhaps this editor should stick to writing about lip conditioners and designer perfumes and the wonders of glycolic acid. Meanwhile, if the craving for a “tiny cake” should come upon her, she could always shove a Twinkie up her bum.</p><p id="444c">I’d like to thank <a href="undefined">Helen Cassidy Page</a> for her input here. She gave me the virtual slap upside the head that I needed. But, sweetly.</p><p id="6d7e"><i>Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.</i></p><p id="2284">As always, I appreciate your reading. If you’re up for more:</p><div id="974d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/haiku-how-to-51d0685c1ad6"> <div> <div> <h2>Haiku How-To</h2> <div><h3>A primer for the sexually inquisitive.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*yQwyx3SGkE3-oZlWW1dC9g.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="654f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/did-i-fail-my-mother-3323d4907780"> <div> <div> <h2>Did I Fail My Mother?</h2> <div><h3>All the things I should have said, and didn’t.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*IBboE8lKu9O0Q4Ga0aEGhQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="9067" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-hot-women-of-medium-c66515ba6bbe"> <div> <div> <h2>The Hot Women of Medium</h2> <div><h3>Smart, funny, gutsy and SMOKIN’!</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*sUDy3LYDjjZKQqXsMfyptQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="1a63" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ive-never-received-1k-claps-b1dd0d9c56b9"> <div> <div> <h2>I’ve Never Received 1K Claps</h2> <div><h3>Wounded…and wondering.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*zAfXUminR_ELCNKW8Ppsgw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="11fc" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/its-official-i-m-an-a-hole-347624d73cd7"> <div> <div> <h2>It’s Official: I’m an A-Hole</h2> <div><h3>“Medium Madness” has me by the throat.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*r4v7h4lCPyj7liblwp-GNQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Why I’m Excited to Write for Reciprocal

Medium is evolving for me

My photo from our farm

A regular reader of mine turned me on to Reciprocal about a month ago.

What is different about Reciprocal?

In each article published on Reciprocal, I am asked to highlight at least three other Medium writers. This fits well with the way I read. If I like what an author has written, I look to the sidebar or underneath to see if there is more where that comes from. But those suggestions come from the algorithm, and these will come from the author — even better.

Writers are welcome if and only if they are also readers. The editors at Reciprocal ask writers to engage with other writers or stay out. That fits with me since I think I spend more time reading here than writing.

Reciprocal editor Sahil Patel writes “It’s time to make Medium a place where you can find a genuine community where we can start our writing journey and reach the summit.”

A member of a genuine community: that is exactly what I want to evolve into on this website.

When I started writing on Medium in 2021, I was excited about a platform that would share my work with new readers. Substack was intimidating because I would have to bring my own readers and I had none (except my mom and my IRL writers group, thank you!). Medium had the big advantage of distributing my work, especially when I submitted it to a publication.

I was hooked and thrilled when someone new interacted with one of my essays. I felt like I was plugged into a global conversation and I was making a contribution. A few of my essays got hundreds or even thousands of views. It is intoxicating to go viral, and it makes me want to chase that high with another essay and another essay. But the reality for me is that hoping to go viral is like a singer waiting to be discovered on youtube or something. It might happen, but it places the agency outside of myself and it can be lonely.

The Reciprocal editors write about how few articles go viral on Medium, even for the big writers. It is an elusive high. Instead, they say that writers will find more satisfaction by focusing on engaging in a community of supportive writers and readers. They might still go viral and make money, but along the way, they won’t be alone.

The other thing I love about Reciprocal is their Nature Prompts. I am excited to try my hand (since I have been rocking the Vocal Media Challenges all year), although I am a little upset that I just missed the vegetable prompt because I am a vegetable farmer!

This “interactive community of writers” model fits with how I have come to write and read here. In June of 2022, Laura M. Quainoo and I started a book club on Medium. Each month we pick a book and invite writers to read and respond on the 28th of that month. We invite writers to use the tag #RaWBC for their posts, which stands for “Readers and Writers Book Club.”

Thank you to Sahil Patel Dr. Preeti Singh and Yana Bostongirl for editing Reciprocal and accepting me as a writer.

As part of my first post ever on Reciprocal, I would like to lift up the other authors of the #RaWBC book club and invite Reciprocal readers to explore their work. RaWBC is always open to new writers. Just read one of our book selections (past or present) and write about it and tag it.

Laura M. Quainoo was playing the reciprocal game before Reciprocal existed. She practices what she calls “batch reading.” For practical reasons she can’t get to Medium every day, so she stacks up her favorite authors’ work and reads, highlights, and responds to them one essay after another. It is exciting for me when Laura gets going on my essays because I might open my Medium and have 27 notifications, all from her.

Aunty Jean is one of our consistent RaWBC writers and readers. I think she embodies the Reciprocal ethos and I appreciate her insights and attention.

cyberwyrd and I have been reciprocal friends on Medium forever. She read my Climate Crisis YA novel that I published here and invited me to read her dystopian/utopian novel The Data Raiders, which explores restorative justice as a tool for change. It is good, btw!

Thank you for reading!

© 2023 Andrew Gaertner. All rights reserved.

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