Filling Uncle Sam's Coffers đŠ
Filling Uncle Sam's Coffers đŠ
The Tax Man doesn't play when it comes to his money.
Death and Taxes
Itâs tax season, so that means that Iâve been procrastinating and still need to file these W-2s.
In the meantime, I fully intended to tell some jokes about how absurd it is that Uncle Sam still expects you to pay taxes no matter whatâs going on in your life. (Sidebar: My mom died a week before the tax filing deadline in 2022, which at the time was not great but at least it wasnât on Thanksgiving morning.)
But in trying to write this post two things happened. I:
realized writing jokes is very hard lol
started crying because itâs still too soon :(
So, the best I can offer is this dramatic retelling of how I was finally coerced into filing my taxes that year, which I imagined as narrated in the voice of James Earl Jones. (R.I.P.)
[INT. LIVING ROOM] Itâs Spring 2022 and Ro is splayed out on the sofa. Sheâs feeling a little down.
(Shouting to the heavens)
RO: Dear God, just take me now!
Her phone immediately buzzes. Instead of a name, she sees a bald eagle (đŠ ) on the caller ID... Out of curiosity, she decides to answer it. A pair of hands suddenly extend from the phone and aggressively grab her by her shirt. Itâs the Tax Man! A voice starts shouting from the screen.
TAX MAN: Whereâs our money you delinquent?
RO: *mumbles something inaudibly through tears*
TAX MAN: Ohhh, your mom died? My bad. *Hands loosen their grip*
Okay girl, you can get back to us when you donât feel like jumping off a cliff.
RO: Thanks, I really appreciaâ
TAX MAN: PSYCHE. *Hands grasp her shirt again*
You have two days to file your taxes, or youâll have to forfeit your first-born child. Get it?
She nods and the call ends. Rihannaâs Bitch Better Have My Money starts playing and fades into the background.
-END-
Good Grief
âYou think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.â - James Baldwin
Early on, I was really surprised by how often grief showed up in the different forms of art and pop culture I turned to as a form of escape. At first, I resented itâwhy couldnât I catch a break, but Iâve come to appreciate the new language theyâve equipped me with to describe the grief Iâve been feeling. For example, Iâve really struggled to explain, without sounding dramatic, that Iâm not the same person I was before my mom died. A lot of things that used to matter to me no longer feel important. On its face, it could easily look like apathy. And sure, maybe depressionâbut also, a lot of my perspective and priorities have shifted. For a good while, that even included taking an extended break from writing. What was the point in writing any more when language could not change my reality?
I recently read Michael Arceneauxâs interview with Jason Parham in the Los Angeles Times, and itâs a really rich read. In it Arceneaux, discusses losing his mom and a close friend to cancer while other major milestones were happening in his life. And bruh do I empathize because all of a sudden, all the things you were chasing for so longâthe career, the accolades, the recognitionâbegin to feel so insignificant.
Arceneaux said it plainlyâgrief changes you:
âIâm not the first person to say this, but Iâm learning in grief that I am a different person after losing her. Part of that is rediscovering an actual love of writing. This is a roundabout way of saying maybe I should do a newsletter.â
After my mom died, I couldnât bring myself to touch a pen. However, a very good friend gifted me with two journals that had these messages on their spines:
âwriting is a lifelineâ
âlove is a choice we can make everydayâ
I stared at them for a while, until I finally felt ready to crack one open and began to write creatively again. Very grateful to that friend, who is also a writer in her own right, for her encouragement to keep writing, and to Michael Arceneaux for sharing his experience with grief because itâs helped me find a way to voice mine. I just received my copy of his new book I Finally Bought Some Jordans, so canât wait to read it.
(P.S. What is it about writers, and grieving, that makes us want to start newsletters? Ha! Also, if I havenât said it enough - THANK YOU! for reading this one <3)
Belly Laughs
I started binge listening to the Jokes on You Podcast earlier this month and it has felt like a such a necessary gift for my comedy-loving soul. Itâs hosted by comedians Mel (thebaddestmitch) and Talley (talleyberrybaby) and they are absolutely hilarious. They discuss everything from fatphobia and colorism to their experiences navigating standup comedy. (TW there are also a few episodes about suicide, which they reference sometimes as self-checkout. đ)
In listening to them, I felt frustrated by how refreshing and novel it still feels to see two young Black women taking up space professionally in comedy because as I know from my own group of friends, Black women are the funniest people on the planet. Exhibit A:
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Quick Bursts
Gloria Hallelujah Woods always coming in with the good word: âAt the end of the day, the day gotta end.â