Returning for a Second Sail

A Philadelphia couple reprised their sail from August 2015 by returning on a sunny but cool spring afternoon. They sailed in moderate winds that clocked around north and occasionally gusted. 

Iris Carter is a hospital administrator who coordinates admissions thousands of children among nine hospitals. The last time we talked, she and Raymond Bey were anticipating Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia. I asked her what stood out.

“Well, I’m not Catholic but it was very heartfelt to see him. We watched the parade with him in his Popemobile. Suddenly he stopped the motorcade because he saw a child who looked to be developmentally disabled. He went over and met the boy and touched him on the head. Then he hugged him. It was magnificent. The news interviewed his mother. She said she had no idea that would happen and was overwhelmed. It was a very touching scene.”

Raymond talked about a more current overwhelming scene downtown. “Last week they held the NFL Draft at the Art Museum, which people know as the ‘Rocky Steps.’ They put up an eight-story structure on the steps. The draft drew 300,000 people downtown to watch. People got more upset about the traffic jam from that than they did when the Pope came.”

I asked if they were as astonished as I was that President Trump’s approval ratings are so high among his base. ABC-Washington Post reported that 96% would vote for him again.

“No, it’s not surprising,” Iris said. “They haven’t seen the effect yet of what he’s doing. On health care, for example, they don’t know the impact of taking out pre-existing conditions from Obamacare. They don’t realize that pregnancy is considered pre-existing under the ACA. We’ll see if that ultimately is left out when the Senate comes up with its version of the bill.”

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