pluripotent

I was in the locker room at the gym on Monday, changing into my exercise gear while trying to keep my body covered as much as possible, because I've always been a bit of a prude about my nudity in the locker room. CNN was on, talking about Obama lifting the ban one stem cell research. A happy blonde woman came in and said 'Obama is signing the order to lift the stem cell bill ban.' and I gave a close lipped smile thinking 'uh oh' because I don't know which way this woman falls on the stem cell debate and the gym is where I go to escape reality and the complications of politics and the dire state of the world for an hour and a half. Honestly, how will I change someone's opinion while putting on my sports bra? Then she looked at the woman across from her, 'I'm very happy for today. I have Huntington's.' That's when I noticed that she was having trouble getting her coat on. The woman across from her didn't say anything about the order but said, 'Here let me help you zip up your coat, it's cold out.' I have no way of knowing if she was for or against the lift on the ban, but she ignored the whole political minefield and did the kind thing in helping her. Later that night when Toby saw Obama on the news he mentioned how nice it was to finally have a rational man in office. Amen to that. I'm for lifting the ban because I see the enormous potential with research but when I think of this woman at the gym or a journalist afflicted with Parkinson's on a Frontline about Parkinson's that I saw last month, I can only imagine the breadth of what this means to them.