Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Outer Baffles For Inner Battles
Again, my last post is gone. I have noted my fellow bloggers on this particular blogworld take it in stride. I want to scream and rant (gee, where did I get that concept?), but there's no point; the price is right, FREE, the overall service is good, and it's good for my undernourished sense of humility to have my timeless prose vanish on me once in a while.
Wise people have told me I have unresolved issues. I've had an awful lot of death and abandonment, I suppose. I sometimes find that there's some residual anger, but I have no clue what to do with it. I don't feel like hurting anyone else; I think I've had enough of pain for a while, I don't care to hurt myself. I might be maturing a little. Hitting the half-century of life mark can do that.
I was talking to a friend the other day who nearly died with a liver problem. During our conversation she said, "Of course, I haven't had nearly the kind of suffering you've been through." Smacked me right in the "passing through life with blinders" area. That would be the outer edges of my frontal lobes, I think. "What pain?", I'm musing, because SHE has had one hell of a bad year herself. It's a running joke between us that she calls me up and says "Let's go jump off the pier" and I tell her hell NO, first, that water's cold, second, there's usually sharks, and third, I do not jump off anything into any substance anymore.
I tend to avoid thinking too much about what hurts. I try to find a perspective that minimizes it and move on. There's soldiers coming home with parts missing and I'm feeling sorry for myself? Seems kind of stupid and selfish. Then I get a letter from my first ex-wife. What's her closing sentence? "Why don't you take care of yourself instead of everyone else for a change?"
So I head outside and sit in the gorgeous blue night for a while, smoking and thinking, or what passes for thinking at 3 AM.
I love the soldiers. They're doing what I can't. So I'll sign up for some of those "goodies" packages that get sent with things they need, or I'll pick up some phone cards and find out how to get those sent over. Maybe I'll do both.
My buddy Harley called me tonight with a Blues song he and his band are committing to CD. Over a cheap little phone with a cheap little headset, it sounded excellent! The entire band is excited about that song. I can't wait to put a CD in my player, and fire up the tower speakers and hear it like it was recorded!
Oh good. I can't quite let the rant go. I thought about it; been trying to hold it back. But it's a two-parter, and, like I said, I got issues. So here goes.
This ass-licking PC crap needs to STOP. As much as the conservatives get accused of conspiracies, there is a total agenda being worked out by unholy alliances of the NEA, who want to teach kids a whole lot of concepts most people would strongly disagree with. I'll save details for a future rant. But in case nobody notices, all the whining about poor underpaid teachers has now resulted in there being a glut of poor overpaid teachers. Equity is there. So get off that bandwagon.
Now the godless dorks want to quit saying "Merry Christmas" because it might offend some tree-worshipper, Muslims (like they don't offend the freakin' planet), atheist, or other tiny minority. Much like "Under God" in the Pledge Of Allegiance, all they have to do is NOT say it.
EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT of Americans say they believe in God, that they're Christians. That's a MAJORITY. So why are we afraid to speak out against PC crap? Because they have certain truths? SO WHAT? So do WE. They speak out against racial prejudice. Well hey. I'm against that. Aren't you? I don't need some lamebrain to tell me that's wrong. For one thing, prejudice comes in a variety of flavors and forms. If you don't know any black people, Native Americans, Mexicans, Asians or some other minorities well enough to ask them about this, well, maybe it's time you quit letting your hidden prejudices stop you from learning, and get to know somebody of another race well. The truth of the matter is, an awful lot of the people preaching against it are practicing it in some modified form. And us white people (I'm not racially mixed enough for the Native American in me to show except perhaps to a forensic anthropologist, and a girl named Jill who used to sleep with a lot of 'em) don't SEE it. We often can't without a little help. I have to warn you, though. Sometimes blunt honesty from minority friends on this issue hurts. Try to remember they're trying to help you grow into a better person.
I watched an episode of "Judging Amy" the other day (while doing 3 other things). This white girl was driving home a point that she had been raped because "I don't sleep with black guys." Now I mentioned this in the Rant That Vanished. The people on the show acted like she was the biggest bigot on the planet, and that's just STUPID. That's a choice a lot of modern young people face, from ALL RACES, and it does NOT have to be about racism. I know black parents that are appalled when their kids date white. I know black kids that won't date white, too. I'm focusing on black/white here, but don't think I'm excluding other races. I wouldn't dare.
If you truly treat those of other races as your EQUAL, like you're charged to do by the U.S. Declaration Of Independence to start with, you're just being a good American. Speak up when you see job discrimination. Speak up if you see people of a different race being treated badly. Let a store manager know you're not shopping there anymore because of what you saw. Then back it up with action. Maybe polite behavior is the key to it. Maybe my being a long-hair shows me some things others of white persuasion don't get to experience. I certainly get my share of prejudice, usually from white people. People of minority races seem to understand that I'm a voluntary outcast. Maybe they accept me more because of that, I'm not sure.
Much as I generally think of Warren Beatty as a liberal wiener, watch that movie "Bullard" sometime. LISTEN TO HIM. He's making some valid points about how corporate America would LOVE to see us become one race. Blending of the races isn't a bad thing, but erasing any of them would be a mistake! Turning us into a single race would be, too. We'd just be that much easier to manipulate.
So...get over hating. Work your way past Closet Racism, but learn exactly what racism is. Remember that people of other races are often racist, too. I once had a grandfather yank his granddaughter out of my Karate class because she admired me. She'd been coming home from class talking excitedly about how her teacher was encouraging her, showing off her technique (she was one of those exceptional students who hear every word, retain every move...she could have earned her black belt much quicker than most students). He finally came to class one night, and kept saying, "You white" to me like it was a crime. I tried to laugh it off. I tried to joke it away. He wasn't buying it. I showed him that my teachers were black. I pointed out that I was the ONLY Karate instructor of any color willing to teach in that part of town. I pointed out that my fees were the lowest of anyone, and that I kept none of the money for myself. I put it all back into equipment for the class. None of that mattered. The girl looked up to a white man, and he wasn't having any of that for any reason.
I will always be saddened by that experience. I guess I needed it, though.
Ok, I jumped from "Merry Christmas" being banned into racism. Let's get back to "Merry Christmas". Corporate America is jumping on the bandwagon in a big way. Make them stop. If you can't find any cards, wrapping, etc. that says "Merry Christmas", tell the manager you'll be back when they feature such items, and not until. It's a fine thing to wish.
It just occurred to me that some might disagree with my entire sentiment and WANT "Merry Christmas" greetings to go away.
Well, KISS MY ASS.
Then have yourself a Merry Christmas, ok?
