Month: December 2015

Wally World After Dark

Posted on Posted in Choices, dogs, Habits, Parenting, Rude hatful people, UncategorizedTagged Leave a comment

If you want to see the weird, wild, insane, and down right disgusting, to to Wally World after dark. Shudder…. My day was going great until I had to go in there. Yeah, the one in Southaven (next time a 15 minute drive out of my way first)! If you have ever been to the one in Southaven, MS, you know what I mean. From the guy dribbling his basketball down the aisle until it got away from him and broke the olive oil bottles, the woman with four kids running wild and having a fist fight right in the middle of the store, to the guy who called me a Beach (you know what he was trying to say),when I asked his clueless, phone chatting, wife to let me by. I had to remind him how to say the word in English, reminding him the difference between a bitch (female dog) and a beach are vast – and and got off one of my best zingers in ages.

“Senior, I am not a beach, a beach has sand and rocks, I don’t. And I doubt you could find your rocks with a map and a compass, as they must be very small. After all, a real man doesn’t call an elderly woman names.” So, he counters with the expected “F You Beach. ”

I managed not to laugh, but said, “I didn’t know beaches could do that. However, I prefer a man, not something with tiny rocks, who thinks he is a man because he can swear in two languages. But, it is nice to know you fancy me.” Boy was his wife ticked…. I speak enough Spanish to know he would be sleeping on the sofa tonight. The guy with them was laughing like a loon. He kept saying, That old lady got you, bro, she got you good. The wife was not a happy camper…. Ha ha. I won. If you don’t want to be set into your place, don’t take on an English teacher in a verbal war. We win.

Like I said, Wally World after dark, you just never know what you will see.

Stop Saying That!

Posted on Posted in Choices, conversation, Faith, Habits, Parenting, ReligionTagged , , , 1 Comment

I was sitting in a café having breakfast this morning when a gaggle of 20ish to 40ish women came in and sat down at the table behind me. They were talking loud and being a bit obnoxious, but I tried to ignore them and read my book while eating breakfast. Soon, however, it became impossible to concentrate because they were talking over each other, squealing, and generally trying to out talk each other. One phrase kept coming up, over and over and over…. “Oh My G-d.” It was used so often I actually started counting the number of times I heard it. In a 25 minute stretch, it was said 44 times by different females, with different vocal expressions. It was used to convey everything from awe to anger, to agreement, to disappointment. It was, quite frankly, annoying beyond words.

I guess that three word phrase is today’s equivalent of earlier generations catch words such as like, you know, just too…whatever. And it is designed to make whomever utters it sound like some empty headed wannabe (another catch word) who has no idea how to make a cogent remark of exclamation.

However, the reason this constant utterance of Oh my G-d bothers me so much is that it seems, well, offensive to those who are Christians. I was taught that to use the word G-d in casual language, or even more so, as part of a swear word, was highly offensive to the Divine. When one calls His name, one is asking for His attention. We say in in reverence and supplication in prayer, we say it in times of dire need for direction or help, we call upon Him in rejoicing and thanks, but we do not simply use His name as an expletive or common exclamation of surprise or shock.

I always remember the prayer of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane when he calls out in spiritual agony, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, KJV) That is the standard of emotional being that would result in the need to cry out to the Father in such a way. Not just because someone has spoken about a juicy bit of gossip, and everyone responds with equally juicy surprise and avid curiosity for the speaker to tell more.

I recently had an bit of a verbal discussion with a woman who was allowing her children to jump off a retaining wall into a very busy car park. At least I thought she was allowing it. She had her face buried in her phone text messaging. Three other adults asked the children not to jump off the wall because they could get hurt as there was so much traffic. Finally, after the children ignored everyone, I asked where their mother was. They pointed her out. I walked over and told her that her children were in danger of being hit by cars since they kept jumping into traffic, and if she didn’t get off her damned phone, I was going to call the police and let them sort her out. She looked up at me in surprise and said it was none of my business what her children did. I told her it certainly was if I ran over one of them when they ran out in front of me. I calmly started to dial the emergency number, but before I hit send, she screamed, Oh My G-d, what the hell are you doing? I told her, I don’t know what He is doing other than keeping your kids alive, because you are too busy playing on your phone to pay attention to your children. I, however, am trying to get you to be a responsible mother. Then she upped the ante with Oh my F-ing G-d. I responded with the comment that the as far as I knew sex had nothing to do with the conception of Jesus Christ, and the Divine probably wouldn’t have sex with her no matter how much she begged. She threw her hands in the air and stomped off to her car, only remembering to call her children when she was half way there. When I passed her car, she was still texting. And probably using the OMG comment every two seconds. Some times sarcasm is just too intelligent for people to understand.

My point, however, is this. There are many of us who find the causal used of the name of the Divine in common vernacular, to be offensive and rude. Please, just stop and find a better way of expressing yourselves. To me it is just as offensive as being called the N word is to black people. Remember, when you use the word G-d you are asking for the attention of the Father. And if you add the word damn to the first word, you are asking Him to bring damnation down on someone. He probably won’t, but asking him to might bring you more attention that you would care for when you get to the other side. I don’t know about you, but taking on a deity is not my idea of smart.

Prejudice, Choice, Preference

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Recently, I had a rather heated discussion with someone concerning racism. Which is, as we all know, a form of prejudice. It is my opinion that prejudice is part of most cultures and is definitely rampant amongst certain social groups. The definition of the word prejudice [prej-uh-dis] as follows:

Noun:

1. an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.

2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.

3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding an ethnic, racial, social, or religious group.

4. such attitudes considered collectively: The war against prejudice is never-ending.

5. damage or injury; detriment: a law that operated to the prejudice of the majority.

6. Verb (used with object), prejudiced, prejudicing.

to affect with a prejudice, either favorable or unfavorable: His honesty and sincerity prejudiced us in his favor.

7. Idioms

without prejudice, Law. without dismissing, damaging, or otherwise affecting a legal interest or demand.

(I know, it one is not supposed to use dictionary definitions when trying to make a point, it is a lazy way of doing so. However, there are those who simply haven’t a clue concerning the real meaning of the word, nor do they know how to use it properly in either the written or spoken English/American language.)

So, if prejudice is to prejudge and form an opinion in the negative without knowledge, thought, or reason, does that mean a person prejudges and creates a prejudice that it is a choice based on bogus or non information? No, really, I am serious. Because, quite frankly, I am really tired of being labeled by those who don’t bother to gain knowledge concerning a topic before spouting off and blaming everyone but their own prejudging for all the wrongs in the world.

Is it a prejudice to prefer one particular football team over all others to the total exclusion of other teams, or is it a preference based on knowledge, thought, or reason? Is it a preconceived opinion or feeling that is unreasonable but based within ones social sphere of other fans of that team? Is it a knee jerk emotional reaction to get angry when that team loses, or does one stop and think through the game and realize that the other team was simply better that day? Or, does one get simply want to take the anger out on the coach or a team member in an emotional reaction based on unreasonable feelings? Is it a choice or is it a preference? One based on logic and knowledge, or one base in emotional overload.

Is it prejudice or racism to enjoy a song by a black singer that is also a hit by a singer of another color? Is it choice based on knowledge and understanding of that piece of music, or is it a prejudice against the black singer if you like the other singer better? Choice/preference or prejudice? Do your prefer the non black singer because of your preconceived ideas, or because of hostile feelings toward the person of color, or do you simply happen to like one rendition over the other because it sounds better to you? For instance, I prefer the Bing Crosby rendition of White Christmas, because it reminds me of my childhood and happy times. I don’t dismiss the value of other singers, no matter their background, but I prefer that song for personal reasons. I willingly listen to most other singers and their renditions, but that one will always be my favorite. Does that make me prejudiced toward other singers, or do I have a preference?

When it comes down to it, we all have prejudices about myriad of things, people, issues, and yes, football teams. Some of us are never going to wear Manolo heels, not because we have an issue with Manolo, but because high heels hurt our feet. Logic says, if it hurts, don’t do that again. But, some of us will also not wear products made in places where they keep people working for pennies as virtual slaves because we are against that sort of thing. We are prejudice, however, we are also making a choice based on knowledge and understanding of the suffering of the workers. That fine line between choice and prejudice is only crossed when we, as human beings, take those feelings out on other people because we allow emotion to overcome logic and knowledge of the facts.

It is well known among my friends and unfriends (a few have done so because I won’t back down on certain issues), that I do not bow to white guilt. There are two reasons, first, slavery happened over a century before I was born. I had nothing to do with it therefore I have no guilt over what my ancestors may or may not have done in the past. Second, I was raised in the US Military post Korean War. Therefore, I grew up with, went to school with, engaged with, and befriended children of all colors, cultures, and backgrounds. Living on an Army base, especially overseas, was like living in a special world where everyone just got on with doing what had to be done. There was no time, nor place, for racism, prejudice, or attitudes. Choice or preference, or simply how things were?

Along the lines of refusing to bow to white guilt, I am adamantly opposed to allowing enemies of my country into the United States. Jihadist Islam is not something that we should tolerate in a freedom loving country based on the values and morals within the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The culture and religion of the radical Islamist is exactly opposite of what most Americans believe and they are a threat to our security. Some would say I am a bigot or a racists, and I would be if this opinion was based on knee jerk emotional reactions and not on knowledge, logic, and an understanding of what the jihadist radical islamic people believe and what they want to do to all who do not believe exactly as they do. Ergo, people, it is the JRI who are prejudiced, bigoted, and racist – not I.

However, there are those that believe I should be ashamed of my thoughts, and I should welcome refugees (I use the term loosely here) who hate our country to waltz right in and do as they will. We should bow down to their demands and give them everything they want so they will like us and not hurt us. How did that work out for other countries and cultures in the past? Read your history, it is about to be repeated because people are terrified to stand up and state the obvious after all their social media group will lambaste them into submission by using guilt and passive aggressive attacks. So, is it choice to stand up to the enemies, is it prejudice to want to stop others from taking away our freedom, is it a preference to remain free, or is it simply the way things are?

I don’t care what your skin color may be, or not. I don’t care where you live, or who your social groups are, as long as you aren’t hurting others, cheating others, taking from others without giving back, or using your social groups to make impossible demands so you can remain a child in an adult body.

I don’t demand anything of anyone, I ask that people remember how far we have come from 1864 and how much change was wrought by Martin Luther King and his followers, black and white. (With, of course, the exception of the ambulance chasing rabble rousers like Sharpton, Jackson, and Farrakhan.)

Under the changes that took place during and after the tenure of Dr. King, the world opened up for everyone of color – and changed the world for everyone in the United States. It wasn’t until the radicalized people like the Black Panthers and Malcolm X took over that the peaceful changing world of race acceptance was shattered. It wasn’t until the US government displace fathers in the black communities, thriving black communities by the way, and families fell apart that we began to see the gangs form and violence foment within the broken communities. When Uncle Sam became Daddy Sam, many succumbed to the easy money and gradual erosion of personal accomplishment and pride in a job well done. Things went from “I can do this” to “I deserve this because of my skin color.” Yet even with the violence – mostly black young men killing black young men who have been disenfranchised as valuable to the community – there are those who see past the propaganda and refuse to be yet another government statistic. Bravo for them! It is too bad that those with so much potential become so convinced that they are worthless simply because the government tells them so to keep them on the welfare system. Does that make me prejudiced toward people of color? No, because the facts and knowledge based on information provided by the communities and history of the people themselves provide the logic behind my words. A knee jerk prejudice reaction would be to assume that all people of color are violent, ignorant, and worthless. Kind of like all Democratic senators did after the civil war. And, like Lyndon Johnson and his cronies did after the death of Dr. King. After all, he created the great welfare program resulting in the enslavement of the minds of the black communities.

Before, you go pointing fingers, making assumptions, loudly proclaiming someone a certain label, take a look at how you are behaving. Are you being prejudicial, based on emotion and preconceived ideas planted in your minds by those with an agenda to control you and your thoughts and ideas, or are you making a choice in how you behave based on knowledge, understanding, and facts found within today’s news and yesterday’s history? Are you spouting slogans like parrots forced upon your conscience by repetition of those who are prejudging those who are not like you, or, are you thinking past the hype and searching for the rock bottom truth behind the propaganda? Is it prejudice, choice, or preference? Who is making you point fingers and label others? Is it really you, or is it a feel good reaction to unpleasant truths? Really, I would love to know. Because I am really tired of being called names when I disagree with the popular propaganda machine robots. Really.