Thursday, November 25, 2010
Six Percenter
Went on a charity run this morning (ostensibly a Thanksgiving run for a food bank, but it would really be charitable to describe it as a run on my part, as I sloshed and shuffled alongside 9yo DD for about an hour's worth of 5k) then heard Roseanne Cash on a radio interview on the way home, extending some advice a friend had given her: "Sing for the 6 percent who are poets. They will always hear you."
Well, this one among the 6 percent may not hear you, because her ears are fucked up from Meniere's, but I will ask what, what, what did you say over and over because I WANT to hear you.
I was up over and over all night with headache and anxiety. One of those 5 a.m. mindswirls was built around what you can and can't say to people, and how to handle these things with DD. She no longer believes in Santa Claus. But it's a good bet some of her friends do, and so how do you deal with that? It requires a certain amount of social finesse. To not be rude and mean, but to just be secure in one's own convictions, tolerate ambiguity, listen with an open mind, but never let those nutjobs gain an inch when it comes to policy.
It's like me trying to converse about (or to avoid conversing about) monogamy, or Creationism, or the impartiality of Fox News. At this season, with all the togetherness, these things just...come up.
I'm sorry, what was that you said about Don't Ask Don't Tell? My hearing is just terrible.
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2 comments:
Erykah Badu--love that voice
Not so weird how Dallas looks
So much like D.C. both
Should be pixelated
Not you Erykah
Good thoughts on an ever present condition...I found out that speaking truthfully from my experience is a great way to get screamed at during parties, holiday dinners, etc. I've tried nodding along while listening to others' intolerance ("Hmm, I see, intriguing") & always hated myself later.
Doesn't it do some incremental, perhaps microscopic but still extant good to challenge the uncle-in-law who (for instance, not thinking of anyone in particular, oh no) posits that all non-Christians should be driven from our shores at gunpoint? Shouldn't there be a rule that you should have to be made to feel uncomfortable for such opinions?
Call me strange, but I actually like those who bark their opposing views at me more than those who seem to be slyly witholding. The latter are the ones I could distrust.
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