A Cold Front

Have you ever felt so at odds with people you run into that you wonder, is it me or what? I think of myself as being pretty comfortable around most anyone. But recently I’m discovering that maybe that statement isn’t so true. That maybe as I get older my usual boisterous self is rubbing people I meet the wrong way. I admit that of late, some of the people I’ve ran into aren’t my cup of tea. That most of the people I hear and see say some of the craziest things. Things that even I would give pause to saying with my tongue planted squarely in my cheek.

I don’t know, maybe I’m being a bit too sensitive about the whole thing. Maybe the best thing to do is let the “water roll off my back” and live my life. I mean each of us has the God-granted right to live our lives as we see fit. And your way of conducting your self doesn’t have to be in “goosestep” with my way I live. Still a lot of times I can just feel this cold front blowing over the whole world. Where it feels like our patience’s and good manners with each other have simply ran out.

I know, I know, I could be making a mountain out of a mole hill. But when it comes to dealing with others across the broad spectrum of society, doesn’t it seem like we tolerate each other less and less? It’s like the politeness we once expressed toward one other has been “tossed out with the bath water.”

My point in bringing up all this is to say, why are we so anger with each other? I mean, growing up there was some tensions out there; rather it was racial, ethical, or religious. But for the most part we seem to be going in a good direction toward working through those problems. (Or maybe that was just a fantasy playing out in my young mind?) Because now if an injustice is pointed out by one group, another group in our “society” simply dismisses it with whatever racial, ethical, or religious slur they can think of.

People we are better than this, and if we don’t put a foot down and remember that we have a lot more in common than we ever have apart. Then maybe our “great society, that shining city upon a hill” is truly in for a hell of a cold front.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fail-Safe

Image
Through the paper-thin walls of this old house, I can hear my neighbors getting ready for another day. Laying here remember when I used to do that, working at night so I could take care of the kids, while my wife went to work. Yesterday sorta marked a tipping point for me I suppose. I finally got my consultation with the gastroenterologist. So we are working the set-up some tests my primary care physician has been wanting for me to have for months. While I would love nothing more than to tell my PCP, “I told you so”. But I suppose knowing is better than not knowing. Although I do find some comfort in ignorant bliss.  I get the impression some people feel I am an optimist. But I like to think of myself more as a realist. What some may mistake as optimism is actually nothing more than analytics. Where I breakdown a given situation and create a solution. That may sound cold and frankly less romantic. But you must understand, after living so long in a void of no emotion (due to
Read more

Moments You've Lived

Image
It’s 5:15 in the afternoon and my stupid ass is back outside. I just checked the phone and it’s a balmy 90° with a feel like temperature of 99°f. I figured since I was hot in the room with the AC on, I might as well come outside and do same thing. Earlier I read a funny meme from my sibling on Facebook that read, “Can someone send me a hug?” copy and share. Rather sarcastically I replied, “We are not huggers , didn’t we grow up in the same house?” Probably no truer words have ever been spoken about our lives as kids. Oh, we weren’t beaten or overly abused, we were just not raised all “touchy feely”. Not surprisingly most kids of our generation weren’t raised that way either. We were provided for in our working class suburban homes. It’s just that a lot of time wasn’t devoted to things like feelings and emotions. You were expected to tough it out and swallow those tears. I guess one place where we could let our emotions go was church. Raised during the infancy of the “Pentecostal Moveme
Read more

Blowing Breeze

Image
It’s later in the afternoon so I decided to take advantage of the lighter humidity and come back outside. There’s a lite breeze blowing so while the gnats are still out, at least they’re having to put in some extra effort to lite on me. You can still smell where the grass got cut this morning, but sadly the faint scent of BBQ from the restaurant down the street is gone.  The poor old sycamore tree leaves look a bit sad. Hanging like they’re on their last leg from the limbs. There’s no point in bringing up the fig bush/tree, it’s all but shed most of its leaves. It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago both plants were vibrant and green, with a bountiful crop of figs. But the birds have mostly abandon their nest in the fig branches. With the kids grown and the shade and food supply dried up, I can’t say I blame them.  But I’m the human here, I’m adaptable with opposable thumbs. I can’t move on as easily as the birds. My so-called cognitive reasoning insist I stick aro
Read more