Morning after.
1) I am still angry. Angrier, possibly, in that cold pit of the stomach way.
I am also a TOTAL GOOBER, because I Metro'd into work plotting writing letters TO OPRAH about the whole thing. Y'all, I don't even WATCH Oprah. And yet, as
smittywing aptly observed: "I can't help but think that's kind of awesome and Oprah would totally humiliate that dude on national television. And she'd have Dr. Phil to back her up." Even so, the sane, reasonable person that lives in the back of my head is laughing her ass off, however, at the fact that I really did spend my entire commute plotting. THAT person has pointed out that I would be better off writing to Rep. Mayhall. So I think I shall.
2) Most importantly: you all are awesome. I promise to respond to comments tonight when I'm not at work and can pay attention. But this point leads me to my final point:
3) It is the continued awesomeness of the people I meet that make me so angry about this bill. Forget the obesity part. Forget the unconstitutionality issue. Forget the part of this that really is about me taking it personally.
The deep-down essential part of my anger is about this: People are amazing. They are. Sometimes people are pains in the ass. We all of us carry around labels and preconceptions and apply them. That's part of being human. It doesn't change the fact that every person deserves to be treated as their own person and valued in their own right. Do I fail in this? Yes. Often. I'll keep trying till I die, and I still won't be able to get it right all of the time. Pobody's nerfect. I can accept that.
What I refuse to accept is that I live in a society where someone considers a bright-line solution to a complicated problem that on its face causes humiliation and discrimination. I don't care what kind of discrimination, and I'm not in the business of comparing pain. The point is that it is not acceptable.
I demand leaders that aspire to thoughtful problem-solving, not knee-jerk reactions. I demand a society that doesn't value the greater good by dollar-value alone. I demand fellow citizens, in the global definition, who think about their actions and who don't equate disagreement with disrespect. I demand a world that understands that shared pain is halved, and shared joy doubled. And my leaders, my society, my fellow global citizens, my world, should demand that of me.
It is a question of respect for each other. And Mayhall's bill, like so many, many other horribles, most of far greater magnitude, is fundamentally disrespectful of humanity. His bill is a small thing, and I hate it that our society wields such disrespect even on the small, nitty-gritty levels, because the small rolls up into the big.
I demand a world that understands the value of respect and demands that we respect each other. Others have the right to demand that of me, and I will damn well demand it of them.
I am also a TOTAL GOOBER, because I Metro'd into work plotting writing letters TO OPRAH about the whole thing. Y'all, I don't even WATCH Oprah. And yet, as
smittywing aptly observed: "I can't help but think that's kind of awesome and Oprah would totally humiliate that dude on national television. And she'd have Dr. Phil to back her up." Even so, the sane, reasonable person that lives in the back of my head is laughing her ass off, however, at the fact that I really did spend my entire commute plotting. THAT person has pointed out that I would be better off writing to Rep. Mayhall. So I think I shall.
2) Most importantly: you all are awesome. I promise to respond to comments tonight when I'm not at work and can pay attention. But this point leads me to my final point:
3) It is the continued awesomeness of the people I meet that make me so angry about this bill. Forget the obesity part. Forget the unconstitutionality issue. Forget the part of this that really is about me taking it personally.
The deep-down essential part of my anger is about this: People are amazing. They are. Sometimes people are pains in the ass. We all of us carry around labels and preconceptions and apply them. That's part of being human. It doesn't change the fact that every person deserves to be treated as their own person and valued in their own right. Do I fail in this? Yes. Often. I'll keep trying till I die, and I still won't be able to get it right all of the time. Pobody's nerfect. I can accept that.
What I refuse to accept is that I live in a society where someone considers a bright-line solution to a complicated problem that on its face causes humiliation and discrimination. I don't care what kind of discrimination, and I'm not in the business of comparing pain. The point is that it is not acceptable.
I demand leaders that aspire to thoughtful problem-solving, not knee-jerk reactions. I demand a society that doesn't value the greater good by dollar-value alone. I demand fellow citizens, in the global definition, who think about their actions and who don't equate disagreement with disrespect. I demand a world that understands that shared pain is halved, and shared joy doubled. And my leaders, my society, my fellow global citizens, my world, should demand that of me.
It is a question of respect for each other. And Mayhall's bill, like so many, many other horribles, most of far greater magnitude, is fundamentally disrespectful of humanity. His bill is a small thing, and I hate it that our society wields such disrespect even on the small, nitty-gritty levels, because the small rolls up into the big.
I demand a world that understands the value of respect and demands that we respect each other. Others have the right to demand that of me, and I will damn well demand it of them.