What Color Are Your Glasses?
I do not understand how two people can look at the exact same set of circumstances and see things so dramatically differently. I am one of many folks on an e-mail list of my high school classmates, and I periodically received newsy e-mails. Many are the kind that let us know that someone’s mother or father has passed away; sadder still are the ones that let us know one of our classmates passed away. There are invitations to “mini-reunions” and occasionally to clubs where some band we all liked in high school is playing.
I’m not particularly close to any of my classmates because I didn’t exactly feel like I fit in in high school. I was most assuredly a late bloomer. But I’ve allowed my e-mail address to remain on the list because I just like keeping up. When sappy “remember how much better things were being a child in the 50’s” come in, I just delete them and don’t give them much mind. I’m of the opinion that if that sort of thing appeals to you, you’ll think your childhood times were better than the present no matter when you grew up. My memory is too good for that sort of mind game.
Anyway, something happened this week that kind of threw the high school newsy e-mails topsy turvy. One of my classmates sent out a ranting about how Obama wouldn’t provide a legitimate birth certificate to prove his citizenship, and when we get to the bottom of this constitutional travesty he won’t be “much of a president from Leavenworth.” (Huh? Leavenworth??) I went to snopes.com where my belief that this pronouncement wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit was confirmed. I went back to the e-mail and responded to the address list that the statements were false and that could be confirmed at snopes. I also opined that our high school newsy thing was probably not an appropriate forum for the political agenda.
Boy, were the hounds ever loosed. The original sender made all sorts of pronouncements about how snopes.com didn’t have all the information, and went on to justify all things evangelical and Palin and warning us that our country was falling apart. Soon after, another of my classmates talked about pots and black kettles and reminded us about the current administration’s penchant for getting us into wars that have killed thousands, undermining the Constitution with warrantless wire taps, torture, and rendition, and removing statutory constraints on lending institutions to the point that we’re ecomonically drowning. It was beautifully written, if you ask me.
But I’m pretty sure it’s not over, and I’ll get another e-mail explaining how the last one completely misses the point. Which is my point with this post. What makes us see the same thing through such different glasses? Is it perspective? Priorities? Fear? I would welcome your ideas, no matter what color glasses you peer from.
In an effort to make sense of what gets said, I want to divide people into two rather large groups. The first group is made up of those who protect things. The second group is made up of those who protect ideas. Or more simply put, the have’s and the have-not’s. I have to admit that it’s far easier to join in with the first group because appearances are so important in this day and age and there is so much more company. But to be a part of the latter group is to acknowledge that there are more important things than the “stuff” we possess, and that those more important things are difficult to name, let alone understand. And for me this is the road less travelled, the harder choice, but the one that determines for me whether my life is to be serene or intense; quiet or confused.
Comment by Steve — December 3, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
One of the greatest things about our country is that we as individuals get to voice our opinions. Unfortunatly, for some, if the opinion is different from their own, they can’t deal with it. Politics is one of those subjects that sometimes we have to “agree to disagree”. Why can’t we just discuss the issues and leave it at that? If we can listen and not be judgemental, we might actually learn something.
Comment by Phoebe — December 9, 2008 @ 10:04 pm