Kaylee
March 1, 2003, 02:43 PM
wow.
I'll say it again.
wow.
I just got back from the several day trip to the SF Bay Area of California. It had been several years since last I was there, and I'd forgotten the tenor of the place.
What struck me most was the culture... while proclaiming itself as open and tolerent..it was nothing of the sort. In fact, the outright bigotry toward anything not-hyper-liberal in the popular media and culture seemed pervasive.. it reminded me of nothing so much as the most stringent parts of the Bible Belt when I was growing up in it once upon a time.
Except instead of saying "it's okay to be bigots because God said so" it was "it's okay to be bigots because we're right and everyone else is a Neandrathal" ... which I guess amounts to much the same thing.
Some things just Could Not Be Said... the self-imposed code of correct speech and action seemed pervasive.
Then there was the panhandler I took to lunch my first day there. You know, on the principle of "as ye do unto the least of these...."
wow. The man's sole ambition in life was to find a woman with kids so he could supplement his disability check with her AFDC check and so "retire" to write his "spiritual songs" about the women he couldn't get on earth and so would have in heaven. I tried hard to find ONE thing about this man that was admirable.. the best I could do was that he wasn't *as* hooked on drugs as he used to be. He had absolutely no shame over living on the largess of others.
I found myself torn between human empathy/pity that a man could sink so low, and a flat desire to see Darwin work his magic on him.
The two people I met who were most inspiring to me though were two hispanic women.. legal immigrants or not, I don't know. Regardless, they were waitressing in a small restaurant -- still smiling and laughing as they worked at a job most folks I met seemed to think they were "too good for" anymore. To work those hours, at that pay -- and in the SF Bay housing market, no less -- and STILL be smiling and happy.. it was incredible to see.
Finally.. the gun stores. :)
All the ARs/AKs were gone... in their place were rows of M1As, Steyr tactical and scout rifles... all manner of scoped bolt guns. There was a certain delicious irony in the realization that all those weapon control laws had the effect of putting more powerful arms on the market, and in making the citizens of the state more inclined to actually use them. Kinda scary that way, actually.
Still -- the people I met in those places were among the most grounded, dedicated, take-no-prisoners-won't-be-moved stubborn honorable idealists I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Y'all have some good folks down that way.
My congratulations and thanks to you all.
Life on the front lines looks like no picnic, and I was constantly impressed with what you handled down there. You really are the tip of the spear.
God Bless You.
-K
I'll say it again.
wow.
I just got back from the several day trip to the SF Bay Area of California. It had been several years since last I was there, and I'd forgotten the tenor of the place.
What struck me most was the culture... while proclaiming itself as open and tolerent..it was nothing of the sort. In fact, the outright bigotry toward anything not-hyper-liberal in the popular media and culture seemed pervasive.. it reminded me of nothing so much as the most stringent parts of the Bible Belt when I was growing up in it once upon a time.
Except instead of saying "it's okay to be bigots because God said so" it was "it's okay to be bigots because we're right and everyone else is a Neandrathal" ... which I guess amounts to much the same thing.
Some things just Could Not Be Said... the self-imposed code of correct speech and action seemed pervasive.
Then there was the panhandler I took to lunch my first day there. You know, on the principle of "as ye do unto the least of these...."
wow. The man's sole ambition in life was to find a woman with kids so he could supplement his disability check with her AFDC check and so "retire" to write his "spiritual songs" about the women he couldn't get on earth and so would have in heaven. I tried hard to find ONE thing about this man that was admirable.. the best I could do was that he wasn't *as* hooked on drugs as he used to be. He had absolutely no shame over living on the largess of others.
I found myself torn between human empathy/pity that a man could sink so low, and a flat desire to see Darwin work his magic on him.
The two people I met who were most inspiring to me though were two hispanic women.. legal immigrants or not, I don't know. Regardless, they were waitressing in a small restaurant -- still smiling and laughing as they worked at a job most folks I met seemed to think they were "too good for" anymore. To work those hours, at that pay -- and in the SF Bay housing market, no less -- and STILL be smiling and happy.. it was incredible to see.
Finally.. the gun stores. :)
All the ARs/AKs were gone... in their place were rows of M1As, Steyr tactical and scout rifles... all manner of scoped bolt guns. There was a certain delicious irony in the realization that all those weapon control laws had the effect of putting more powerful arms on the market, and in making the citizens of the state more inclined to actually use them. Kinda scary that way, actually.
Still -- the people I met in those places were among the most grounded, dedicated, take-no-prisoners-won't-be-moved stubborn honorable idealists I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Y'all have some good folks down that way.
My congratulations and thanks to you all.
Life on the front lines looks like no picnic, and I was constantly impressed with what you handled down there. You really are the tip of the spear.
God Bless You.
-K