"I said to my wife, "You know, I just don't fit in with the group we ate with last night." She surprised me with, "Neither do I". No wonder we prefer each others company. We disagree on a few things which I think is good, but we remain civil about. Why can't others do that; especially those who claim their lord is meek, gentle, and compassionate."
You just hit on the reason I couldn't get out of there fast enough, (and I suspect the reason you spend so much time in Branson)
The past week Mavis and I were in Seattle where we attended a wedding. The groom is the adopted son of a friend whom she met at University there when they were both studying anthropology. The parents are Japanese. The adopted son is Vietnamese. The bride, a caucasion, grew up in Traverse City, MI. The grandmother of the groom is 103years old. She attended the wedding and was escorted down the aisle under her own power by the bridegroom, her grandson. Both she and her daughter, (mother of the groom) were sent to interment camps during WW-2.
The next morning we were treated to a magnificent brunch at the hotel. Our table mates were Afghan. It was a wonderful mix of people. In SEMO, most of them would have been stared at.
Seattle has a great mix of people, customs and traditions. Too bad we can't sentence the bigots of SEMO to three years "interment" in Seattle, where they might actually learn something about the people who, in their ignorance, are so eager to denigrate.
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Our best friends in the St. Louis area had a similar story. She was also Japanese and her family had their property taken from them in California. They were sent to camps in Arkansas. Someone encouraged her to attend college and she obtained both a college degree and a husband from St. Louis, MO. Missouri wouldn't allow them to marry, so like the slave days, they "escaped" to Illinois and married and had three bright children who now have successful careers. Unfortunately, we lost him a year or so ago, but she is still running a business at age 80. Ignorance can cause a society to do cruel things to good people. I get angry just thinking about how cruel we have been to women for thousands of years all in the name "doing God's will". When will we ever learn to respect everyone regardless of color, sex, or whatever? All people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Hey, and while we are at it, don't forget old folks like us. I may be 75 yrs. old, but I'll quickly confront anyone who disrespects others. I think I mentioned "dressing down" a redneck bigot who carried a sign I considered a racial slur to our president.
ReplyDeleteJim
Charlie! You just hit on the reason I love CA (excepting the sunshine, of course). I interact each day (thanks to my grandkids) at the park with a Palestinian, a Bulgarian, a gal from Vienna, and, of course, "Espanols." It is amazing what it does to us human beings when we expand our horizon, isn't it? BTW, one of my friends is Japanese. Her mom (my age and also a friend) is so special. She was born in an internment camp and has pictures and drawings from the camp that are incredible. I said to Lisa one time, "Ibet some museum would pay Carol a fortune for those pictures." She just smiled and said, "I know. But we are not interested." I am amazed at how "unbitter" these and other Japanese folks I have met are, given what they went through. They owned property in L.A. that was not returned to them after the war.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts, Charlie and Jim. Gave me a boost.
CA Gal
CA Gal, you are very fortunate to have friends with such divers backgrounds. We travel a lot and have been to several different countries as well as all of our 50 states. This has given me limited contact with different cultures, but noting beats a personal relationship like your circle of friends. Unfortunately, living in the bible belt is not conducive to a climate of social acceptance of those not a WASP (white Anglo-Saxon protestants).
ReplyDeleteJim
Sorry about my lack of editing that last post. Make that diverse and put an "h" in noting if you wish or just ignore the mistakes. I tend to think ahead of my typing and I'm sitting in my R.V. in Branson, MO in the middle of a beautiful forest listening to birds sing and watching deer and turkey running free. Maybe I really do have some interesting friends, but they don't go to church. Wonder if they will go to hell?
ReplyDeleteJim
Charlie, this reminds me of the book you sent me, MISTAKES WERE MADE, BUT NOT BY ME. Instead of attaching the problem, just attack those who expose it. It never works, but that doesn't stop the guilty ones from trying. I wrote a short essay on how churches are self-destructing and tried to post it, but with my week signal (1Mbps), I lost it. I had the process pretty well outlined. Maybe I'll try again.
ReplyDeleteVATICAN CITY – Cardinals rushed to Pope Benedict XVI's defense on Holy Thursday amid accusations he played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals, as an increasingly angry Vatican made a stinging attack on the U.S. media for its coverage.
Jim
Darn it! Did it again! Make that "weak" signal. Charlie, it reminds me of the time Miss Welker embarrassed me in health class after raking all of us over the coals for low test scores. As I remember it she said, "Jimmy, you know better than to spell germ "jerm"? I'm still not sure how you spell it. Several years later we both were enrolled in the same graduate psychology class from the University of Missouri. It tickled the (you know what) out of me when I got an "A" and she got a "B".
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you can depend on what I say about the bible, history, or psychology, but never trust my spelling.
Jim
Your mention of Ms Welker brings to mind another anecdote but with another teacher and student. To this day, 60 yrs. later, I still laugh when I think about it.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Miller coach/science teacher(remember him)said to Charles Haws: "Charles, a potato contains 2% starch. What is the rest of it made of." Charles paused a moment, thinking...then his eyes lit up and he answered, "Potato??"
How about your asking Mr. Gross our Supt., "What is a goblet"? His response was, "Well Charlie, I'm not sure, but I think it's one of them big white birds you see on the lake". He later introduced the Commencement as the, "Goodest speaker he ever heard". I wasn't there, but I remember what you said Benny Marshell's comment comment was. So, how did you become so smart when we had teachers like that? Back then about the only requirement to be a teacher was church membership, as long as you were not a Catholic.
ReplyDeleteJim