If you like it then you should have put a sock on it.

Every morning I wake up and there are 3 things that happen right away.

1.  The dogs go out.
2.  I make coffee for myself and breakfast for my family of pets.

This is Molly making sure I don't short change her in the food/treat department.

    3.  I turn on the TV news and start surfing the internet to see what I've missed while I was sleeping. 

It's a nice morning routine.  I enjoy the hustle and bustle of a family combined with the freedom to leave my "children" outside should I need to vacuum.  Or possibly crate them for any number of infractions.  Yeah, they have it pretty rough.  Let's just say that there should be more vacuuming and less treating in this house but I'm an easy mark and they know it.  Unfortunately, not everyone walking this earth is such a soft touch, as evidenced by this mornings' news. 

As you are well aware the news is a mixed bag because life is mixed a bag.  Even someone like me who has been around long enough to have earned her fair share of cynicism can find the news shocking. This morning I was jolted awake by one such story.  Someone on Facebook posted this provocative story from The Huffington Post. 

'White Only' Pool Sign Ruling Upheld By Ohio Panel

Really? 

REALLY?!?

Are you kidding me? 

I know that racism is alive and well all over the world.  Stories of ethnic cleansing, genocide, human trafficking, oppression and everyday-run-of-the-mill racism like this are not new.  I shouldn't find it shocking but I do.  Of course, The Huffington Post did a great job with the headline and picture which compelled me to read the article.  The article compelled me to want to teleport to Ohio and slap the hell out of a couple of idiot-box racists.  Sadly, no one has invented teleporting yet.  

(Speaking of which, why hasn't Google figured out how to teleport yet?  I'm sure they must be working on it.  I just hope they don't release it in beta or push out updates while people are mid-transport.) 

Back to the unsettling headline from this morning. I am not proud to say I live in a country where small-minded toadies are allowed to abuse teenage girls but I am proud that I live in a country were we can prosecute these same small-minded toadies.  I can't help that I find this story shocking.  Mostly because here in the United States racism is typically swept under the carpet.  White People, the population I am personally most familiar with as I myself am white,  (Well, more spotty now really but I am using bleaching cream to battle the war that age is currently winning across the vast expanse of my epidermis.) tend towards keeping their racism a little more...how shall I say it....

...just between US. You know, private.  *nudge, nudge. wink, wink.*

I suppose my shock is really more about this guy feeling so brazen as to make his stand so very public and visible.  Interesting.  

Don't get me wrong.  I know that racism and xenophobia go both ways.  It's hardly a one-way street. A fact that I am always reminded of when I raise an eyebrow or even an argument against the racist comments of my fellow whitey.  (You know who you are) I find the argument quite irresponsible and absolutely ridiculous.  I believe that I can point to legal precedent in which this argument was shut down by courts all over the world.  See an example here; 

"Bobby? Sally? Why are you two fighting like cats and dogs?" 

Bobby: "It's not my fault! She started it!"

Sally: "It's not my fault! He started it!"


"Both of you go to your rooms and wait until your father gets home!  You are both in big trouble!"

See?  The finger pointing argument is shut down in the court of parenthood every single day.  You cannot ever get an appeal or win a case. The, "it's not my fault the other person started it" defense is one that no parent in the world will support.  Am I right about this?  If I remember correctly from my own childhood (by the way, my brother really did start it! I remain innocent in all cases.) my parents didn't really care who "started it".  If I remember correctly the words most often used in our home were, "Cease and desist immediately" and we were sent to our rooms, typically with a spanking to follow if we were truly out of hand. 

Yet, in adulthood we are allowed to pull this bad argument back out of the toy box and use it without repercussion or reprimand? Really?  

Here is the thing....if you mutter out of the side of your mouth about the flaws of another race of people or another class of people, or the look of other people, even to yourself, you need to go to your room.  Right now, Mister! March, Little Missy!  You are in big, big trouble!  

Not because I say so, not because it's the politically correct choice or because of what any other person in this world thinks.  I am here to tell you that you are in trouble because you have taken some issue or perceived flaw that you see in another human being or group of human beings and used a shallow, immature and easy argument to assign blame so that you can blatantly dismiss everything you don't understand or like.  It's easier to let yourself blame your discomfort and upset on the other person(s) so that you don't have to handle your own feelings like an adult would. I am here to tell you that once you decide to NOT see people as people, for whatever reason, you are in big, BIG trouble.


If you ask any adult in the U.S. if they enjoy being an adult, you'll typically get a response of this ilk. 

"I never want to grow up!" 

Growing up is equated with growing old.  Growing old is bad news, right?  We all want to be the brilliant rebel, the young beauty.  Vibrant, alive and ready to party at the drop of a hat.  

You are short changing yourself, my friends!  Growing up means you can do whatever you want, when you want and you can use all of your faculties to enjoy your adulthood and pending old age.  All your faculties!!! That includes your brains as well as your heart.  You never have to stop learning.  Life offers plenty of adventure, internally and externally.  Dye your hair green if you want.  Cover your body in tattoos.  Enjoy bondage.  Be a vegan.  Go to church five times a week.  Drink like a fish in church five times a week. Be your version of an adult. 

Your best version of an adult. 

Try not to be a douchebag.  If it happens (it does to all of us) correct it and move on.  If it happens to someone you love, for Christs sake, slap them on the back of the head!  Hello!  

Idiot!

Racism, judgement, cruelty, stereotypes, name calling, sexism....all the ugly parts of us need to be kept in check by the responsible adult our parents raised us to be.  When your thoughts take you down an angry path, don't assume your strength of feeling means you are right.  Please don't assume that those comments you mutter out of the side of your mouth to others are okay.  They aren't.  They aren't subtle, classy or noble.  They are mean.  

I promise you, no one here has the qualifications or the right to judge another race of people. Unless Margaret Mead or Mother Theresa are reading.  They get a pass based on qualification.  

I think you see my point since I have beaten it to death.  It just so happens that while I sat here in my self-righteous huff preaching to you, I ran across this little nugget from the Dahlai Lama. 

"In the face of all the challenges we face today, is my optimism about the future of humanity idealistic? Perhaps it is. Is it unrealistic? Certainly not. To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up."

That, my friends, is solid advice.  Love who you are and listen to that part of you that urges you to be noble.  Try harder to extend the olive branch and when you have the urge to point fingers, point them right back at yourself, the only person whose behavior you can possibly change. If you don't like the way another person acts, then don't act like that! Stop hitting, love each other and if you can't manage love at the moment, then put yourself on time out.  

You are not allowed to hurt your brother anymore than I am.

Yours truly,

Miss Pierce

PS. I want to see a whole more of this over the weekend.  It's your homework.  Get busy!