The Emotional Reaction:
If I say: "There's too many assholes being assholes - we need assholes to stop being such assholes"
And you respond: "How dare you call me an asshole!?!"
Then it's not unreasonable for me to conclude that you've self-identified as one of the assholes who need to stop being such assholes.
And the Man-splaining aspects of the reactions? Don't get me started.
The sensible perspective:
Shheeiiit. I am living on a boat in Central America with limited wifi...and I am glad about that! Everyone calling everyone a snowflake!? Toxic Masculinity? Call it what it is...very insecure men threatened by females. They take steroids and shoot woodland creatures to enhance their manhood for the benefit of other insecure males they identify with. All this happened in the 26 months since I left Canada? I did not realize I was the glue holding North America sane. BTW, we were passing through New Jersey when Twittler was elected.
ReplyDeleteLucky bastid - but I don't blame you, even though that would be perfectly in keeping with how we do things here now. Enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteI'm not being facetious here, the whole world is watching and rooting for you, even a few Muslim countries. More so are the American ex-pats that abound. They thank whatever diety is handy they are where they are. These Yanks (and I am not using the tern derogatory) have a different perspctive on America once they have been out of the country just a few months, ie: no threat assesments when you see teenagers down the street, one fellow exclaimed he hasn't seen a gun in months!
ReplyDeleteOh, just to put things in perspective, it is not all rum punches and girls in coconut shell bikinis. We live on a 38 foot boat and our living area, total, is about half the size of your average living room. The logistics of functioning are somewhat different. Stay warm and keep up the good fight.
My only frame of reference is having been on a couple of "bare-foot cruises" around BVI - 9 or 10 days with another couple and (a crew of 2) on a 50-footer. Loads of fun, but I can imagine it seeming very cramped after a while. Still...
ReplyDeleteAnd getting that external view - from another place in the world - is just as helpful as Mark Twain said it would be; something I wish vastly more Americans would try. On one of my trips (2004?), I got up for an open mic thing and played Randy Newman's Political Science. It wasn't a big crowd, but several people came up to me afterwards to express their pleasant surprise that a Yank would be willing to say all of that "on foreign soil". It's an odd feeling.