Hello fellow bloggers! There is a nice array of things floating around in my head this morning, so I decided I touch on a few!!!
The Dentist
I received some very disturbing news yesterday...I have to have some very extensive work done on my teeth. I used to be a SOLDIER when it came to the dentist...bring it on, the drill, needles etc., but ever since a TERRIBLE experience about 4 years ago, I loathe going to the Dentist! The mere sight of the little pick they use to get between the teeth almost made me faint yesterday!!!
So I am trying desperately to muster up the motivation to go and have this work done...and I only have a few weeks to do so!!!
Monotony
This week, with the kids being gone for spring break, is the first time I realized the level of monotony that exists in my life!!! I mean for one day can I just get up and do NOTHING? Or can I eat breakfast for dinner? Or can I get a TAX FREE paycheck and actually have a few dollars left? Or can I not run into traffic on the way to work? Or can I have a day at work without a meeting? What is the likelihood of ANY of the aforementioned?
Hitting the Lottery
You know how you have those "What if..." moments in life? Well I had one this morning...What if I hit the lottery? It was kind of exciting to lay there thinking of which of my friends and family I would share my earnings with and how much they would get. I would also be a relief to avoid the inevitability of having to pay student loans in the after life!!!
People Poll-Racism
The People Poll this morning was about a radio comedian (I believe his name was Imos???) who made a less then favorable remark about a female team in the WNBA. He called the women "nappy-headed hoes (as a part of a "joke")," and it has infuriated many Black women that he would say something like that...he is also supposed to be fired as a result. Many callers said why would they fire him when Howard Stern and many other radio personalities make racial slurs all the time. The also said that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a RACIST. Then many said why is it okay for Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock to make racial slurs without consequence. THEN...many said, if we treat EACH OTHER like that every day and say those things to EACH OTHER, why would that gentleman not think it's okay for HIM to say it? And most importantly should he be losing his job for it? Why have we turned to this vicious cycle of "letting" those who do it just apologize and give them a "slap on the wrist?"
Please...share
13 comments:
Please excuse my mis-spelled "lately" and "More..." I can be really anal about grammar at times :)
Tera~ It's all wrong. That's my point. But people just find it easier to make jokes about some things than others. We say this is not as bad as that. You know? However, that doesn't make any of it "right"!
I don't think that stereotyping is the same as making a racial comment. Lots of stereotypes are based on facts about a culture where as racial comments are just mean. We may "make fun" of stereotypes (which I don't agree with) but that doesn't mean they're not real because you LOVE fried chicken! :) HA!!! No, seriously, I do think there is a HUGE difference.
Yeah...similarly, there is a HUGE difference between Racism and Predjudice. You're right, it is ALL wrong, and very hurtful and offensive. Not to mention, look at the effect is has on those of us who are hit with it more than once (being female AND Black).
The problem with the stereotyping thing is that although many say it in all "fun and games," there are many that use them maliciously.
I had a supervisor tell me something one time...she said, "Tera, I am going to tell you something that you may not choose to take very well, but I feel I need to say...you don't look like a Black woman in her mid-20's on paper (my resume)." And you know, I had to think about that for a moment, and she further explained that my name isn't "Black," and that my credentials and knowledge and expertise aren't suggestive of the "average" Black female, so I should expect some reactions to that, good, bad, or indifferent. And do you know what? That was the best thing she could have ever said to me...I remember while considering relocation, I had and interview with a very reputable company, and I dressed up with my nice black suit, hair looking really nice, and grabbed my resumes so that I could go in there and "kick butt." And do you know what happened? When I walked in, the Interviewer gasped! Yet, thanks to J, I had already previously been prepared for such an encounter.
OK for the record I do NOT have furniture on my porch nor do I send my daughter everywhere is WEDDING DRESSES!! LOL ha! Sorry Tera & Nina - I couldn't resist!
Rey~LOL! Now that is too funny! I wasn't even gonna go there! And come to think of it, I don't even like watermelon all that much! ;)
Good luck with the dental stuff Tera! It can be really scary. I'm fine with my regular dentist, but I had to go to a periodontist a while back and kind of freaked out. He had to stop and I had to "breathe" and collect myself. I was so embarassed.
I love to have breakfast for dinner! You can definitely do that one!
I fantasize about hitting the lottery all the time and the first thing I'd do is pay off my student loans!
And I guess you already know what I think about Don Imus!
Oh and the stereotype thing, I get the same thing. People are always shocked when they see me.
And watermelon... Well, for years, I deliberately didn't eat it because of the stereotype, but then I started thinking that I'm just denying myself a good fruit because of other people. So the first time that I went to the store to buy one, a white woman came up to me and started asking me questions about what to look for. I couldn't believe it!!
Anali~Thanks for the encouragement...I'm glad someone else freaks out like I do, because admittedly, it IS embarassing!
Are you serious about the Watermelon thing??? OMG!! The nerve of some people! You know what else I have gotten before? "So you like 'White music' huh?" Just ridiculous!
tera--forgive my tardiness to your blog! i clicked on your name a while back, and only a profile came up, but no blog listing. is it fairly new? or was blogger being idiotic?
at any rate: i just wanted to comment on the monotony thing first. i love the sentence about realizing the level of monotony in your life. believe it or not, i find myself sometimes saying "I love my boring little life!" i think it's the level of unpredictability in my job: teaching high school. i never know what will happen on a given day. so when days are alike for a while and i'm in control, i'm lovin' it.
i've also weighed in, as has everyone in the UNIVERSE by now, on the Imus Incident, so i'll pass on that, but the stereotype thing hits home for me in the oddest ways. right after September 11, i had occasion to fly rather often. let me tell you, i was pulled out of every single security line and wanded and patted down, especially at BWI airport (baltimore/washington). i have dark hair, dark eyes, and at that time of year, my naturally olive-toned skin tans very deeply. did it offend me or upset me? no. i completely understood the reaction. it made as much sense to me at that time as did the people in my teller line who assumed i spoke spanish when i worked at the bank in the part of my hometown that was predominantly puerto rican.
that watermelon thing, anali, sounds horrific. but i get asked questions in the italian foods aisle all the time, too. (i'm not italian, either.) maybe it wasn't meant to be so crass. it was, but some people are just ignorant in the extreme. sigh. ignorance. how can we deal with so very much of it?
Nance~WELCOME! It is a pleasure as I always thoroughly enjoy your blogs as well as your points of view on things!
Yeah, it seems that as I am doing such routine things on a daily basis, my inner self is just DYING to get out!!! It made me chuckle that in my relocation, I have confusingly driven "up" a one-way street...hey, that's step outside normalcy even if by mistake!
Wow, and I thought I had it bad, people think you are quite a few different races!!! I guess after a while, it doesn't really bother you anymore...I even had someone in a bar tell the bartender to "Get the white girl a drink" referring to my Hispanic friend! She says it doesn't bother her anymore because she "gets that all the time."
I like breakfast for dinner. I also like dinner for breakfast.
Mist1~Absolutely!!!
First let me say that because of the 1st Amendment Imus can say anything he wants to. But this isn't a 1st Amendment issue. He doesn't represent just himself when he is on air, he also represents his company and its sponsers. And they obviously don't want him representing them with comments like "nappy headed ho's". This is what bothers me about the whole situation. First we have an old hack say something sexist and maybe mildly racist towards these young women. Next we have Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson rallying and protesting about this degredation against black women. But why don't they stand up to the hip hop commnunity and start demanding them to stop demeaning black women, or the black community as a whole. This is the reason I stopped listening to hip hop. You know why they don't stand up? It's because there is no money in it for them. They are hypocrites. Hell Jackson called New York himey town. Isn't that racist towards Jews? Another thing that struck me is this. I bet that those same girls where listening to some hip hop song that is WAY more demeaning torwards them right before every game they played.
We need to put things in there proper focus. Is it worse to have people that have no influence and are outside of your community talking bad about you? Or to have the bad influence inside of your community rotting you from the inside out?
Lyle~First of all, welcome! Trust me, I have my opinions about Sharpton and Jackson that I've shared in various other blogs, and I dare not go there...I agree with you...they are hypocrites!!
You do make a good point that no one else has made though...the same girls at that press conference probably listened to "Bounce That Azz Hoe" on the way home on the radio!!!! Hmmmm....
"We need to put things in there proper focus. Is it worse to have people that have no influence and are outside of your community talking bad about you? Or to have the bad influence inside of your community rotting you from the inside out?" Very, very thought provoking, and intriguing...I am interested in some feedback from fellow bloggers on that one!!! :)
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