Tuesday, 31st o January 2006
Damnit, I won't go to the vineyard
This is a gospel passage that Laura and I have been getting a kick out of lately. I am the first son.
Matthew 21,28-32.
What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.
"Jim, will you take out the trash?"
"No, I'm busy." Laura goes off and does something else. I think about it for a bit, and go take out the trash.
"Jim, a client is requesting a change on X Y or Z."
"Why do they want that? That's stupid. They're idiots. They don't know what they want. I won't do it. I quit!"
Laura goes off and does something else. I think about it for a bit, and make the change.
I'm such an idiot sometimes, but at least I go to the vineyard and get the job done. Laura tells me I'm a loveable grouch.
Now get thee, Jim, to the vineyard.
Monday, 23rd o January 2006
Where Feminism has Succeeded
I sat down with Olaia last night to read her a book. "Hmm, let's see... what shall we read?" I grabbed a collection from her bookshelf, flipped through the table of contents for something fun to read. I read the titles aloud so that she may shout out when she heard something she'd like.
"No. No. No," she answered to each of the selections.
"How about Encyclopedia Brown? I used to read those when I was just a little older than you are now - when I was a little boy. I always liked Encyclopedia Brown."
"Okay, Daddy, sounds good."
I
began to read. The story started with a little introduction to
Encyclopedia Brown's family. Idaville was an idyllic little town where
no crimes went unsolved. Encyclopedia's father was the chief of
police. He was very successfully. Little known to all, though, was
the fact that his son Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown was behind his
father's success. His prodigious intellect had earned him his
nickname. It was a happy family, happy and successful and perfect. Dad
was the chief of police and his son was the crime solving engine
powering Idaville's crime-free environment.
"Daddy, what does Encyclopedia Brown's mommy do?"
A funny little crooked smile crept onto my face. "Well gosh, Olaia, that's a mighty good question." Quick Jim, think fast. What does his mommy do. I am always unmasked by my insightful daughter. She has this knack for cutting through pretense and slicing snip snap right to the incongruence of a matter. Myself, I carry my load of 1970's preconceptions and "common" sense. I'm a child of the rising action of the feminist movement, with all its rancor and discord.
"A woman's place is in the home," I heard from one.
"A woman's place is in the office," came another.
"Equal rights! Equal rights!" was screamed all around. What was it all about, I had no idea. Something was being birthed, but I knew not what.
Fast
forward to present day. Maureen Dowd laments the failures of feminism.
"We pushed too hard to be like men. We took the fun out of being
women, and now there's a backlash. Now we've gone too far the other
way, back to sex objects, back to finding husbands to complete us," she
flirted in a recent interview with Tim Russert. "Maybe some things
stuck, though."
How do I explain to Olaia what Encyclopedia's mom did without demeaning her role? After all, she loved her family, we just didn't notice her.
I didn't notice her.
"Olaia, back when this book was written, mommies didn't work outside of the home as much. People didn't like for them to have jobs, so they took care of their families. They would cook dinner, clean, and make sure everybody was okay. Things have changed since then. It was a long time ago, but now mommies and daddies work together in the house and outside of the house. Mommies can do anything they want. Does that make sense."
Olaia had noticed her, and now that I had explained
myself and Encyclopedia's unnamed mother, she was ready to go. "Yes,
okay, let's read the book."
Of course it made sense to her. What didn't make sense was there was no mention of Encyclopedia's mommy and what she did. For all intents she didn't exist except as an apron clad figure serving a casserole to Encyclopedia Brown and his dad.
Today's
beautiful "common" sense is the unassailable expectation that girls can
do anything boys can do - anything they desire. It's as common and
natural as anything could ever be, as real as conceived, born,
nurtured, educated, tortured, and eventually fully grown. Feminism and
feminists should take heart. Today's girls and young ladies come of
age with a new common sense, a new and entirely distinct awareness of
what is possible and expected of them.
And my lovely lovely little girl, Olaia, what of her? She gets to wear a dress if she wants too. She gets to study what interests her. She gets to be what she was meant to be without the limiting oligarchy of generations past.
And my personal observation: overlook her insight at your own peril.
Tuesday, 17th o January 2006
The Last "War" of the United States
Ha! I was looking for information to clear up just what my status is as a veteran, having been mobilized for Iraqi Freedom in March of 2003. We were on active duty for 89 days before Bush declared victory and sent everyone home. Ahem.
So, because I'd like to know, I'm looking around for information about benefits (if any) to which I am entitled for my obviously worthless 89 days of active duty service in time of war. I was wrong, dead wrong, it turns out.
War it is
not, never been. Funny, it tastes like war, though. I smack my lips.
It's kinda bitter with a smokey flavor. They call it a war, use it to
justify "wartime" suppression of civil liberty and routine ass-wiping
with the Constitution, but let's not fight over little words, shall
we. We've got a war to fight. WTF?! There you go again with the "W"
word. Geez!
Then I found this on the Office of Personal Management for the US Federal Government:
War Service Creditable for Veterans Preference. In the absence of statutory definition for "war" and "campaign or expedition," OPM considers to be "wars" only those armed conflicts for which a declaration of war was issued by Congress. The title 38, U.S.C., definition of "period of war," which is used in determining benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, includes the Vietnam Era and other armed conflicts. That title 38 definition is NOT applicable for civil service purposes.
Thus the last "war" for which active duty is qualifying for Veterans preference is World War II. The inclusive dates for World War II service are December 7, 1941, through April 28, 1952.
I blinked. I read it twice. So, the OPM for purposes of preference, only considers those that fought in WWII (The last declared war) to be veterans. Those ranks are getting pretty thin, I'd say.
I read it again. So what this is saying is that the last armed conflict for which the people of the United States had a say was WWII (I always knew that, but to see it put so bluntly was startling). Put another way, the last time our duly elected representatives in Congress declared war was 1941.
Doesn't that seem funny to anyone? Funny, not in the "ha ha" sense, but funny in the "we've lost complete control of our country" sense. From Truman, to Lyndon B, to Reagan to Bush Sr. to Bush Jr. we have engaged in one "conflict" after another, all of which were deemed to be of "utmost" national importance, but not quite enough to get the endorsement of the American people with an official declaration of war. These conflicts were important, we were told - important to whom? Obviously though, they were not important enough for the failsafe vote in Congress to sanctify the "war." Don't worry your puny little minds with these big and complicated issues of "national security" we were/are told.
We will protect you.
And
don't worry about the messy little details like Americans dying and
being maimed. It's all for a good and noble cause, just not good and
noble enough for a vote of the representatives of the people of the
United States of America. Details details.
Sunday, 11th o December 2005
I am Ready
A few weeks ago, I was driving Laura's family's green Mercury Mystique back to her father's office. Laura's brother Carlos was coming back into town, back from a year in Iraq, and I was leaving the car for him. Something caught my eye in the compartment below the radio, that little shelf for nick-nacks. It was his basic bio info card from MIT Sloan. I looked it over, it had things like: Your undergraduate school, your major, jobs you've held, activities, sports, hobbies, languages etc. Then I got to one in the middle, "Word that best describes you," and Carlos had written "Ready." I smiled in agreement. I let it rattle around in my brain, bounce off the corners, clanging and jangling and knocking about.
How few of us are ready? Really ready for anything, let alone a year in Iraq. Let's not put the bar too high, though, shall we? Ready is a state, not of flaccid inactivity, like a garden hose waiting to be filled with water. Ready does not imply inactivity, waitfullness, standby status, or lack of will. Mohammad Ali said it best,
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
Bruce Lee had a similar mantra:
"Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being "wholly" and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come."
Let your state of inaction be one guided by the possibility of movement
in any direction. When the time for action comes, let it be swift,
precise and guided by knowledge, training, wisdom, and purpose.
Thursday, 8th o December 2005
Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Holiday Season
I'm not gonna let Fox News ruin the holiday season by forcing me to call it all Christmas. Here in Puerto Rico, Three Kings Day is at least as big as Christmas - so there! All my life this Holiday Season thing has been a wonderful time. From Thanksgiving to my birthday on Super Bowl Sunday... it's all good, and most if it ain't Christmas. I love the whole season of cheer, good food, new beginnings, and old friends.
I will say Merry Christmas when I feel like it. I will not be made to feel like some scourge of humanity if I wish to say Happy Holidays and when I do say Merry Christmas, I don't mean it as a political statement.
Sure
Christmas is great. I like that we celebrate the birth of Christ, but
let's not get carried away folks. Let's not let Fox News ruin it for
the rest of us, what with their "War on the Holidays."