November?
sitting outside
in my red plaid nightgown.
Hot sun warms my face
as it burns a hole through the
chill in the air.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Holiday Hissy Fit that you probably don't want to read
It's almost Thanksgiving, and I am having a hard time being thankful. I am angry. I wake up angry and I go to bed angry. I feel ashamed of this anger because my common sense tells me I should focus on being thankful for all that I do have, not what I'm missing. Well, I can't right now. I'm a mess, and I have been one for quite a few months.
I used to get so much pleasure from Facebook and reading the updates. Lately, I am angry and disgusted with this formerly pleasant past-time. Supposedly, there is a war on Christmas demonstrated by a coffee store producing a plain red cup instead of one full of snowmen and snowflakes. People are actually proud of themselves as they fight back by boycotting the company. What kind of crazy are these people? I had to stop reading the posts from one of my favorite pages because some kid with too much time on his hands led a campaign to get the local mall to change its futuristic holiday decorations. My blood began to boil over at the comments congratulating this kid on his stand to save Christmas. Save Christmas? Who gets their Christmas at the mall? Most of FB, I think.
I am angry and annoyed at the same discussion that comes up every year at this time... the "they" who are no longer allowing people to say Merry Christmas. Nobody is stopping anybody from saying that. Why does this become an issue every November? Yet, people puff out their chests and proudly "stand up for their faith" by planning to fight with anyone who says anything other that those two words to them during these next few weeks. To quote the kids, WTF?
What is wrong with people who think their intolerance is acceptable? I was shocked to read a FB article about a stupid, stupid woman who physically attacked a young woman for speaking Swahili with her family in a public place. All of this nonsense about English being the only language that should be spoken in this country is just that, nonsense! So what if signs are multi-lingual? So what if you have to push a button to hear English on a business call? So what!!! I taught English. And let me tell you, a lot of native born Americans don't know the first thing about this language they claim to love. If you think it makes you more of an American to roll your eyes at someone speaking a foreign language in your country, I pity you for your lack of tolerance and the superiority attitude it gives you. Such disdain doesn't make you a better American; it makes you a bigot.
Even Halloween caused an uproar this year because a school in New Jersey stopped its parties and costume parade. Parents went into an uproar over the end of this "great American tradition." NEVER MIND that Halloween festivities were celebrated by various community groups for a week before trick-or-treating even happened. Never mind that parents sit back and complacently allow schools to drain their children with excessive testing and age inappropriate education. Who cares about that? It's the party that matters. When Halloween was canceled at that school, Americans were happy to blame the Muslims and immigrants to this country for this "tragedy." I'm not sure why FB warriors targeted Muslims for the end of this tradition, but they did. It seems to be open season on Muslims according to what I read on FB. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
I have read page long threads written by people who are furious that schools have winter concerts and not Christmas concerts. You want a Christian celebration, take your kids to church! How many of the people complaining about no Bible reading in school or no religious songs at the school concerts are taking their children regularly to church? Everybody has their excuses. Sunday is the only day they can sleep in. Kids have sports on Sunday. They can't get their kids to church because it's not "fun." And my favorite excuse, people don't go to church because all they do is beg for money. Well, stop expecting the schools to be your church. Nobody has taken God out of the public schools. In my opinion, that is impossible because God is everywhere.
I am angry because at this time of the year, people throw a few bucks at the charities to help the poor, and they feel they've done their part. Or, and this is my favorite, they "adopt" a family at Christmas and then later complain that when the gifts were delivered the family already had better things than they did. They post on FB that the government is giving too much to the poor. Welfare is full of fraud. Let's drug test those lazy good for nothing welfare mothers. People are living high on the hog with government handouts. The people I see weekly at the food pantry are barely surviving, let alone living the life on your dime. Yes, many have made some bad decisions. But, who hasn't? However, the young man crying in embarrassment because medical bills are about to force his family into homelessness and he has to grovel for food, hasn't made a bad decision. He's stuck in a nightmare. The little girl who came to our Coat Giveaway in socks because the dog had ruined her only pair of shoes hasn't done anything more than being born to a single mom unable to work for a living wage and pay for childcare. I am angry that a nation this wealthy would rather roast the poor than share the wealth. Since when has doing what Jesus asked us to do become Socialism?
If you're still with me, I thank you for your patience.
I am angry. I am heartbroken. I am impatient. I am furious. But if I'm going to be truly honest with myself, something else is behind all of my rage at the "stuff" that happens every season. Since I know all of this comes up every year at the same time, why can't I laugh it off and let it roll off my back? After all, the people posting this stuff are mostly people I like whom I believe are as entitled to their opinions as I am to mine. Why don't I just take a break from FB and shut the hell up??
Because I can't. I am obsessed.
Because my life has changed in a way that chains me to the house. And while stuck in the house, I have watched more TV and read more FB than ever before. And in the midst of those repeatedly irritating FB outrages, I hear another message whispered by the more optimistic members on my FB feed: Christmas is the season of miracles. No matter what is said about red cups, welfare, or wars on everything, that is the message I see repeated and that is probably what upsets me the most.
Because my world has been rocked, and my family needs a holiday miracle. Now. Anything else I get upset with is just a cover-up for a hurt and and an anger and a fear that I can barely face let alone deal with in a healthy way. Be glad if all you're worried about is a damn red cup or a decorative igloo.
I used to get so much pleasure from Facebook and reading the updates. Lately, I am angry and disgusted with this formerly pleasant past-time. Supposedly, there is a war on Christmas demonstrated by a coffee store producing a plain red cup instead of one full of snowmen and snowflakes. People are actually proud of themselves as they fight back by boycotting the company. What kind of crazy are these people? I had to stop reading the posts from one of my favorite pages because some kid with too much time on his hands led a campaign to get the local mall to change its futuristic holiday decorations. My blood began to boil over at the comments congratulating this kid on his stand to save Christmas. Save Christmas? Who gets their Christmas at the mall? Most of FB, I think.
I am angry and annoyed at the same discussion that comes up every year at this time... the "they" who are no longer allowing people to say Merry Christmas. Nobody is stopping anybody from saying that. Why does this become an issue every November? Yet, people puff out their chests and proudly "stand up for their faith" by planning to fight with anyone who says anything other that those two words to them during these next few weeks. To quote the kids, WTF?
What is wrong with people who think their intolerance is acceptable? I was shocked to read a FB article about a stupid, stupid woman who physically attacked a young woman for speaking Swahili with her family in a public place. All of this nonsense about English being the only language that should be spoken in this country is just that, nonsense! So what if signs are multi-lingual? So what if you have to push a button to hear English on a business call? So what!!! I taught English. And let me tell you, a lot of native born Americans don't know the first thing about this language they claim to love. If you think it makes you more of an American to roll your eyes at someone speaking a foreign language in your country, I pity you for your lack of tolerance and the superiority attitude it gives you. Such disdain doesn't make you a better American; it makes you a bigot.
Even Halloween caused an uproar this year because a school in New Jersey stopped its parties and costume parade. Parents went into an uproar over the end of this "great American tradition." NEVER MIND that Halloween festivities were celebrated by various community groups for a week before trick-or-treating even happened. Never mind that parents sit back and complacently allow schools to drain their children with excessive testing and age inappropriate education. Who cares about that? It's the party that matters. When Halloween was canceled at that school, Americans were happy to blame the Muslims and immigrants to this country for this "tragedy." I'm not sure why FB warriors targeted Muslims for the end of this tradition, but they did. It seems to be open season on Muslims according to what I read on FB. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
I have read page long threads written by people who are furious that schools have winter concerts and not Christmas concerts. You want a Christian celebration, take your kids to church! How many of the people complaining about no Bible reading in school or no religious songs at the school concerts are taking their children regularly to church? Everybody has their excuses. Sunday is the only day they can sleep in. Kids have sports on Sunday. They can't get their kids to church because it's not "fun." And my favorite excuse, people don't go to church because all they do is beg for money. Well, stop expecting the schools to be your church. Nobody has taken God out of the public schools. In my opinion, that is impossible because God is everywhere.
I am angry because at this time of the year, people throw a few bucks at the charities to help the poor, and they feel they've done their part. Or, and this is my favorite, they "adopt" a family at Christmas and then later complain that when the gifts were delivered the family already had better things than they did. They post on FB that the government is giving too much to the poor. Welfare is full of fraud. Let's drug test those lazy good for nothing welfare mothers. People are living high on the hog with government handouts. The people I see weekly at the food pantry are barely surviving, let alone living the life on your dime. Yes, many have made some bad decisions. But, who hasn't? However, the young man crying in embarrassment because medical bills are about to force his family into homelessness and he has to grovel for food, hasn't made a bad decision. He's stuck in a nightmare. The little girl who came to our Coat Giveaway in socks because the dog had ruined her only pair of shoes hasn't done anything more than being born to a single mom unable to work for a living wage and pay for childcare. I am angry that a nation this wealthy would rather roast the poor than share the wealth. Since when has doing what Jesus asked us to do become Socialism?
If you're still with me, I thank you for your patience.
I am angry. I am heartbroken. I am impatient. I am furious. But if I'm going to be truly honest with myself, something else is behind all of my rage at the "stuff" that happens every season. Since I know all of this comes up every year at the same time, why can't I laugh it off and let it roll off my back? After all, the people posting this stuff are mostly people I like whom I believe are as entitled to their opinions as I am to mine. Why don't I just take a break from FB and shut the hell up??
Because I can't. I am obsessed.
Because my life has changed in a way that chains me to the house. And while stuck in the house, I have watched more TV and read more FB than ever before. And in the midst of those repeatedly irritating FB outrages, I hear another message whispered by the more optimistic members on my FB feed: Christmas is the season of miracles. No matter what is said about red cups, welfare, or wars on everything, that is the message I see repeated and that is probably what upsets me the most.
Because my world has been rocked, and my family needs a holiday miracle. Now. Anything else I get upset with is just a cover-up for a hurt and and an anger and a fear that I can barely face let alone deal with in a healthy way. Be glad if all you're worried about is a damn red cup or a decorative igloo.
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