By M. Brandon DeGeorge

Way Across That Thar Ocean

I had the great privilege to see my best friend from Germany, recently. We've known each other for 10 years, now, and it's been about 8 since I saw her last. A long time...no doubt, too long. She was visiting my area, after a quick week's stay in Key West with her dad, and so I jaunted out of the city to meet them.

I won't get into the details, lest I risk being arrested, but we (she and I after her father got tired walking around for a few hours. Back pains, he said) had a heck of a great time, doing all sorts of things, which, as I said before I can't mention here. One thing I noticed is that not only do we get along, and have a lot to talk about, but her attitude towards many things is very typically American.

Wow, That's Arrogant

Yes, I decided that it was arrogant to think that she was acting in an American fashion, when I really had very little to go by regarding the culture and social etiquette in Deutschland (that's Germany for those who thought they had an idea what that word was) since, for one major thing,........I was never there.

It is possible that the United States rubs off on a lot of people, but it is also possible, on the same token, that she isn't any different from me because there is no real difference. Granted, we share a trine between our two sun signs (a positive aspect of a relationship) and we're both really into music, not to mention we both can speak each other's languages well enough to get our point across, but, that said, I don't see any real separation because she was born on another continent.

Get To It, Already

I hope y'all read last month's article, because it really ties in with what I'm trying to say about relativity, and seeing the Big Picture. When you can take someone away from their natural habitat and stick them in a completely different one, and you take the time to get to know them (that's a must) then you'll begin to see the similarities you have with that person. Even if neither of you get along, you still have, at a minimum, that dislike for each other!

Gray, Not Black and White

Anyone that ever said life was cut and dried was being pretty stupid, and not looking past their own two feet. Racism happens this way. Ignorance may be bliss, but only if you never have to step foot outside of your home, and don't own a radio, TV, or, especially don't own a computer. The Heavens forbid you might surf the net, and learn something new.

Racism is caused by ignorance, for the most part, and a complete stubbornness, a complete unwillingness to learn about not only others, but about oneself. Education is the solution to racism. Unfortunately, it would take a lot of teaching, and force feeding of some people for them to even begin to comprehend that there's a person inside of that skin.

Kids Got it Best

As I've said before, when we're young, and uneducated/inexperienced, we have the whole world open to us, unhindered by any biases that get stuck on us later in life. We have pure judgment, and can see with clearer vision and understanding than most adults I know. Unless a child is taught to dislike someone because of race, sex, age, or color, they will never know. Why ruin that? If you want to teach children something about someone, let them talk with that person, let them ask the questions.

I heard once, on a talk show (a reputable one, mind you) that we teach our kids to eat wrong. we teach them what is a "bad" food, and what is a "good" food, which of course, is really a wrong way to go about things. Kids (this is the reputable nutritionist talking) will not just eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you don't tell them what to eat. If their body needs a nutrient, they'll have a craving for a food that has that nutrient in it. It's reverse psychology with ice cream too. Our parents tell us no, but we know we like it. Forbidden fruit, and that sort of thing. If a child never knew what to eat, there's no real worry, children are tough, and they should trust, like we should trust, our bodies to know what they need.

You know, this isn't just a good idea about food, this is a good idea for other things too. If children can learn, without our meddling in their meals, what to eat when, then maybe they can learn what's good for their minds as well. A child who wants to learn, because they enjoy it, is a superior student. An adult who wants to learn about others, because they hunger for the knowledge that there is good, and bad, in everything, and that only through experiences, and through discovery, do we grow, is a superior human being.

'nuff said

Siwrnai dda

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Letter to the Author:
M. Brandon DeGeorge<Trianglmn@aol.com>
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