Incidental Ignorance

Whenever people want to demonstrate how unbiased we are, we often start by saying, "One of my best friends is (fill in the blank)."  So, why break with tradition?

One of my best friends is a dual minority.  By that I mean by virtue of ethnicity and sexual orientation.  Despite this, on more than one occasion he's mentioned to me that (in his search for a new house) he visited one owned by black people and it was still "nice and clean."  The first time he said that, it really caught me off guard.  I thought I must have misunderstood.  Since then, he's repeated the comment another time or two.  I find it quite perplexing that someone of his age (who I'm sure must have experienced some form of discrimation at least once in his life) could be so oblivious to the fact that that would be considered a prejudicial statement.

By the same token, it's amazing how many ethnically ambiguous expressions are still a part of the common vernacular.  Some of my co-workers have talked about having a "Chinese gift exchange" for Christmas.  Who hasn't heard of a "Chinese fire drill" or a "Mexican stand-off." When cheated, do we say "I got gypped!"?  Or if someone takes something back from us do we call them an "Indian-giver?"  I could go on.  It's just so easy to be so careless with speech.  It's so easy to not realize how a group can be marginalized or even denigrated by a seemingly harmless word or phrase.  It's so easy to not think before we speak.

I'm going to be on the lookout for the next time my friend makes that statement.

There's An Exit Up Yonder Somewhere

The only thing better than having a nice smooth highway to speed you to your destination is getting off that nice smooth highway.  Assuming, that is, that it's close to said destination.  The problem is, that there are always others who want to get off at the same point!  I guess that isn't actually a problem, per se.  What is a problem, though, is that so many people seem to need a whole lotta prep time to get off the highway.  Now, I'm not talking about out-of-towners.  I'm talking about folks that you know probably take that same exit every day just like you do.  I have one exit in particular in mind.  Though (thankfully) I don't use it that often, the 103rd Street exit off I-295S is a prime example.  It's a very popular one.  103rd is a major east-west thoroughfare. Though these precious hearts know exactly how much roadage they have before the exit, in the main, it still seems that eveybody needs, oh 2-3 miles to prepare to exit.  So, if you are so foolish as to be in the right-hand lane (whether taking the exit or not), you get the experience of two lanes to your left whizzing by at the speed of light.  I'm all for defensive and alert driving.  But it's just an exit!

We Are Not Alone

I'll admit I lean a little toward the anti-social.  I counter that by being pro social networking!  But I digress...

In a universe of one, I could just pull up to my local merchant, (yeah I know it's a contradiction, but whatever) and park across as many spaces as I pleased.  Since we all share this space, I make a concerted effort to park in the center of my appointed space.  Now, on rare occasions I may vary from my usual nearly perfect parking.  In those instances, I'll often get back in the car and do it over.  I figure that whoever parks/is parked on either side of me has just as much right to equal access to both sides of their vehicle.  

Alas, it seems that not everyone shares my sanguine and selfless POV!  In the last two weeks, I've twice experienced the lack of consideration so many drivers display.  Just this evening, I stopped at my local Walgreens for some apple juice.  As I often do, I parked in the middle of three vacant spaces, evenly in the middle.  By the time I came out of the store, a massive SUV had parked on my passenger side.  If I'd had a passenger, they would not have been able to get in without my pulling out first.  And on my Thanksgiving trip to the movies, the same thing happened.  I parked in the middle of four or five empty spaces, and STILL someone felt the need to park right up against me.  It's like some type of cosmic conspiracy!!!  What's the moral here?  Do unto others, people!  And if you misjudge the amount of space needed to accomodate your out-size buggy, do over!

Off the top of my very full head...

 I've rarely met a topic I didn't like.  By that I mean, if I've heard of it, I generally have an opinion.  I used to think that everybody had an opinion on everything and that false modesty kept them quiet.  It took me a while to figure out that I was sadly mistaken.  Evidently, most people don't give much thought to everyday life (much less its minutiae).  

Minor example: pretty much everybody goes to the grocery store/supermarket/drug store every now and then.  You get a cart, navigate the aisles, select your merchandise, etc.  Everybody knows that (even if you're shopping at 2 a.m.) you don't have the store to yourself.  Why then do people universally shop on one side of the aisle and have their cart directly across from them on the other? Invariably another shopper's going to come along and need to get by them. Shopper 1 (if s/he has a modicum of decency) then looks flustered, apologizes and moves the offending cart.  Newsflash: why not have your cart and your body on the same side of the aisle?  Hmmm????  Then you can stare undistractedly at the same canned vegetables (or feminine hygiene supplies) for an indeterminate length of time without interruption.  Oh, yeah, that's right; that would require some forethought!