Another Rant

My sister posted on Facebook that she hopes to grow old gracefully.  I wasn't sure what she meant because most of the time I hear this it's referring to the physical side effects of aging. But she wasn't talking about that. She meant that she didn't want to be grouchy, intolerant and just plain miserable.  I hadn't really thought about it like that before.  And now I'm thinking about it.


I see something happening in me.  It's not good.  What is good is that I have the power to change my thoughts; but I have to want to change.  Before I start on changing myself I want to  get this out of my system.  So, here's the deal. I'm becoming intolerant.  Intolerant of things I never thought I would become intolerant with. Now, as you're reading this, keep in mind that I'm an educator and I just finished up the last day of school. I think educators become pretty intolerant of everything about this time of year.



I spend a lot of time on Facebook.  Too much time in my opinion. But that's beside the point.  I'm becoming intolerant of people, mostly my age, who are turning into intolerant, opinionated assholes.  See?    It's probably just a reflection of me.

 I'm married to an ex pat Brit.  I love him with all my heart and soul and feel sorry for him because he's married to me. The problem is, I'm becoming intolerant with a few his British peers who think they know the United States. Or, who live here and clutch pitifully to their British roots.  I had a former work associate tell me, when she was upset about another co worker,  that she was "so done with spoiled, sensitive little American women".  Hello?  Did she not even think about who she was saying that to?

 I find that attitude a lot.  I find that some Brits have this superior attitude and cling to traditions. The United States isn't really old enough to have those types of traditions. And the United States is more about change and not holding on to old values and ideas. Because of that, we make a lot of mistakes.  We say a lot of things that probably make no sense, but they do to a lot of us.  They do because for the most part, we believe that true success is opening one's mind and thinking about every option, every idea, and every contemporary concept.







We mull over them, we argue about them and then we decide.




People from other countries who don't live here  have no idea what they're talking about when they judge things that happen in our country.


 I am totally for stricter gun control laws.  I think the deaths and injuries in this country caused by guns are horrific. However, I am not against gun ownership.  My beloved grandfather was 40th sharp shooter in the world in the 1940's, but he did not believe in hunting or killing.  He used to make bullets in his basement when I was a little girl.  I would go down the steep, rickety basement steps and it seemed almost like a mysterious cavern.  Books, boxes, tools and all sorts of treasures were there.  Tools for making bullets were also there.  I wouldn't dare touch them of course because I was taught boundaries and respect for others.(He even had a gun named after him.)

So, I said all that to say this: most people who haven't lived here don't understand what this country is about. They don't understand what the mindset and attitude is like here.





 It's wild, crazy and people value their individual and corporate freedoms.  I voted for Obama, both times.  However, having lived in Arizona for four years now it is becoming even more clear that the conservatives who live here are all about not wanting the government to tell them what they can or can't have, and what they can or can't do in their private lives. 




 It's not a moral issue so much, like in the Midwest.  The conservative values of the Midwest are a whole nother ranting blog that I'll not touch right now.

I'm married to a bleeding heart British liberal.  And I must say that viewing political issues through his eyes has opened my eyes.  As a Christian, I totally believe that Jesus, the one I call God, taught many liberal things that the conservative Christians sadly fail to see. But on the other hand, I HATE dealing with the government.  It's a lot like dealing with a huge corporation. And I certainly don't want the government telling me what I can and can't do with my personal life. Whether it's owning guns or having an abortion. Anyway, I'm beating totally around the bush.  What I want to say to a few non-Americans is,  keep your opinions to yourselves because if you haven't lived here, you don't get it.   You have your heads up your derriere...big time.






 I'm not sure how this is going to go over.    It's just those few who, in the very appropriate words from Anne Lamott express what I feel and think of them.

“I thought such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them out loud because they would make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish.”

This is a rant.  This is a huge rant and I feel better for writing about it.  This is my problem.  Not anyone else's.  And I'll be working on it.  I too want to grow old gracefully.