Who's "we?"

So this lady I know was having a conversation with me and she lamented that "we" were soon going to be in the minority.  I was a little shocked that she was telling me this and I asked her, "who's 'we?'"  She pinched her skin, "you know, white people."

...I'm not white.

Sometimes I just have to wonder what it is about me that makes people think I am white.  She isn't the only one.  My friend Sara once said that she thinks of me as being white.  My dad has flat out told me I was white.  I suppose the answer came from one of my sister's professors who would probably label me an acculturated white.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before and how offended I was.

I'm no superman.

This past week has been pretty darn stressful.  One of my coworkers left for another company location so I had to deal with her workload.  She and I do different thing when it comes to the inventory system but I used to cover her years back so I do have some experience in what she does.  The problem is that I haven't done what she does in years.  Considering how often procedures change around here, I think it is safe to say I was beyond just a "little rusty."  Fortunately with a little help, I have muddled through the week... or so I thought.

I've been notified that I will be transferring across campus.  New business is coming in and the workload for the existing crew there is going to increase.  In a way I've sort of been promoted.  You know, more responsibility without the title.  There may be a nickle or two thrown at me in terms of a pay raise but I'm not holding my breath.  The company already said they weren't giving out raises this year.  When I will finally make it over there, I don't know but I would guess by July when the new client comes online.  Wish me luck.

My sister is married.

Last Saturday, my sister got married. This post, however, won’t be so much about her as it is about me. What?! She got a freakin’ day. I can have a freakin’ blog post!

Her marriage to Nate was not something that I was particularly looking forward to. On one hand I am happy that she had found someone that she loves and wants to spend the rest of her life with. As for me though, it was going to be an event where she leaves my family and joins another in that legal/traditional weird thinking kind of way. Also, it was going to be another family event that I would have to attend where I would again have to fend off questions on why I was still single and why I wasn't going to church.

As I sat back and observed it all, I did try to think on the importance of marriage and what it had meant to other family members, friends, and acquaintances that I’ve known throughout my life. I thought about what this all meant to me.

One word that is always thrown around is “love.” When you’re in love you get married. When you’re in love, you’re happy. Love is all you need. Love, love, love. A common reading that I hear at ceremonies and, indeed, heard at my sister’s comes from I Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind…” and every time I hear it I want to gag a little.

I can tell you, I don’t believe in love--at least, not in the more extreme and romanticized version of it. People love, definitely but I don’t believe that love is eternal. I don’t believe in finding a soul mate. I don’t have to look far to find people whose love died or those who have found new love in someone else. History shows me people coming together and then leaving each other. It’s just a fact of life to me.

What I do believe is that two compatible people can meet, fall in love, and enrich each other’s lives so much that the two of them together is stronger than they were apart. That with commitment, a goal, and perhaps a bit of luck, they can make it through the rest of this life together. Perhaps a mashup of two stories may illustrate better what I am thinking.

In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes talked about how humans originally existed. These humans were beings whose body consisted of torso, four legs, four arms, and a head with two faces facing in opposite directions. There were three sexes: male-male, male-female, and female-female. These beings believed themselves to be so powerful that they rose up against the gods. Zeus didn't want to destroy the humans otherwise there would be no one to worship them with offerings. So he crippled the humans by cutting them in half. Now instead of threatening the gods, humans are driven to find their other halves.

In Star Trek, the Klingon gods created the first Klingon and they were proud of their accomplishment because they had forged the strongest heart in all creation and that none could stand against it. The Klingon, however, started to weaken and the gods asked why. The Klingon replied, “I am alone.” So the gods went and created a partner which was stronger. The first was jealous of the second and began to do battle. Fortunately, the second was tempered with wisdom and said, “If we join together no force can stop us.” And so together they killed the gods.

Zeus knew as the Klingon gods found out, that when two people come together, they can accomplish anything. I may have a cynical view of love joining two people in eternal bliss. When it comes to my sister and now my brother-in-law, Nate, I believe that if they believe in themselves they can accomplish wonders.

Fixated on Flint

I told my movie buddy, Kraig, that I wasn't keen on watching G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  The move franchise hasn't captured my attention like the cartoon used to do. The same is true about the Transformers series as well.  However, I told Kraig that I would go see it with him if he wanted and so we did.  As I thought, it was largely a boring movie to me.

There was one thing that I want to comment about and that is the character of Flint. When I was a kid watching the cartoon, I had this strange feeling for Flint that I did not have for any of the other Joes.  I couldn't tell you why, I just did.  Only later did I realize that, yes, I do get crushes on fictional characters--two-dimensional, cartoon characters.  Yeah, don't laugh.

Flint was missing from the other two movies, although Dennis Quaid came close to looking like him as far as I was concerned even though his character was Gen. Hawk.  Flint made his appearance in this movie and whoa boy did I get that strange feeling again.  Only this time, I don't feel so ridiculous about it.  

Death and Taxes

Like usual, I waited until the tax filing deadline before I completed my returns.  While I was filling them out I thought about these people that do not pay any income taxes because they are so poor.  Where are these people?  I'd like to meet them so they can tell me their secrets on how they manage to get by on less than what I make!  I pay in and I think that I'm scraping out of the end of a barrel sometimes looking for some loose change.  Really, who can possibly be poorer than I and not have to pay in?  Anyways, I got my fed and state forms sent in Sunday night via e-file.  Local got mailed off Monday morning.

Those who waited until the absolute last minute were probably distracted with the news coming out of Boston where two IEDs were set off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  From what I've read/heard so far, three people are dead.  No clues yet as to who is responsible.  Considering the anniversaries of Waco, and Oklahoma City, plus Patriot's Day and Tax Day, there has been a lot of speculation that it might be an anti-government nutjob.  If it had been al-Qaeda itself, I suppose we would have seen a statement claiming responsibility, but none has surfaced so far.  So it seems we're looking at a lone-wolf type of bomber.

Water!

I was going through some of my junk last night and pulled out my old high school ring.  If I remember right, I haven't worn this thing since a formal dinner back in my freshman year of college.  It's still a loose fit and annoying as hell to wear.  When our class was invited to place orders, I knew that this was something that I would only wear in high school and then stored away in a box.  For the most part that's exactly what has happened.  However, since the cartoon Captain Planet has come up in conversation a couple times lately, I thought I'd break it out.  I think it makes for a passable Planeteer ring!  Yeah, my coworkers laughed at me too.