Well, here it is, the infamous Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, all that insane stuff. I have returned the Office, to find it is surprisingly quiet and devoid of the deranged shoppers cashing in their free coffee/latte coupon (which I have, though lattes are not my thing...free is free). It is unusually quiet indeed, and none of the Usual Suspects are here either.
You'll find as I blog on, that there are nicknames for most of the regulars of this place, and I don't feel bad about it, as heaven knows what they call me!
But I have made my way through Thanksgiving alone, and it really wasn't that bad. My family is all in New England, and surprisingly I did not get more than an email from my sister. Susan is quite the one about getting 'round to everybody.
As a vegetarian, people ask, how do you celebrate? One word: Tofurkey. Great stuff. I think it also has the same drug that turkey has, the one that causes you to lapse into coma after two or more helpings.
I edited one of my manuscripts, this is something I do a lot between creating the next one. Also watched most of the first two episodes of Ken Burns' "Jazz." Got it here very cheaply, and it's research material for my first book. Loosely, that is.
Really good stuff.
During these holidays, I tend to get rather depressed, and also very cynical, more so than usual on the latter I will admit. I have wondered a great deal on the arrogance of people, and 'Jazz' actually pointed something out to me I didn't know.
The Creole population of New Orleans; I know so little of them. They identified more with their European, or White genes. After the Civil War and the withdrawal of federal troops, Jim Crow laws went into full effect, and they suddenly found themselves on the level with Negroes, those people they so denied were anything like them.
That must have been a terrible shock. In any case, today we have the very same arrogance that is displayed by everyone from the average person to those in power. I hate to say this, but we are still a racist nation, and we have not done as well as we'd like to think.
I feel sad saying this, because where I live there are so many people who I would not call racist--good, decent, kind people. But...they cannot handle the reality that Barack Obama is our president...because he is black.
Or, mixed-race, but to the world it is either black or white, isn't it? The color of the man's skin only magnifies the hatred of him, and the paranoia that has been spread about him, for everything.
I love how supposedly educated, intellectual people try to excuse the rantings of the Tea Partiers, the accusations and rants of Sarah Palin, and false outrages purported to being done to this country by the charlatans on Fox News; they always have an excuse, a reason why, a reason why not, and they always couch it in Doublespeak. Baffle the dummies with bullshit, that's how they do it.
I don't profess to know how to solve the world's problems, or put them to right. But honestly, we need to look at ourselves, each one of us, and put aside all the horseshit. What can each one of us do? What can we do for our situation to make it better, and can we look at ourselves and know that we can make a difference for ourselves, and that it might just rub off a little bit on others? Skin color, religion, politics, social standing be FUCKING DAMNED!
I do every day see the little things that people do to make the world a better place; each day, I try to think of something good I can do for someone else. It can be as little as holding a door for someone, you know; it's not a bad thing.
I saw one of the Office workers leave the building to catch a customer who had left something behind in the store. Stuff like that. Little things. Always good.
Okay, I have to get back to editing. I burned through the first volume of The Outcast Society, which leads me to think I will do well at the rest of it. Or perhaps I need to look elsewhere.
My Walkman is on shuffle, and it is canceling out the faint wail of Xmas music or whatever the fuck is on playlist here. At least in the cafe they don't play it loud.
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