I have always attempted to be respectful of others, even they who show no amount of respect for those around them. What makes me successful at this is my ability to assess, analyze, and reach a logical conclusion before offering commentary. I can easily sum this up by saying I am driven less by emotion and more by intellect. This is not to say I am without passion; on the contrary. My intellect is... driven by passion. Be patient; this is going somewhere. It ticks me off when I see someone wearing a shirt with an advertisement of one kind or another boldly emblazoned upon it for all to see, but the person feigns knowledge by stating, "Oh, I just picked something up and put it on," or "Oh, it's my (brother's/friend's/cousin's) shirt." There are people who wear Che Guevara shirts simply because their friends wear them, and once they are told the guy was a Marxist who murdered innocent civilians they (once again) feign ignorance, feign revulsion, or just come right out and say they do not care, as in "I don't care about all that, it's just a cool shirt to me." People are walking billboards, and whether it is something such as this or a shirt that reads "All bitches is hoes and all hoes is bitches" or something with racial overtones--or blatant racial slurs for that matter--people seem to believe they should not be held accountable for the beliefs they publicize on a daily basis. Over the past few years we have seen this trend move from the T-shirt to the home-or-profile page, and yes, especially here on Facebook it has become a disease, dark, prevalent, unrelenting. I have always attempted to explain to any who would listen that a public forum such as this is not the place to air one's dirty laundry; as far as that goes it is really not the place for sharing EVERY aspect of one's life. My reasoning behind this is that while everyone has the freedom to express themselves however they wish, it must be understood that the same freedom of expression works in the opposite direction: The RESPONSE to the Post. One person's opinion of Che Guevara may be that he was a great revolutionary. My opinion is that he didn't die quick enough. Who is wrong here? More importantly, how can one person get pissed off at another voicing his or her opinion? I opened this dialogue with, "I have always attempted to be respectful of others," and I shall continue to do so. I have sometimes defined that as not responding to a post I have seen, but henceforth that shall no longer be the case. If I feel the need to comment, please respect the fact that I am simply exercising the same right as you. I mean no malice nor ill will; I just wish to offer an opposing view. I shall always remain respectful, so please respect the respect I give you. Thank you. DUNCAN
Musings From A Cigarette Smoking Man: One person's view of the insanity we call our lives.
That is a remarkable message from a remarkable man with a remarkable vocabulary and use of words. Yet it doesn't cease to leave me in awe how my father, an amazingly but not surprisingly well-educated man almost as much as he has respect, would see how someone "expresses" themselves and yet they "aren't" meaning to do it. I went through it as well, with the shirts, pants, & piercings and people judged me with how I presented and "expressed" myself. So understand that what you and how you do it is a reflection of who you are, maybe not entirely but definitely a way of, as they say, making a stand.
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