Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sorry came too late

Regret.

It's that twinge we all feel at the realization that we have done something we wish we hadn't. For some of us regret can relate to a smaller action: spending too much money on something frivolous, choosing the wrong ice cream flavor at the local Dairy Queen, not studying for a test when the opportunity to do so arose.

However, regret usually does not exist on such a small scale and it usually impacts more than just the person who committed the regretful act. One of my own memories of such a feeling was when I was about nine years old and I went next door to play with a friend, leaving my little sister on the other side of the fence yelling about the unfairness of the situation. The decision seemed right to me-- I got my friend all to myself, and my younger sister was not around to embarrass me-- yet when looked back to my yard and saw my sister alone, swinging on our swing set, the twingy guilt struck me hard. I regretted my decision to leave her there alone, and will always do so, because I will always feel that twinge when the memory surfaces. The only thing I can do when I think about it is apologize to my sister for making her

According to recent news, leaving little sisters behind is not the only cause for regretful apologies. Cnn.com recently published a story relating details of the House of Representatives contemplating a resolution to make a federal, formal apology for Jim Crow laws created in the South during the early 1900s.

Great. After more than 50 years of not acknowledging the injustice that was committed against an entire race of people, our government is now thinking of apologizing.

True, it is a good thing that the federal government is at least acknowledging it was wrong all those years ago, but after the destruction and degradation it caused, an apology seems somehow menial. If the U.S. government really wants to acknowledge the injustice of Jim Crow laws, do something to rectify it. While reparations often seem difficult to pay out, there are other ways to right wrongs.

Put more funds toward underprivileged educational systems that might have previously in areas that were affected by Jim Crow laws, or create better employment programs. Anything to possibly improve the status quo.

Admitting and apologizing for something that has become known as universally wrong seems so easy. Of course, the U.S. can apologize now, the government knows it will not drastically change anything at this point. If the U.S. had apologized even 20 years after the laws were abolished would have meant more than an apology that has come almost a century too late.

Perhaps in another 30 years, the U.S. will contemplate apologizing for Japanese Internment Camps during WWII. Got to keep these things timely.

Monday, July 21, 2008

The "art" of Perfection

We are all guilty of it.
No matter who we are or what our likes and dislikes are; we all spent Sunday mornings as idly as possible. We read the Sunday paper, and soak up the leisurely morning as we sip our coffee. We lounge around in our pajamas, putting off the day until the last possible second.
Perhaps it is our refusal to admit that Monday morning is less than 24 hours away that makes us reluctant to start the day.
Still, I must confess to my own tendency to laze around on a Sunday morning/afternoon. For me, the day usually entails becoming captivated by some sub par movie that I cannot seem to turn away from. Yesterday, I still found myself glued to the television, but not as a means to watch a movie. Instead, with the remote in the hands of my sister, I watched Entertainment's Best and Worst Beach Bodies.
As I sat eating less than healthy food, I was subjected to looking at Eva Longoria's perfect "beach body" and feeling less than perfect. However, I still did not find that as grounds for ceasing my viewing activities.
It was only when the show discussed Leonardo DiCaprio's less than desirable beach body that I took my leave from the couch.
No, this was not because I'm a closet Leo fan and couldn't stand hearing anything negative about him...although, I did have a huge crush on him in Titanic. The reason why the show suddenly became overwhelming distasteful was that the show's host acknowledged Leo's perfect face in the same sentence as she condemned his body.
Has our society become so obsessed with perfection that having a beautiful face is no longer enough to be considered attractive? I do not care what anyone says; that man is beautiful. Still, being beautiful is not enough.
Now, we have to be beautiful with rock hard abs, perfectly sculpted arms, shapely legs, and perky breasts. Perfection has to be all-round, not just in one's face.
Of course, it's important to have a healthy body and stay in shape, but a person does not need a perfect body to be healthy. In fact, many of those undesirable people in Hollywood are actually in a healthy state of body, but because they do not fit into the mold our current culture has cast for them, they are categorized has having the "worst beach body".
The scariest part to this is: what about the rest of us. The majority of people in this country and this world are not as polished looking as those in Hollywood. Are we all to consider ourselves as undesirable as those less than perfect celebrities? Or will we realize that those standards are not realistic for human beings?
Shouldn't we be more drawn to the faces that do not look as if they have been sculpted by a plastic surgeon, because we know that it is real and that usually the person behind that face is real as well?
Unfortunately, we have seemed to stop caring about what is real and become obsessed with what is fantastically perfect.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Election Fluff

So, election time. It's coming up at quick, swinging at us all with full force. The tension has been building for over a year, and now we are finally down to two candidates holding the Democratic and Republican nominations. Obama and McCain.
Despite all the campaigning that has been ongoing for the past year, it seems as though the real campaigning begins now. Now would be the time to really listen. Unfortunately, many have begun to feel burnt out on the whole event. Terrible as it might seem, many of us have gotten to know the candidates so well at this point that everything they say now seems borderline redundant to previous promises and vows.
And now, all we seem to focus on instead of what actually matters in a leader is what the media and news crews are broadcasting into our eager minds. So, plane crashes that did not actually happen, war stories and footage, caricatures on the cover of magazines-- this is what we learn, hear and read about.
How is that relevant?
Does it matter that Obama's plane might have obtained minor damage? Do we have to continually see the same clip of McCain as a POW? It seems as though news conglomorates are so desperate to report something, anything, on this issue that scraping the bottom of the election barrel does not seem beneath most journalists.
I find this a little troubling. The news is supposed to inform the public on relevant facts on the current election, not turn it into this years hottest reality show-- everyone's guilty pleasure.
Furthermore, we are in an era where the majority of the American Public is capable of obtaining factual information on current candidates as a means to make an intelligent decision on who should become the next leader of this nation. We could be well on our way to eliminating the Electoral College and making this nation a true democracy.
But with news sites and stations updating us 24/7 on facts that make no difference to the campaigns or to people's decisions on how they will vote, I feel as though we are somehow being set back. A sensationalize election will not help us to break law makers idea that the general public is not capable of making a rational decision on who can be the President of the United States.
If only news stations cared less about ratings and more about informing people on current events, we could all worry less about what our candidates are wearing and more about what they can do for us in the long run.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Big Brother is Still Watching

Most have recently learned of the scandal involving Jesse Jackson’s remarks about Barack Obama. He was caught on camera before an interview with Fox News saying that he hates how Obama “talks down to black people” about faith based programs, later indicating a desire to “cut his n**s off.”

While these comments definitely lead to some indication on how Obama’s campaign is affecting various communities, I found the most troubling part of this who scenario not the words that came from Jesse Jackson’s mouth, but rather the fact that he thought he was saying something in private when his words were broadcast for the nation to hear.

It has become a frequent occurrence for a celebrity or politician to mutter something non PC under their breath and later realize a recording of that whispered statement has been painted all over the news media and the internet.

While it is entertaining to view a person, such as a politician, who seemingly meticulously calculates each word that comes out of their mouth caught off guard, revealing the part of themselves that is not written by speech writers or publicists. It is refreshing to see their honesty, whether we like what they say or not. Still, there is something troubling about this trend.

There is something about these recurring scenarios that are somewhat reminiscent of Big Brother from George Orwell’s 1984. We must always be careful of what we say: Big Brother is watching.

It seems that sites such at YouTube have brought us more timely news clips, often seconds after the events have occurred, however, these sites have also diminished our rights and privileges to privacy.

As this new era of technological rule sweeps in, must we all be careful of what we say when we think we’re speaking in private? Should we censor ourselves when speaking in our own homes, to our mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and friends? Must everything but our own thoughts be filtered to keep PC so as to not end up on YouTube for the world to be offended by our words?

Time will tell.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Impossible Compliments

I am an attractive woman. At times I believe it; at times I don't. My observation of this must not be taken as an indication of my own self-involvement, but rather as an ability to see the truth about myself at times.
My own reflections on my appearances, in this particular case, are not relevant. What is relevant is that two days ago, as I was in line at the grocery store to buy a sandwich, the man in line in front of me found it necessary to point out to the woman behind the counter how good looking I was. While he might have meant it as a compliment, the only thing I could think of is how uncomfortable this made me and the woman behind the counter.
When I did not respond to the compliment, the man continued to talk to me about how much weight he lost. He very well, might have just been a friendly guy wanting to share his achievements with others. However, I could not help but wonder why he did not share this achievement with the 60 year-old woman behind the counter. Why was she not worthy of hearing of his success while I was?
If he just wanted to tell me about himself why should he have told me how attractive I was? Perhaps he thought the compliment would make me feel good about myself. It did not. Rather, I just felt awkward and uncomfortable, as if I regretted appearing attractive.
I did not want a compliment; I wanted to be left alone.
Still, while he went on talking, I smile politely and listened to what he had to say. Why is it that so many of us feel it necessary to be polite to those that inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable? I didn't ask for a conversation, yet I was forced to endure one with a man that made me want to cover myself up even more so than I already was.
Whatever brave soul that might be reading this might think I'm being bitchy in this small manifesto about the inconvenience of an unwanted compliment and conversation. I might be. I cannot think of a better justification for my complaints other than the fact that there are so many people in the world like him who feel as though a young attractive female who is out in public is just asking to be hit on.
It seems as though so many forget that people are people no matter who they are: young, old, thin, fat, pretty ugly, male, female. We are all trying to go about our lives as if we aren't there for other people's amusement.
It has occurred to me to treat some arrogant person who acts the way the man at the grocery store acted as I was treated, but something tells me that people like that would crave the attention too much. Perhaps creating a small, melodramatic, type-faced, rant is the only justice left in the world.