I am no better and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m in
I am everyday people
Sly Stone, Sly and the Family Stone. 1968
Several years ago, I began writing what I thought would be a book about how different we are from each other. It’s still unfinished on my computer, and I hope to finish it someday with the title “There Are Two Kinds of People in This World: Me, and Everyone Else!” Meanwhile, I believe an essay on the gist of the book is in order during this tumultuous time of political indifference.
Often, I want to respond to a posting on Facebook where I disagree with a “friend’s” position. I pause, but not always. I may respond if someone has posted an untruth that I can correct with simple impartial research, but most of the time, I leave it alone. Even fact-checking these days is questioned by anyone who might have a different opinion than anyone else. A younger me never thought this possible. And you may have heard many times; ‘you are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.’
Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I’m in
Upon seeing a posting in which the author pointed out the huge differences between products purchased in January of 2020 to the products bought in January of 2024, I conducted research of my own. Surprisingly, I discovered the margin between orange juice from both years was larger than portrayed in the meme. There was no need for me to respond. And, it surprised me.
A year or two ago, my nephew brought me a jar of his homemade salsa. As I opened it, I could smell cumin. I do not like cumin, curry, coconut, cilantro, or coriander. Do you see a pattern here? I do, however, like cinnamon, celery, and particularly cherry anything. But the cumin in the salsa was a turn off for me. I feel bad that I hurt his feelings by telling him I didn’t like the salsa. But I ate the salsa and cumin is beginning to grow on me. The point is that, although we are all equal, we are all different. We have our personal likes and dislikes. Step aside and open your mind.
There is a blue one
Who can’t accept the green one
For living with a fat one
Trying to be a skinny one
Different strokes
For different folks
Letters to the editor display various slants toward or against political policies. I agree with some, and disagree with others. I have penned many LTEs myself, but I never attacked another writer personally. At least, not that the editor published. More than once, I did have someone write an LTE responding to what I had written. It made me feel good, knowing that someone cared enough to emote their own tilt toward the issue.
I am no better and neither are you
We are the same, whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can’t figure out the bag I’m in
And so on and so on
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Marty, your blog post reminded me of this. As you know, my late father was a prolific letter to the editor writer. Mostly to the Newton (Iowa) Daily News, but some to the Des Moines Register. Once, in the Newton paper, they published my dad’s letter in which he explained why he was opposed to the war in Iraq, which had just begun. Another Newton resident wrote a letter back, personally attacking my father. The letter writer (I’ll call him Mr. Jones) wrote that he was in the National Guard and added: “I bet Olen Lambert was never brave enough to wear the uniform of his country.” My father wrote back, and his letter was published. My father wrote: “I’d like Mr. Jones to know that I have worn the uniform of my country. I was in the U.S. Army, and I was front line infantry in the Korean War. I don’t know if Mr. Jones has ever been in combat, but I hope for his sake that he hasn’t.” Mr. Jones did not write another letter after that.