Wednesday, December 26, 2012

So, I was my usual self today, and I started thinking.  Now that I live in New York, I see a lot more homeless people than I have in other places. Now, in no way am I saying that I've never seen homeless people on a regular basis, (which I actually did in Florida while working at Starbucks, but that would be a whole different story), but never so many that I do now. So, seeing homeless people isn't a brand new shocker to me, in fact, it seems not out of the ordinary. I've only lived in NYC since August and I don't feel I've been here long enough to be desensitized to seeing so many homeless people, but I still feel the same way towards them as I have before.

I don't see a lot of homeless people, but increasing from 1-2 on a regular basis to 5-6 is a drastic increase. Shouldn't I feel more of something for them? I should also state that my feelings before to them weren't negative, they were much more of indifference. I don't feel as much sorry for them, as it is a feeling of resignation for them. If they behave like civil people, I see them as no different than someone who has a home. If they act obscenely, I see them the same way I see people who have homes that act badly: I look down my nose at them. (Yes, I do know some of them have mental problems, but some do just behave badly because they feel they can, or they want whatever attention it will give them.)

This lead me to wondering: why do I feel that? I used to feel ashamedly sorry for the homeless. What changed my feelings towards them? I think the catalyst started when Luis and I visited the Dominican Republic in May for a wedding. There we saw real poverty. The kind of poverty not even the homeless I've seen have. Those people had homes. They had homes in a third world country. Some of them were magnificent. I saw an apartment that was a whole entire apartment floor. It was a house in an apartment.
Then those that weren't magnificent were dismal. Seeing the rift between the two classes felt like seeing an epiphany.

It informed some part inside me, and it is the informing that can't be undone. Easily being able to see who was rich and who was very poor was a very weird realization.  From what I have seen while living in America, most of our citizens are middle class or above. Not all, but most. Since there are so many above the poverty line, the distinction for us isn't as clear cut as it is in a third world.

 It blew my mind.

There, the poor were terribly skinny, poorly clothed, and lived in shambles; while in America, most of our poor have at least one meal a day, are decently clothed for the weather, and are still working members of society. This doesn't happen in third world countries nearly as much.

Even though the thought of our homeless in America might be depressing, they are way better off than some who have homes in third world countries.

Think about that.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Thoughts on Racial Topics

Being my usual self today, I decided to spend a bit of my time relaxing on my day off. Sure, I have lots of stuff to do, but I believe in taking a bit of time each day to spend for myself. It keeps me much more sane than I should be. Today I decided to spend that time watching an old film. I really enjoy films before the 80's because they can give me a different view because their films are written and shot from a different perspective than today's movies.

Today it is Superfly that I'm watching. A mostly black film from 1972 that deals with a cocaine dealer wanting out of the "thug life", as the description on Netflix says, and what he does in hopes of achieving that. The thing that strikes me first is usage of the word "Nigger" by any kind of person, white or black. I also noticed this in another film from this time period called "Sugar Hill". 

Side note: Sugar Hill was an awesome movie about a black woman who summons zombies with the help of voodoo and how she uses them to take revenge on those who killed her man. 

Seriously. One bad ass film.

So, to get back to my point, the use of the word "Nigger" wasn't always deemed a negative thing. That makes me wonder two things.  First, is this now changed perception because people began to become more tolerant and wanted to avoid negative stereotyping? And second: If it was not that, does this mean that it wasn't a negative term, so much as a dividing term (much like we still call white people... well, white people)?  If so, why aren't white people offended by dividing terms? No one's ever upset me before by calling me a cracker. In fact, it really makes me laugh. 

So am I the tolerant one, or am I just the insensitive one?

Friday, December 7, 2012

Thoughts on My Younger Self

So, being my usual self today, I started reflecting on the past (mine), and found myself going through the things I had done or said when younger, as if they were clips being played on You Tube. One thing I had to think about is how my perception of people has changed. The example I thought of was how I used to think that everyone who did "drugs" were bad. You can ask why.

Why? Because it was instilled in me and I didn't know of any other terrible scenario than the ones I were taught. That's not the main point I'm making, but it is important to think about.

Now, my views are that you can't judge people for one aspect of their life. People need to be seen as a whole, multifaceted gem, that has very good qualities to very bad. I can use this in an example that would be suitable to my own life: Just because someone has read/seen the Twilight Series, and LIKES it, doesn't mean that they have no literary taste.

As much as I have a strong dislike (some might say hate) for Twilight overall, everything about that series (i. e. they were written poor, she has no range of vocabulary, the plot lines don't always make sense, etc...), I have to admit that some people can like the movie/books and still be productive members of society.


"I really hate that."


That's what I'd say if I was trying to make this a joke. It's not. I can still have respect for people who like Twilight, as much as it kills me to admit it.


So, this is killing me.



Anyways, the point I was trying to make is, that now I'm older, I can see people for their many qualities and "judge" them with that instead of one "negative" quality.  And yes I say judge because everyone does it. Judging is not always bad.

Therefore, I no longer think that do "drugs" are automatically bad people (actually, I've been thinking that for years, but that's besides the point).

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Thoughts About the Pope

So, I was my usual self today, and sat down to eat my usual bagel after work and watched some TV. This time it was Chelsea Lately from Monday, December 3rd (two days ago). I sat on the couch, eating, watching this blonde British gal, who kinda reminded me of a skinnier Adele, talk about how the Pope is getting a twitter account, and the 85 year old Catholic leader is supposed to start twittering in 2 weeks. There is a scheduled date for it too...

My first thought is about this picture of him, was that why do we have a Pope that in every picture that I've seen of him, my first thought is that he looks pure evil? Surprisingly, the bad picture of the tv screen that I took makes him look WAAYY less evil. When you see those wrinkles in HD, it's terrifying.


See what I mean?

Naturally, my second thought was, how the hell is this 85 year old man going to know how to use a computer so that he can tweet. Unless he is one exceptional dude, I really think that he's not going to know how to use it. My grandmother is about the same age, and she doesn't even know how to check her voice mails on her cell phone.  Love you Grandma.

Apparently, a "young Cardinal" is going to be tweeting for him. 

Third, nice pun on the church not needing to do any more reaching out to young people. That was classic. 


This story was a goldmine of hilarity.


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Thoughts of a Mattress Commercial

So, I was my usual self today, and I sat down to watch tv while I was eating my lunch, after I get home from work. I ended up watching an American Dad episode that was currently playing on TBS. I happened to watch one of the commercials, which I don't normally do. It was a commercial for Sleepy's Mattress. It was the weirdest mattress commercial I have ever seen. You know how mattress commercials are always so low-key and soothing? Well, this one made you want to have a dance party.  It felt so bizarre watching it. Especially the middle with the beds going back and forth.





Or Watch here.