Man Finds Former Self Embarassing

I am in season 5 of True Blood... and I am starting to mourn that it will end in two more seasons. I wrote earlier a few weeks ago on Facebook about how much I have been enjoying it... and my perplexion as to why I didn't enjoy this when it first came out in 2008.

It occurred to me the other night.

It's so gay.

By 2008, my conservative faith of 30 years had swung pretty liberal... but I still had a lot of hang-ups. Decades of conditioning do not turn on a dime. If you had asked me at the time, I would have said that I loved and supported the gay community. I probably would have taken umbrage if anyone had suggested otherwise.

However, looking back, I can recognize that gay representation made me uncomfortable. I could view thousands of heterosexual kisses on screen... but two men kissing once would have made me feel that an "agenda" was being "pushed." Do what you want in your own bedroom, but keep it out of the public sphere... after all, will someone think of the children??

Your previous self can be so... embarrassing. Folks don't like to reflect on it (I don't). It took me til Season 5 to put 2 and 2 together as to my initial distaste for the show.

We cringe... so we don't want to remember. We clean up our histories, we gloss over our scriptures, and we don't tell our children about family issues.

I hope MLK was right about the moral arc of the universe. I hope we really are getting better.

Crackers!

I was reading a thread about folks being upset with Cracker Barrel for offering Impossible Meat on their menu.  One comment was essentially, "I just want a restaurant that is normal, with normal food on the menu!"

The thing is... his menu selection was not impacted.  They didn't REPLACE the sausage in his breakfast with Impossible Sausage, it is merely an option now for those who would like it.  He NEVER has to order it.

Yet, its availability to others sticks in his craw.  So much so, he is refusing to go to Cracker Barrel ever again.

To many of us, this is simply insane behavior... but for swaths of Americans, it is the norm.  A good chunk of their voting and candidate selection is based on this frustration. They grind their teeth and clench their fists when people choose items off of life's menu... as if they are being forced to partake as well.