I've been debating for the last few days how to best approach revealing a side to the ol' ZenFo Pro that has only peaked out here up to this point. When I was in high school, I wasn't just a drunken idiot who played in a punk band and ditched more classes than I attended during my last two years, a guy from a lower middle-class background who made it out alive. That was just the fun stuff, but it's only half of the story.
I may have been a drunken teenage rebel, but I was a hyperactive drunken teenage rebel. And I count my blessings every damned day that I was fortunate enough to grow up with two very hard-working parents on a farm in the middle of nowhere Virginia. I worked my way through college, working sometimes upward of 50 hours a week while taking a full course load.
I had an IM conversation with a girl (who I guess, has never visited this site before and had found my blog while searching for information on fair-trade technology and just wanted somebody to listen) who was told she should drop out of school because she doesn't fit in. She attends a very affluent institution, similar to Miami, and has to work two jobs to get through school, has a kid living with her folks, and still maintains a Dean's List level GPA.
Her boyfriend apparently dumped her when he found out about the kid. He was afraid dating a girl from a working-class background would crimp his future law school and political ambitions.
This girl's sitting in some university thousands of miles away from me and just needed to vent. I have no clue why she chose to hit the Yahoo IM button. Of course, I have no clue why people read this site anyway.
If you're a 22-year old tool who'd dump your girlfriend because she has a kid, then turn around and tell her to drop out because you're embarrassed people might find out you had been dating her, well, don't ever run for public office. Seriously.
And please don't ever, ever let me catch you in my town. I might just have to beat your ignorant monkey ass. I say might only because I don't think it would really be worth it.
If you're some random reader and you have to even ask whether or not the guy I'm talking about here might be you, it probably isn't. I don't even have a first name. But if you suspect it might be you, well, you might need to reevaluate your priorities.
I wasn't planning on posting anything tonight, but just in case the IMer comes back, I wanted to dedicate something to her.
- Jason
Fini
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Due to my changing job responsibilities and numerous serious personal
issues (I’ve been out of work for a month on medical leave) this blog has
run its cou...
14 years ago
6 comments:
iou know how annoying it is to be drunk and want to go to bed but to have your goddam roomate wake you up to talk about abortions? i wanna sleep!!! Serios homes when i'm elected president i'm calling you to be my fucking secretary of state. i know your grandpa was like an ambassador or something. Good going with the IM chick. nice to know i'm not the only one hitting ya up for advice on kicking stupid dumb ass bys to the fucking curb.
Yer grandpa was an ambassador? Really? Dang. That's interesting. My grandpa was found dead in a gutter in Chicago the day after St. Patrick's day (alcohol-induced heart attack). Kinda interesting in a macbre way. My other grandpa was a commercial lithographer, an amateur painter, and golfer. Not very interesting. ;-)
Yep, I agree, too much emphasis is put on abortion as a political issue, both pro and con, and not enough on helping women control their own lives in other ways. Reminds me of looking at "women's health" books and finding reference only to reproductive health and cancers of the reproductive organs. Excuse me, but I AM more than my boobs and uterus, thank you! Isn't feminism about addressing ALL of a woman's life, not just her babymaking bits? What about discussing lupus and MS, both of which affect women disproportionately? huh?
Ok, I'm going off on a rant now, aren't i? :-)
Gotta go to work. Ciao!
Megan:
Lol...nope. My grandpa wasn't an ambassador. But he did do 4 decades' worth of "hard time" serving his country. Ambassadors are politicians. Diplomacy's a career. Not going to say much more about it. Let's just say I really appreciate the fact that three different consulates sent flowers to the funeral when I was a kid.
Secretary of State? I'm honored. Seriously, chica.
MM:
Nope. Not an ambassador, just a guy doing his job ;) You know, there was a time in this country when a Cajun with only a high school diploma could see the world and make a difference. I think everybody's grandparents are probably interesting. Yours, definitely.
Feel free to go off on your own rant, chica. Everything does seem to come back to sex in terms of gender politics. That's why I've sort of done an about-face regarding ERA passage (I used to think it was a meaningless token, but if only we could get those three states....) Women's rights are so much bigger than one single issue - that's part of the reason suffrage movements tended to grow out of other issues, like the abolition of slavery in the 1800s.
aww that's sweet of you.
Very well put MM!
Jason, the more I read you the more I like you!
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