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April 20, 2007 |
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I was really shaken up with the Virginia Tech tragedy. It's aweful. It should have never happened... I said a prayer for the families, for the kids and the teachers and then I got mad. Just how do we protect our kids? We can't keep them under a glass cover, nor can we demand that policing patrols are on every single corner of university campuses. We can't blame it on the goverment and ask that they come up with a new piece of law which would ultimately only strip us of our freedom even more. Yesterday I heard a comment on a certain Talk Show that what had happened at VA Tech was because kids were being "politically correct". No one felt that "judging" the guy for his phychological problems was the right thing to do. (Why didn't they "judge" him and jump him when he was lining them up to shoot them, I'm still trying to grasp) OK. How many of you think that being "politically correct" is hurting us more than protecting us? And how can we be "PC" and Christian at the same time? Not to take away the seriousness of this matter, but earlier this week, I was feeling pretty "low energy". So I abandoned my laundry, I slacked off at doing office work, I took longer than usual time to eat my breakfast, I nursed Blais on the couch under a warm blanked and whispered gently into his ear: "Take your time, little baby, no rush..." hoping he would just stay there for hours so I can stay right there with him... for hours. After all I am tired (I justified), I just did 26 concerts and travelled a few thousand miles. So? My mother would say that I was being lazy. No excuses. Lazy. But "low energy" sounds much better, kinder, doesn't it? It's a positive approach to an old human condition (not that all "low energy" is necessary always "lazy"). It makes us feel better about ourselves (no one wants to be "lazy", whereas "low energy" is like a doctor's note that implies a realistic health excuse) My mother is a very kind woman. She's got amazing people skills. And she knows how to be a great diplomat. But if she could see me, she would say: "Stop being lazy, there is work to do and life to live." She would make me a cup of a very strong Croatian (read "Turkish") coffee and I would be back on my feet (literary). Life would be so much easier if we were all more honest with each other and with ourselves. And the world would be a much safer place because we would not hide behind a "PC" (which is really a licence for us to be ignorant and blind to other's problems and needs), but we would act as responsible individuals, members of communities that united would make a difference. I'll admit - it takes a lot of effort to find a way to show our concerns for people around us, without making them feel judged and defensive. And on top of that, unless we are ready to offer some solution to their problem we really have no place criticising their choices. (My mother would call me lazy but she would also make me coffee to help me get moving) I know that most of you who read these diary pages are the ones who aren't hiding. You are reaching out in your communities and improving the lives of your neighbours. But we need to do more. It's not time to be lazy, it's time to load up on organic, fair trade coffee and do the work!
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