It’s no surprise that, as a shallow person, I don’t spend much time thinking about what other people are thinking. It’s not that I don’t care about other people. It’s just that I don’t usually attempt to understand them. Nor do I think they should attempt to understand me. Because, it seems to me, that each of us comes to see this world of ours from our own perspectives and it takes a whole lot of energy to try to put oneself in somebody else’s shoes. So it might shock you when I say that lately, for reasons unbeknownst to even me, I have been devoting a bit of my time to mucking about in what I think could possibly be going on in some other people’s heads. And without trying to sound overly magniloquent, this little exercise of mine has provided me with what I imagine to be explanations for why there are people who do things one way while others do it another. Albeit in some very limited cases which I will share with you now.
For those who don’t know, I have always been a “car person” which essentially means that I really like cars. Not for what they do, like enable me to go places with relative ease, but just for what they are. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a family of “car people”. I don’t know. One brother or another was always bringing home some cute little tattered sporty number that with a little elbow grease turned into a shiny, hot machine from which they could roam the streets of our town. And my Father would buy nothing but convertibles. I mean who wouldn’t want a convertible in a country where almost 6 months of each year are covered in snow? The thing is, he knew what cars were for. Cruising down the highway on a gorgeous summer day, Beach Boys blaring on the radio, hair and cares blowing in the wind. I suppose it’s in my blood. Cars become part of our family. We give them names, take really good care of them and keep them for an extraordinarily long time. Cars have never been about practicality or “just” transportation which might help to explain why our Mini Cooper (Red Emma) is currently the “big” car in our family.
But there are two sides to this coin. For some people cars are just cars. I know this because I see them everyday, everywhere. Practical cars with four doors for ease of getting in and out; that comfortably seat four people, five in a crunch; have trunks large enough to hold all the stuff needed for a 2 or 3 week road trip; and are equipped with a few but not too many options, mostly ones focused on increased safety. I get that not everyone develops an intimate connection with the rather expensive, gas guzzling, inanimate object that sits in their driveway. I can see why any sane person would shy away from taking a trip down the I-5 in something that could easily fit under the transport truck barreling down behind at 80 clicks an hour. And it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to be sitting in the backseat hoping that your legs will regain at least some feeling once you get to your final destination. See, I get it. And I understand. We have different perspectives on what cars are about and that’s ok. For both you and for me.
I’ve been thinking about other things too. Like height. I’ve never really considered myself to be a short person but at 5’1 and a half (5’2” at my peak) I’m afraid that some other people do. The thing is, lately I’ve been noticing there are a lot of tall people around and I began wondering what life would be like from that perspective. Never having to struggle to reach the top shelf at the grocery store. Not having to wait for some benevolent soul to offer to put your carry-on into the baggage compartment. Being able to wear horizontal stripes. And then I thought, tall people must think that being short has its advantages too. Think about it. If your pants are too long you can always hem them. Too short? You’re hooped. Short people are rarely accused of looking down on others; are very unlikely to hit their head on the doorframe and, of course, find it way easier to fit into the back seat of that Mini of mine. So you see. It’s all about how you look at things, isn’t it.
With this new found inquisitiveness I thought, what the heck, maybe I should try to better understand what’s going on in the world. Try to look at things from both sides now. So I thought about “45” and friends whose penchant for showing “strength” manifests itself in disallowing those who face the most abhorrent life conditions to further suffer the indignity of arrest, detention and most tragically, separation from their children. What could possibly be the reasoning behind taking children from the arms of their parents; locking them up in cages and admiting they may never find a way to reunite these families. Surely, I thought, there must be some justification for these atrocities. If I look hard enough I’ll discover the other side of this story. Ivanka, you haven’t said much but maybe you can help me out. Or Melania. After all, you said it yourself. Your purpose is to defend children against bullies. I suppose though, this isn’t cyberspace. But surely there has to be a better explanation other than these are the acts of a fearful, bigoted, megalomaniac that favours brutal dictatorial regimes over, well over just about anything else and who, surrounded by a bunch of like-minded people, fails to recognize the brutality of his actions. Ok, I’ve looked. There isn’t.
Damn! Must have forgot this was a shallow blog once again.
Update: He’s stopping it now. Too late. We’ve seen the pics. It happened.
Shallow Be My Name 