Traditionally the day set aside for speaking in a fake brogue, drinking green dyed beer, and generalized shenanigans, today is St. Patrick’s Day (moved by the Roman Catholic church to today from 3/17 to avoid conflict* with Holy Monday). Hallmark to today’s festivities is the festooning ourselves with a vast array of tchotchkes from leprechaun hats and shamrock pins to Kiss me I’m Irish T-shirts. We do love our T-shirts! One slogan however, got me thinking: Proud to be Irish.
According to my dictionary, Pride is defined as a reasonable or justifiable self-respect. Is it reasonable or justifiable to be proud of something that is devoid of any accomplishment or even effort? I mean, if I walked around with a T-shirt that said, Proud to Have Brown Eyes or Proud to Have Opposable Thumbs, it would be rather ridiculous. I have those characteristics by way of sheer genetic chance and through no achievement of my own. Being Irish is no different.
We should probably reserve pride for things we actually do. But I suppose this would mean that we actually have to do something. Who's got time for that?
Allow me to go off the reservation for just a moment:
Why are we so quick to add descriptive monikers to ourselves? Irish-American, Italian-American, and African-American are some of the labels still bandied about today; but why are they even relevant? At the end of the day, aren't we are all the same soul-less thought-less consumer pawns of the industrial capitalist complex anyway? ;-)
Isn't it enough to call ourselves American? Unfortunately, I suspect the answer is no.
We aren’t one people with shared principles and common culture. We are a loosely connected amalgam of tribes that have their own agenda, culture, and sometimes even their own language. Some would say that this is what makes
Before you start accusing me of racism and having me fitted for one of those smartly tailored brown shirts, hear me out. As a result of the diversity that exists in
*Drunk Catholics apparently don’t fill the pews as much as sober ones.
6 Comments:
A perfect example of why self actualization sits atop the pyramid. Most folks spend a lifetime struggling with the question of how to define themselves. There are a myriad of very powerful forces which make the pursuit all the more difficult. Society, government, religion, and even science can be dangerous if they replace the quest with 'the answer'. When people take the easy way out, and identify themselves as American, Christian, or simply the product of a genetic code, self actualization becomes all but impossible. Who am I, why am I here --- there is no one route toward understanding --- people must be brave enough to find their own way. Alas, most opt for the security that the well traveled road provides.
ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost
Well, dip me in Bisquick and fry me golden brown. If they would have told me 12 years ago that my good man, Lou would be quoting Frost to me, I would have not only laughed, but there might have been gun play involved in the defense of your honor! :-)
Great !!! Laughed for 5 min straight !!
You don't need to hide that you share a middle initial with Harry Truman.
Or you could just use an alias from "The Producers" - Lorenzo St. DuBois.
But you worked 92, when 109 (sometimes 96) was definitely the road less traveled. :-)
Any more of this preaching about pyramid power and I'll have go join a cult.
Tim-
A very interesting haiku. I cannot help but be touched.
Take heart little camper, Lithium takes quite a while to reach its therapeutic effect ;)
Even I can come closer to the right number of syllables for a haiku than that.
Lithium/Laudanum/Laetrile/Lasix - it's all the same.
Touched?
I didn't touch you there!
I have an alibi, or two. :-)
Post a Comment