Beat the Drum Differently

“Dumb as a drum vith a hole in it, sir.”

~Charles Dickens~

Let me start by saying I’m not a fan of our society. I love the people in it, but as a whole I think it has lost its mind. That, of course, is my politest opinion.

We ALL need to take responsibility for societies insanity. We remain quiet, stand back, let fear rule us, and perpetuate the insanity even further. How?

1. We make fun of others – the first person to tell me they are not guilty of this, is the first person I will deem the worlds most indifferent liar. NO ONE is guilt free.

Whether it is how someone dresses, how they talk, whether they’re to skinny or two fat, their sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, or just for being themselves and not following the pack.

If you want proof of our irritating, unflattering, insensitivity, think about all the websites which have popped up – The People of Walmart, Fail Blog, etc. They’re main goal is to embarass, make fun of, and just be cruel to people.

I don’t visit the sites because it just frustates me even more. We’re idiots! Who cares if someone wears hot pink with plaid, or wears their clothes three sizes to small. It may be all they have to wear. It may make them feel good. They may already be embarassed about it and don’t need you to point and laugh.

I’m sure, at some point, in everyones lives they were made fun of for something. I know I was – often. I was the chubby kid in school. It wasn’t something I would have choosen for myself but, I didn’t let it stop me. Kids did make fun of me – and many times my feelings were hurt. I fought back though. Not physically but mentally. The bully’s learned I just didn’t care. My favorite phrase was: “Why waste your time? You’re spouting words only you care about.”

I was lucky – things could have been much worse. In the end, it was intimidation which stopped the teasing. I was, after all, larger than the other kids. I don’t mean just size wise, but also height.

Outside of that though – I am extremely guilty of making fun of people. There are so many facets I’m guilty of – from the way people dress, to hygiene, to behavior, to beliefs. It is hard to not to point out what doesn’t fit our picture of how things should be. How we would do things. Taking the “they’re not us” out of the equation.

I believe there are two main reasons we make fun of people – maybe three. First, because someone made fun of us. Second, because we can’t process the differences based on our “picture” of how things should be. Third, because we need to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.

Personally number three seems a little hokey to me. How does tearing someone else down, raise us up? It doesn’t make sense. Perhaps I’m looking at it wrong though… It might require more thinking on my part.

2. We don’t accept people as they are, we want them to be as we are – the first thing that pops into my mind is “gay” being evil. I’ll never understand this one.

History is filled with people who chose an alternative sex life. They were often the most creative, talented, and well known people. None of us would call them evil, or bad, or make fun of their choices. Then why do we do it now?

Once upon a time people didn’t think anything of two women together, or two men. In fact it was rather normal. Somewhere in our history it all changed, but why? Oh yes, I remember….religion became more predominent. We really lost our sanity then, and our belief in life.

If we were smart we would make religion illegal. I’m not talking about praying, or learning, or following a belief system. I’m talking about organized religion. Let’s give “religion” back to the people. Let them think for themselves, and believe for themselves, and celebrate life any way they want to. Let’s stop raising a world full of blind faith followers. Oh, the changes that would make in the world….

And while we’re at it…. Let’s stop singling out a group of people who do think for themselves and catagorizing them as crazy, or evil, or my personal favorite, “Going against God!” How can we, simple people, ever claim to know what any God thinks? Oh yes, the Bible tells you! I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but the Bible….is just a book. Man’s simple attempt to document what they saw/learned/believed/etc. at a time when the world was simpler.

What was then, is so different then today. We cannot ply the same logic to the world which worked thousands of years ago. The problems of today didn’t exist then. That brings me to number 3.

3. We blame the innocent. This one breaks my heart. There are far to many news articles on the death of children. Whether it is by anothers hand, or their own.

The advancement of our society had meant one thing – better news coverage. Today we hear more faster. A plus in some cases, like those of missing children. A minus in the cases of children who commit suicide.

We’re deluded into thinking these terrible events are increasing in our society. They haven’t increased as much as one would think. They’ve happened all throughout history. We just know about it faster now that it is being piped into every home in the world. In some cases, I think it has desensitized us to the truth horror of it.

We see a news broadcast about a missing girl, we say, “Oh! How horrible!”, and go about our day. Yes, we tell everyone we talk to. We share our concern for the child and the parents. We don’t, however, get involved. The same goes for a childs suicide.

That is what started this whole rant. I ran across an article about a 9 year old boy committing suicide. Nine years old! The child was being bullied at school. Kids were calling him gay, making fun of him, and no one….not one person…did anything.

I can’t even begin to think what I would have done if it would have been my child. I have three fantastically wonderful kids. They are all smart, talented, creative, unique individuals who I am lucky enough to call my kids. My worst fear is something happening to them. I worry a lot about my youngest son, and some of the choices he makes. I also worry a lot about my oldest son, and his temper. My daughter seems to have a pretty level head on her shoulders, but I still worry.

Our children are losing their innocence far sooner then we ever did. At 9 I don’t believe I knew what the word suicide meant. I don’t recall hearing about kids being kidnapped. I knew what death was but I understood death to be part of life. Living on a ranch engrained the meaning in my mind. I remember clearly my sisters death, and her funeral. I know how it affected me then, and now. I may have only been three, but I remember.

So, to know a child felt the only solution to his problem was death, greatly worries me. It only proves to me that society has truly become insane. We have lost our humanity in our incessant rush to have more, get more, and be more.

I’ll stop my ranting/preaching and leave you with one wish….I wish you understanding. The ability to look deep in to the heart of any situation and see your part in it. To realize the beat of the drum only exists because someone is play the drum, and someone is marching to it. Are you a player or a marcher? Understand, always, which side you are on, then fight for the other. We are only wholly ourselves when we know both sides.

Goodnight my friends.

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