Human Nature

There are a lot of times in my life when I just sit back and observe...well...life itself. I always feel like I'm outside a window, just looking in at the event taking place. I guess it doesn't just have to be an event, but whatever happens to be going on at the time. My feelings and emotions don't take any precedence over what's happening...I have no opinions, really. I'm just watching.
For instance, the biggest thing that's happened lately to me is I got to go to my first concert. Exciting, right? My friend April and I went to a Lady Gaga concert. What an experience! It was great! Looking back on it now I can say for sure that it was so fun and exciting and fascinating. While I was there, however, none of these emotions really surfaced. Don't get me wrong, I had tons of fun at the time, but I guess I just took it all in. As April and I made our way through the crowd, I noticed all the extremes Gaga fans took to show their...loyalty, for lack of a better word, to the singer. There were girls dressed similarly to how she dresses out in public as well as on her tours. Aluminum cans rolled in the hair like curlers, bathing suits over fishnet stockings, there was even a girl we noticed on the way out of the concert that was just walking down the street in nothing but short shorts, suspenders, and pasties. (Crazy, I know...especially since it was cold that night!) I took in the opening band, Semi-Precious Weapons...how they acted, how they sounded, what they did on stage. When the main event came on, it wasn't exactly what I expected. I figured a concert would be singing (duh!) and maybe some talking here and there, you know, stories from the road, little comments. No, it was a production. I guess I shouldn't have expected any less from Lady Gaga. But it was like a musical, as weird as that sounds. There was a script, and Gaga's music coinsided with each scene. It was truly a show!
What made me think of this blog entry is the fact that I have DVR'd the show "Sister Wives" that comes on TLC. I just finished watching the first episode. It was...interesting. I use that word a lot for descriptions, I know. I can think of no other word. For those of you that don't know about it or don't care to watch it, it has introduced the world to a polygamist Mormon family in Utah. A man, Kody, has three wives and 12 going on 13 children. At the end of the first episode, he has announced to his entire family that he is considering marrying again. There are many people that would immediately say this is not right. Polygamy is just a way for a man to get some more action once he's done with one wife. That he doesn't or can't possibly care for his entire family and that the children and/or wives will be left out. Watching this show, however, I can see that none of this is true. Now, I know Hollywood can twist things and show you only what it wants you to see. But what I saw was love. The wives all loved each other, were best friends. The children all got along well. And Kody, the leading man...he loves each and every member of his family. You can see it in his eyes, how he acts, how he speaks. He has made schedules to be sure that NO ONE gets left out.
It's such a controversial issue...as controversial as homosexuality/bisexuality. As controversial as (to some people) interracial relationships or even as far as relationships where two people are from different religious backgrounds. Who are we to say what is right or wrong with how other people live? If people love each other, then what's the issue? It's their life, let them live it. Who is the government to say people can't live their lives?
I guess when I said earlier that I don't really have an opinion on certain goings-on, that's not entirely true. What I was trying to say is that I'm neither for nor against certain issues. And this is where I get in trouble with people. I have made people mad/frustrated with me in the past because of my views on life. I say let people live their lives. If it makes them happy, then it is right. Just because someone else says you shouldn't live your life a certain way, doesn't mean their right and your wrong. I have homosexual/bisexual friends. I don't have any polygamist friends (at least none I know of), but if I did, I'd support them. I do have friends in interracial relationships. I have friends in interreligious (a word?) relationships. I love them and support them all. They are all happy. THAT'S what matters. This is the 21st century, people. Get off your high horses and look around you. If you don't like how something is, get over it! Just because you feel that way doesn't mean it's not right.
And my entry just spiralled WAY out of control! I just had to get it out, though. There are so many hypocrites out there that say don't judge people, and yet who is the first to judge? Them! I'm not perfect...nor do I wish to be. I try not to judge, but I'll admit that I even do it myself at times before I can catch myself and be that outsider looking in the window.

SIDE NOTE: (I know, the majority of this blog seemed to have nothing to do with the Lady Gaga concert. I mainly put that in there to let people know how I liked it, since I never reported in on it! But in a way, it did have a lot to do with it, as Gaga's message that night was not to judge people just because their lifestyle is different from yours.)

A Rose by Any Other Name...

It's been a while, and I'm sorry for that. I've been spending a lot of time at my other blog and have also been really sick this week...allergies, I'm thinking. Maybe I'm allergic to weight loss. I always seem to get sick right around the time I want to diet...
ANYWAY...That's not what I came on here about. Something happened yesterday that really caught my attention. As some of you may know, our Madison basketball team are now state champs! Yay! (Not that I really pay much attention to our sports anymore, sadly) At work, we have a sign out front that we change for birthdays, community events, animal-related memos, and all the like. So Tuesday, one of the doctors wanted me to put out on the sign:
"Congrats MCHS Mens BBall
State Champs"
So I put it out there...just like that. Believe it or not, we actually got a call about it! Now, this doesn't always surprise us, because a lot of our clients who drive by and see the sign will call and ask about something it says or make a comment on it or something. This call was...well...ridiculous! The caller made a complaint, saying that it should be "boys" and not "men." Are you serious?!?!?! He went on to explain that "men" is for college. Well, last I checked, once you hit 18 you are considered a "man." Heck, usually once you hit puberty, you are a "man."
Why are we so obsessed about the "proper" titles and labels we put on things? We all know what we mean, so why does it have to be just the right word? For instance...and please, please, PLEASE do not ever think I am racist or prejudice or any of the like, because I'm not...Back in high school, I had a group project in Government class. Each group had to pick a Supreme Justice and do a report on him or her, which was then read aloud in front of class. My group had Clarence Thomas who, as some of you may know (I say some because believe it or not, many Americans don't know) is the second "African-American" Supreme Justice. When I got to mentioning that point in our essay, I didn't say "African-American," I said "black." I can't begin to tell you my embarrassment as the entire WHITE class shouted at me, "African-American!"
Why should that matter? We ("we" being white folk) don't care if we're called white. No idiot (except those on major tests you take in school) asks us if we're "caucasian." As my father says, "There is no such thing as a hyphenated American." If you're American, no one usually asks about your origin. Otherwise I would be a German-Polish-Irish-English-tiniest bit French-maybe some Scottish-American (I did ancestry.com!). Otherwise, as I like to call it, a European Mutt...and proud of it!
We put so many labels on things...and obviously people. Why not call it what it is? The guys don't care if they're called "men" or "boys," though, I'm sure some of the ones with the bigger egos (aka most of the school populace) would prefer men. We obsess over the little, insignificant things in life. And people wonder why we're under so much stress...