Hypocritical Position

In the ever-swelling file of "Things I Disagree With Everyone About", there is a curious alleged news story out of North Dakota. Evidently, a woman called into a radio station to announce her plan to give children letters instead of candy on Halloween. The letters were meant for the children's parents, and convey the message that the children in question are overweight and that the parents should be looking after their children's health better. The letter has circulated online after she provided a copy to the aforementioned station.

This is, of course, a lousy thing to do. I don't dispute the prevailing opinion that the woman is in the wrong for this, even if all she did was say this on the radio. As Halloween has only just come today, I don't imagine we can say whether she actually followed through on it. I don't think it matters if she did or she didn't, because her greatest aspiration- that of spreading her message of what people now call "fat shaming" - was carried out for her by the very people who hate her and her message.

Breaking Off

I'm a fairly intelligent guy. I'm smart enough anyway to know that I don't know it all. I'm also smart enough to know that whether I'm sure I'm right about something or I only think I'm right, it's senseless to pursue the point. This comes up all too often online. I'll read something that a friend has written, and I'll see in it something that seems factually incorrect, or their conclusions seem incorrect. My natural impulse is to set them straight.

I do examine my motives. Is it my desire that someone simply knows and operates based on the correct facts, or am I somewhat less altruistic than that? Knowing how deeply imperfect I am, it is all too likely to be a very selfish motive, but that's not the point really. The point is that whatever drives me to engage in a line of conversation over what the truth of something is, I know if and when to end it. I'm thankful for that much.

Staying Out Of It

As one of Clint Eastwood's many wise characters once noted, "A man's got to know his limitations". I know that mine are numerous, and while they are difficult to keep track of, it is nonetheless important to do so. I have addressed to some degree many, and if the one on my mind has been spoken of before, I come back to it because I haven't fixed it yet. It may be that I will never manage it, but I will die still wishing to.

I am argumentative by nature, though I can't say exactly that I relish a fight. I don't consider myself influential. If in an argument I am able to bring in as yet unknown information, that might turn the tide. Otherwise, I have no expectation of swaying people simply by cleverly marshaling already established facts. Still I would like to settle the dispute. I try again and again, helping nothing and getting bruised in the process.