Greetings and Salutations;
Well, this has turned into quite an exciting Sunday morning! I was poking around on FB and ran across a posting by a FB Friend of mine. It was a thoughtful poem by Mary Oliver who was an American poet. here is the Poem that was posted.
| Wild Geese |
| You do not have to be good. |
| You do not have to walk on your knees |
| for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. |
| You only have to let the soft animal of your body |
| love what it loves. |
| Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. |
| Meanwhile the world goes on. |
| Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain |
| are moving across the landscapes, |
| over the prairies and the deep trees, |
| the mountains and the rivers. |
| Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, |
| are heading home again. |
| Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, |
| the world offers itself to your imagination, |
| calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – |
| over and over announcing your place |
| in the family of things. |
There were quite a number of positive comments about this poem, of course. However, there was one curmudgeon who apparently did not care for it. She posted the following analysis:
PR: Ridiculous.
That level of analysis seemed to be worth expanding, so, the page owner asked for an explanation. Of course, many people chimed in decrying the comment, and making denigrating remarks about the poster. This interested me, especially since I have seen SO many Right-Wingers and trolls who love to come in, drop an inflammatory remark, and bail out, so I thought I would add a short comment of my own!
Dave Mundt: Looked at PR‘s profile. She is a Yankee from New York, so she may think that brusque, unexplained reviews are valid. However, she claims to be college educated, so, I am a bit surprised that after 9 hours, she has not found it worthwhile to present a compelling argument to support her brush-off.
I am with Ms. Ian here…block her and move on.
Silly me, forgetting how easily people are triggered today. What happened was that I became a target of a firestorm of criticism for insulting New York residents! The following is SOME of the thread that followed my comment, edited ONLY to put my replies next to the person’s comment I am replying to.
JRM: Dave Mundt I am from New York and I take offense to your description of what a New Yorker is. It is not nice to label people without knowledge of who they are. Ms. Ian would not like this either. And what do you mean by “Yankee”?
Dave Mundt: JRM: Bless your heart. First off, a Yankee is anyone who comes from above the Mason-Dixon line.
As for my description…I have, over the past 60 years, interacted with a LOT of folks from New York. Not all of them were brusque and rude..and some even turned out to be good folks in spite of starting out on that foot. HOWEVER, NYC is a place of great energy and people always in a huge rush. It has been my experience that way too many of them tend to be as I described Ms. Roach.
LM: Dave Mundt Don’t disparage New Yorkers on her account. Brusque jerks come from everywhere!
Dave Mundt: LM: No argument there…
LR: Dave Mundt I am a New Yorker but not a yankee! I live in the south and have for the last twenty odd years! Shall I look at you profile and make unsubstantiated comments about how bigoted you are and what a maroon you are! Oh wait, I already did!
LB: LR: a maroon?? now that’s funny
Dave Mundt LR: Bless your heart! You are a newbie still, and the hair trigger you exhibit shows it. Take a chill pill, and try not to be so sensitive…most of us, who were born and reared in the South, have learned to look, laugh and move on!
Dave Mundt: LB: We had a Christmas Parade some years ago here in Knoxville. Several of the local high school marching bands participated in it, of course, and each had a large banner up front, PROUDLY announcing its name and affiliation!
I about ended up rolling on the sidewalk in laughter when I saw the band coming up that, in large letters, announced that they were “The Marching Maroons”.
JRM: Dave Mundt I lived in the South and I have always been offended when “Called” a Yankee. It is not nice to call anyone anything. It is labeling. I could call you a dumb redneck but that label may not apply because I do not know you. New York City is a melting pot of a plethora of people. They represent all sorts of personalities. Your statement came from a place of ignorance.
JRM: Dave Mundt Except apparently you have not moved on. You still use a term that has been out of style since the 1800’s. Please remember, the Yankees won.
I did find it amusing that the folks getting all het up over this were, indeed, New Yorkers! I wonder what might have been said had I pointed out to them that for many in the South “DamnYankee” was still one word???
God Help Us All!
Be Safe! Wear your mask, wash hands, social distance, get vaccine updates! There is a new strain of covid flooding India right now, and it is making its way here. Unless you REALLY want to have the joy of “Pink Eye” along with the typical respiratory symptoms of Covid…kick up the precautions a bit.
Bee Man Dave