Rudolph Tried to Represent

Good morning everyone.

Last night I put up a picture of my youngest son with Santa Claus, which we have taken every year, on a popular social media site.  I got a lot of “likes” and a few “loves”.  Not surprising; not to brag, but he is a cute kid.

It is always easier to smile or approve of the good things in life.

The thing I have noticed about social media in the 10 years I have used it is that when you put happy things on it (birth of of a child, cute pic of the kids, awesome vacation pics) people are quick to “like” or “love” it (depending on what platform you are on; it seems that Facebook has become the place for middle-age and older folks to hang out, so I can’t speak for the more “hipper” places to hang).

After getting little sleep (and dropping the husband ball; see my earlier post) my mind wandered (as it is wont to do) about this little factoid that entered my consciousness.

As a person that has seemingly burned a lot of bridges for pointing out all the ugly of the world, I know that people can’t face that things are not well for a lot of people in America (never mind the rest of the world), but whenever I put up something to soothe that ugly, man, the likes are coming in abundance. 

At least when it comes to Noah, anyway (which I can’t hate on; he is a pretty special kid, despite his sometimes difficult moments).

But I write to those who bother to read what I have to say to wonder out loud why we can’t, as human beings (hell, I am just as guilty; I need to go to the dentist for periodontal cleaning that I have semi-blow off for 9 months...that after not going to see a dentist due to fear for 20 years)deal with the ugliness in life...or worse, trying to fix it.

I have had a few people tell me that they appreciate me speaking out, despite the obvious damage that it has done to my standing amongst those who know me.  I believe it is the only reason I haven’t gone silent.  I wanted to reference the recent “controversy” about “Rudolph” real quick.  A lot of people have blown it off because it is a kid’s show and should remain that way.  

I dig that.

However the fact remains that the show was made in the 60’s, and it is rife with bigotry and sexism.  However, since it is a “kid’s show” (hey, I watch it every year and I am 49 years old) and it was so long ago, I’ve seen plenty of people say that people are “oversensitive”, etc etc.  And yeah, I know the characters realized their mistake and changed, blah blah blah. 

Of course this is coming from folks who think (or believe) they are not affected by the same things today that took place 54 years ago.

Once again, covering up that damn ugly.

Sort of like makeup...but like an old joke I heard once, “I may be fat, but you’re ugly....and you can’t run that off.”

Or run away from.

It’s too bad that the real world couldn’t be like “Rudolph”...you know, when folks wake up and realize the ugliness we are all guilty off and recant, improve and learn from.

But those kid pictures are still cute.