PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Inspiration from a neat blog, http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/, prompts my daily 'writing assignment' on my other blog. But my response to yesterday's "What is your greatest source of pride?" is a little bit more complicated, so I am going to expand on it here.

Pride, according to Encarta dictionary, is 1) satisfaction with self, 2) proper sense of own value, and 3) feeling of superiority.

And the number of the day today is . . . . number three!


I'm amazed how many times I find myself bragging. When I am pointing out how stupid/ uneducated/ boring someone else is, I am boasting indirectly about how I am not as stupid/ uneducated/ boring as they are since I obviously can see it in them.

An old adage is what bothers us most in other people's behavior is what, consciously or unconsciously, we also hate in ourselves. For example, if someone is talking about you behind your back, you may begin talking about them behind their back - if you feel someone has snubbed you, you will snub them - etc. etc. etc.

So we don't prove we are better, we just stoop to their level to get back at them.

I used to brag insistently about my horse. And I do adore him, and take a great deal of joy in his simple existence and the companionship we share.

But suddenly I realized that when I am talking about Najale to people outside of my family they are hearing and feeling "Wow, I have a horse, and you don't."

I am fond of pointing out that you cannot control anyone else's reactions or emotions, only your own. And I definitely do NOT want other people to feel any sort of "na na na na" (is there any way to write this out musically so you know what tune I am referring to?).

But people do feel this. And while I cannot control or change this, I do not have to keep dropping Najale's name and/or his species into casual conversation with the grocery store cashier and people at church. I do not have to refer to him when I am with anyone who MIGHT be offended or feel I am bragging or just a little tiny person with no emotional control at ALL.

At least for this morning.

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND

Lisa, you are being kind, I know, but hey, if you can't brag on your own blog, where can you brag, right?!

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Here is the newspaper article (slightly edited) from Monday in the Sierra Vista Herald, with the particular phrases highlighted which prompted my quick response to the editor:

BISBEE — Cochise County Militia, a local group, will hold a border watch event in February … Bill Davis, founder and director of the militia (states) “Our confidential informants in Mexico say a big harvest was just completed, and drug mules are being assembled for February.”

…Davis said that people who don’t live near the border area may not realize there is a large number of illegal immigrants who enter the United States each day. And, they may not understand what kind of impact it has on homeowners living within 8 to 40 miles of Mexico.

“They lay in bed at night with their dogs barking, hearing strange noises outside, watching dark figures pass their bedroom windows, sometimes 20-50 in single file,” he said. “They hope they don’t have a home invasion, family members molested, vehicles stolen or narcotics dropped on their property for their animals and children to find.”….

He cautioned that he doesn’t want participants to “wave (handguns) around” or do any target shooting during the event. Rifles and shotguns also may be carried, he added. He suggests participants should keep the guns safeguarded in a low profile and “pray” they don’t need to use them… People can also bring pepper-gel spray or a stun gun, as these items will cause fewer problems if used, he added.


And here is my reply as printed this morning in the aforementioned newspaper:


So where did Bill Davis, founder and director of the Cochise County Militia, find these cowering border dwellers he describes in the Sierra Vista Herald front-page article of December 29th?

I have lived for the past eight years just three miles from Mexico, between the San Pedro River and the Huachuca Mountains. And I can guarantee that every single neighbor I have, if they "lay in bed at night with their dogs barking, hearing strange noises outside, watching dark figures pass their bedroom windows," are using their speed-dial to call the Border Patrol.

The Border Patrol regularly and faithfully patrols the section between the border with Mexico and Hwy. 92, at least that area around S. Kings Ranch Road. Regardless of what hour of the day or night I call, a patrol car is there within minutes.

I feel safer here that I did living in East L.A., south of Baltimore, and north of Washington D.C.

However, the thought of a militia of "patriotic people working the line" with handguns, rifles, pepper-gel spray and stun guns DOES scare the SOCKS off of me.

Bill Davis, please go defend some other area than my backyard - I'm just fine with what I already have.


Isn't it fun to be published?