Is it just me, or is everybody getting angrier?
Jane Russell died. She was an actress in the '30s and '40s, and she had the bangin' body, and she dated Howard Hughes, and she was a legend and all that.
She was also a huge Republican, and called herself "a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot."
I am a liberal person. When I read this, did I understand that Jane Russell was poking fun at herself? Of course I did. Did I understand that she fervently believed in her values anyway? Of course I did. Do I hate it when people ask themselves questions then answer them like this? Of course I do.
The point is, the news story I read on this had commentors--and when did news stories get to have commentors? Why can't we just read a story without every chilly fool in the world having to put in their misspelled two cents?--and so few of them said, you know, what a shame to see one of our classic movie stars die, or rest in peace, Jane Russell.
It allllll had to be about politics, and calling Jane Russell a hypocrite for having an abortion in a back alley and then being against abortion later in life. Not many people could just say, hey. Maybe I didn't believe in everything Jane Russell did, but she is a person who just died. Godspeed, girlfriend.
And here is what I am doing for Pieces of Wisdom Wednesday.
I think we're just getting madder and madder, and wet hen-er and wet hen-er, and it isn't doing any of us a bit of good. It isn't solving anything. It isn't bringing anyone over to any other side, or changing any minds. It's just making everyone dig in deeper, convinced their side is the right one.
So for tomorrow's Pieces of Wisdom, here is what I ask you to do. I ask that you say something nice about the other side.
That's it.
For example, I will say I think Sarah Palin is very pretty. Is that shallow? Yes, it is. But do you have any idea how hard it is for me not to say, "Despite blooo-de-bloooo-de-bloo, and even though she did blurgeldy blurgeldy blam, Sarah Palin is very pretty."
I mean, how bad is it that it's hard just to say one nice thing without having to say 50 disparaging things first?
So that is what I am asking you. Say one positive thing about a group you disagree with. And you cannot say ONE SNARKY THING in your comment. If you do? I'm deleting your remark.
If you are not political, maybe there's a Bible thumper at work who bugs the crap out of you. Can you tell he's a wonderful husband? Tell us. "The Bible thumper at work is a great husband." That's it. Not "The idiot at work who doesn't believe in evolution seems like he's a great husband."
Maybe your sister goes to psychics and meditates with her crystals and you want to shove her rose quartz up her diorama.
"My sister, who enjoys crystals, makes a great beef stew."
"The neighbors, who are dog people and we have 12 cats, always deliver our mail to us when it gets delivered to them accidentally."
I realize this is a small step for mankind, here, but we have to start somewhere. If we can just get a little kindness in our hearts for people we consider our nemeses, maybe it will be an eventual step toward, oh, SOLVING our problems rather than just being shrill about them.
So please begin. And remember, I will delete the CRAP out of you if you say ONE MEAN THING about the other side. There are 5939505539 other sites in which to do that. And you can see how those are getting a lot accomplished.
As always, the deadline is 10 p.m. Eastern time, so I can get out my dry erase board or perhaps dress up like Jane Russell or whatever.