I think a lot about a phrase I read in a book I read on Buddhism-- "once ego enters into it, even the most enlightened activity can become spiritual trash." Always disappointing how many people I know find a way to make national tragedies about them in the sort of way that article talks about. Look at me, being a hero and talking about how sad I am about Michael Brown. Look at these pictures of me protesting.
Does being a good person count if you don't post a facebook status about it?
There is obviously a right way to do those things. Some of my friends are involved in the protests in STL and are definitely doing it the right way. But yeesh. And then there's me, on the other hand, who gets so worried about that side of things that I don't do anything. Which is not very helpful either.
I think I learned a lot about this kind of subtle shitty stuff at my old job. So much of that second-guessing of, "huh, that guy is always pretty friendly when I help him, why did he cuss my coworker out. Maybe he's having a bad day, but maybe..."
I hated that job and it definitely made me have a much less charitable view of humanity. But I definitely got a much nicer reaction from a lot of people than some of my african-american or female coworkers. Also had my share of stressed-out days where I wasn't as friendly as I could have been, and looked back later and wondered "hm, why did I react to that particular person in that way." Also, of course, places where an innocent mistake got the worst possible reaction from someone who clearly thought "oh great, another white asshole fuck*ng with me." Which is totally understandable, because I also saw coworkers take totally shitty attitudes with people of color.
On a purely selgiraffe level I would like this to get better just so people can give each other the benefit of the doubt.
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Topic: Do we have a "Random" thread? (Read 90232 times)