When I was little, my Dad told my little sister and me that someday there would be no white people and no black people, but that everybody would be shades of brown, and no one would care. Laurie and I thought this was going to happen in our lifetime. When Laurie brought home a friend who was both black and male when she was about ten, Dad had to accept that what he had taught us…we had learned. He was OK with that. This was about a decade after Loving vs the State of VA had made interracial marriage legal across the nation. Laurie and I had no idea it had ever been illegal.
I found out today how very atypical my Dad and my childhood were. In 1968, a year after Loving, only 20% of Americans believed that people of different races should be allowed to marry each other. It was not until 1991 that more people supported interracial marriage than opposed it, 48% to 43% with 9% unsure or undecided. 1991, two years after I graduated from college.
Today approximately half of voters support same sex marriage. Given that it took 24 years AFTER the legal change to get to the same number in support of interracial marriage, it seems inevitable to me that this next step in the journey towards equality for all of humanity will happen. I hope it will be soon, but I have faith that it will happen.
My Dad would be 92 if he were still alive, and I think that this would likely have been a step too far for him. I do not in any way mean to belittle him in saying this. He grew up in backwoods Maine before and during the Great Depression, and the only word he knew for African Americans before he went off to college was the one that we DON’T use today. He still made his first black friend in college, welcomed children of multiple races as grandchildren, and instructed my little sister that she had better go ahead and marry her Pakistani college sweetheart before her moping drove the entire family crazy. I am proud to be his daughter.
My step Dad is only six years younger, but in some ways seems a different generation. I was pleasantly shocked when he “liked” a pro same-sex marriage link I had posted on Facebook. I’m not sure exactly how comfortable he is with legalizing same sex marriage, but I suspect he’s further along than Daddy would have been. For many reasons, of which this is only one, I am also proud to be his step-daughter.
I am frustrated, sometimes, when others don’t see the same wonder in equality that I do. There is still a vocal minority in this country that opposes interracial marriage, let alone same-sex marriage. But I try to remember that few people have had the advantages that I have had.
If I seem to see further, it is that I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Belle (Beauty and the Beast) versus Bella (Twilight)
Belle:
Mother is dead.
Bella:
Mother is a ditz.
Belle:
Moved with father to small, provincial town.
Bella:
Moved in with father in small provincial town.
Belle:
Doesn’t fit in because she reads.
Bella:
Doesn’t fit in because she’s self-absorbed and a klutz.
Belle:
Immediately catches the eye of a good looking man who wants her only for her looks.
Bella:
Immediately catches the nostrils of a good looking man who wants her only for her blood.
Belle:
When approached by the sexist, stalker-esque Adonis, throws him out on his butt.
Bella:
When approached by the sexist, stalker-esque Adonis, throws herself at his feet.
Belle:
Meets a Beast who turns out to be a handsome young man.
Bella:
Meets a handsome young man who turns out to be a beast.
Belle:
When verbally abused, leaves. When the Beast essentially apologizes by nearly getting killed saving her life, she saves his life in repayment, but lays down clear rules of behavior.
Bella:
When physically abused, cries, and forgives, because he didn’t mean it.
Belle:
In adversity, despairs for about ten minutes then makes the best of things.
Bella:
In adversity, wallows in angst for an entire book.
Belle:
makes friends with people around her, creating a community that helps each other.
Bella:
gets close to people only when using them.
Belle:
sacrifices herself to save a parent (her father) openly and without deceit
Bella:
sacrifices herself to save a parent (her mother) unnecessarily, lying to everyone around herself.
Belle:
rescues herself, her father, her horse, and the Beast (twice)
Bella:
gets rescued by Edward. Often.
When I was in Medical school, the local planned parenthood went under seige from a group of bussed in flatlander anti-abortion protesters. (They couldn't find enough Vermonters willing to picket.)
Planned Parenthood started a fund raiser: Pledge a Protester. People pledged anywhere from a penny to $20 per protester, and when the radio interviewed the center, they were always extremely nice about thanking the protesters for raising this money to keep them going.
This made Vermonters happy, made the flatlanders look like fools, and must have been awful for protester morale. From Google, I see that groups from Texas to New York are still doing it.
So I was thinking...why couldn't this be done for the Westboro Church idiots? Isn't there a good charity--for LGBT teens, or supporting same sex military partners, or for AIDS education--that would like to do this? Or perhaps several?
Tons of people hate the Phelps group. Why not harness the anger and disdain into something good?
So, here's where you, my brilliant friends, come in. Anybody know a charity that would like to do this? Get me a good one, and I'll pledge a dollar a protester for the rest of 2011.
Two recent thoughts turn out not to be so seperate after all.
Santa’s Village’s new Ho Ho H20 water park
Santa’s Village, in Jefferson NH, is walking the fine line between nostalgic charm and appealing to a younger generation. The blacksmith’s shop still makes rings from reindeer shoe nails (for the fee of a smile per ring), Santa Claus still listens to wishes and passes out candy canes, and a shop sells gingerbread boys and girls to be frosted to the artistic and sugar-loving tastes of all ages. Prices are surprisingly good; although park admission is $25 dollars for people 4 and over (free for 3 and under), you can buy a hat for $5, snow cones for $2, and ornaments for less than $3.
On the modernizing side, a few new rides have been added in recent years. The antique cars have been expanded to include a bubble-spewing carwash, and the old fallow deer have been replaced by actual reindeer. Now, for 2010, a small water park has been added at the eastern edge of the park, just beyond the popular roller coaster.
The water park is not clearly separated from the rest of the park; bathing suits are allowed out of the area, although in practice no one wore them further than the ice-cream counter just outside. A regular ride, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree—a swing ride midway between the small child version and the large ones at places like Six Flags—is on the left, while a zero-depth water play area is on the right. A building contains both changing rooms—family size, at least on the “California Girls” side, but overcrowded with only 3 rooms—and a small store selling bathing suits and towels, and renting lockers. Generously sized lockers are $10 per day, with $5 refund upon returning the key.
The water park itself is small, similar to a themed area within a full size park. Theming is wintery, with polar bears, abominable snow monsters, and “snow drifts”. Two small water slides and 3 good sized slides (open to anyone 300 lbs or under) come off of a whimsical climbing area, with fountains and sprays of water through out. A gargantuan wooden bucket overturns regularly; a warning bell rings for the minute before, allowing people to take cover or dash to stand beneath it; while a majority of the deluge hits the area directly in front, anyone in the climbing areas for the slides will be drenched. Trust me on this; I have firsthand experience.
The surrounding black top was uncomfortably warm to bare feet on an 83’ day, but a generous number of beach chairs surround the area, safely out of the splash zone. Water tables for younger children are set up out of the drench zone from the bucket, and water levels within the whole area average about 6-8 inches. Life guards are stationed at the tops of all slides to prevent pile-ups and keep order. The whole water park is non-smoking.
Of the eight children in our group (not counting the 6 week old baby, who merely enjoyed eating, sleeping, and cuddling) all of them, from the 3 year old to the 17 year old, enjoyed the break at the water park. It was an excellent way to cool down after lunch before heading off to the bumper cars…where, again, all eight had a blast.
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