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Do you know what I mean..?
Feb. 20th, 2025 08:17 amBut...do you REALLY?
I heard something that shocked me, yesterday. It wasn't so much what was said that shocked me - it was the person that said it.
It was the use of the term "woke" as a shortcut for all the things this person didn't like.
This is someone I have known for getting on 20 odd years, and someone I absolutely adore. Her politics and mine are fairly distant, but she has always shown herself to be honest, upright, with a strong sense of justice, tempered with a smidge of mercy.
The muttered comment was the sort of bullshit I would expect to hear from the likes of Farage and his ilk, but to hear it from this source? I felt my heart crack.
But then I wondered if any of her behaviours matched up with those of people I'd usually hear say that. And simply, they don't.
This is someone who bears no malice to anyone. She will stand up for herself if someone else is an arse at her, but she doesn't invite conflict. She takes each individual person as they come and has no time for sweeping generalisation of sex, nationality,or age group.
In fact, the more I thought about it, I realised that it could well be that her interpretation of the term is wildly different to my own. I am of course having to go off what I have been told it means, which is that it's meant to basically cover the range of compassionate empathy that we ought to afford each other as human beings. But I wonder what her interpretation is? Considering the sort of people she has a distressing tendency to listen to, I am wondering if her interpretation is more along the lines of "the supporting of ridiculous affectations and the provision of participation trophies for all, irrespective of achievement" or similar. Because you know what? I can understand that rewarding people for being dickheads wouldn't appeal. I can't say I'm keen on it either. I am not keen on the idea that "for me to have what I consider my rights, that necessitates my impingement on yours" à la current US Administration and Tory party members in the UK.
I will have to do it, I know. I'm going to HAVE to ask her to give me her interpretation of the term. Because no matter how fond I am of someone, this stuff MATTERS. I desperately want to be right about this, but if I'm not, then...then I shall be sad.
I heard something that shocked me, yesterday. It wasn't so much what was said that shocked me - it was the person that said it.
It was the use of the term "woke" as a shortcut for all the things this person didn't like.
This is someone I have known for getting on 20 odd years, and someone I absolutely adore. Her politics and mine are fairly distant, but she has always shown herself to be honest, upright, with a strong sense of justice, tempered with a smidge of mercy.
The muttered comment was the sort of bullshit I would expect to hear from the likes of Farage and his ilk, but to hear it from this source? I felt my heart crack.
But then I wondered if any of her behaviours matched up with those of people I'd usually hear say that. And simply, they don't.
This is someone who bears no malice to anyone. She will stand up for herself if someone else is an arse at her, but she doesn't invite conflict. She takes each individual person as they come and has no time for sweeping generalisation of sex, nationality,or age group.
In fact, the more I thought about it, I realised that it could well be that her interpretation of the term is wildly different to my own. I am of course having to go off what I have been told it means, which is that it's meant to basically cover the range of compassionate empathy that we ought to afford each other as human beings. But I wonder what her interpretation is? Considering the sort of people she has a distressing tendency to listen to, I am wondering if her interpretation is more along the lines of "the supporting of ridiculous affectations and the provision of participation trophies for all, irrespective of achievement" or similar. Because you know what? I can understand that rewarding people for being dickheads wouldn't appeal. I can't say I'm keen on it either. I am not keen on the idea that "for me to have what I consider my rights, that necessitates my impingement on yours" à la current US Administration and Tory party members in the UK.
I will have to do it, I know. I'm going to HAVE to ask her to give me her interpretation of the term. Because no matter how fond I am of someone, this stuff MATTERS. I desperately want to be right about this, but if I'm not, then...then I shall be sad.