Two of my readers tell me they prefer the “Blogs About Nothing” on this Website. Well … lately I haven’t “had nothing” on my mind.
I search newspapers and Websites for meaningless topics — looking for nothingness. Most of the stuff nearly qualifies. Then the other day, I got lucky. I tuned in to a Dallas talk radio program. They gave me the nothing I needed.
Typically I can only listen to one of those radio shows for about 10 minutes because of their formula. They choose an issue and either “preach to the choir,” stroking the egos of their regular listeners, or they take some illogical, argumentative stand, trying to get a rise out of people.
The first topic of the day — smoking. Could smoking nasty cigarettes hurt a candidate’s political chances, all other things being equal? Hmmm … let me see. Does smelling offensive from anywhere from two to 100 feet hurt a person’s chances — no matter what the objective? Hmmm … does a really gross cancerous-sounding cough each and every morning help you reach your goals, or hinder them? Okay … enough … I’ll let you sort that one out.
The second topic — politically correct censorship. You probably heard the same or similar conversation on any of a dozen other radio stations. Should the archaic “N word” be removed from great works of literature even if they were written in days long gone by? (The case of the Huckleberry N Word …)
This may be painfully obvious where this is going, but the host and various callers pointed out that the intent – such as Mark Twain’s keen insight into society at the time — should be taken into consideration. Also, of course, there was the taboo topic everyone has thought about — that persons of a certain race use the term freely with meanings ranging from a term of endearment to a show of respect to a dis. Of course the host said there is a double standard there, and that there should be. Blah, blah …
Me? I am against censoring a literary work that overwhelmingly is a positive, imaginative, educational asset to society — even if some of the language is, shall we say, colorful.
However … however … if we do start to censor this sort of thing, in a few more years, I may be ecstatic. Think about it. Can you imagine the entire catalog of rap music being deleted from the digital record. Now there is some nothingness.
That’s all I will say about that, but I will use it to segue into another nothing burger. Being a fan of coincidence, I took note that I had a real life experience the same day as the radio show — on the opposite end of the racially sensitive spectrum.
If you know me, you know I luvs me a funky t-shirt. (Ha, as I type, I am wearing a souvenir from the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis … a favorite, as a matter of fact.) But the day of the Mark Twain inquisition debate, I was wearing the t-shirt of a rock band that I saw perform in Louisville last year.
Cracker.
The shirt is a funny take on “white trash” (I suppose). The art features the band name plastered on the side of a small camping trailer. I never really thought about it and the various meanings. I just like the band …
Anywho … After I turned off the radio and parked the car the other day, I went into the local Target.
Somehow, I successfully maneuvered around the guy standing in the middle of the aisle, with both hands on the mountain of beer cases before him — as if he were claiming them all and the entire territory for himself and his clan.
I shopped on …
Ironically, it was when I hit the baked goods aisle, looking for crackers with sea salt — yet finding only Premium saltines — when this dude … this African American dude for the record, who worked at the store, approached me smiling.
I was like “What?”
“Ha, great t-shirt!,” he laughed.
Of course, for a second, I thought I had encountered someone else old enough to remember the band Cracker … and who had not confused the band with the artist Uncle Kracker.
Ha! Then I realized he was thinking of “cracker” as in “Who you callin ‘cracker,’ fool?”
See the difference?
Of course this set my tiny mind into motion, wondering if a “cracker” conversation carried the same weight as the “N word” conversation. After considerable thought, I decided “cracker” was much more the minor leagues of political incorrectness, certainly not in the “N” league.
“Cracker” is an interesting one though. I have heard African Americans use that term toward another person of color, and it was considered extremely derogatory. By the same token, I have heard it thrown out at people of my race, with less-than-kind intent. “Cracker” also is sometimes used in a joking, familiar, friendly way among people of all flavas. It seems to me that “cracker” is an equal opportunity, multi-purpose piece of work.
So … as for me … I just like the band, but I really, really wanted to know what the Target dude had in mind. The smart money says he just really appreciated anyone, of any race, who could poke a little fun at themselves … without getting bogged down with terminology.
I laughed and agreed with the guy .. “Very funny man … but … it’s a band.”
It didn’t matter. We both enjoyed the laugh. How do I know? He gave me several laughing nods on the other aisles.
Always polite to the nth degree, I actually pulled my cart out of the middle of the aisle for other humans in the store when I stopped to jot down notes in my iPhone … for a blog, perhaps about nothing …
As I shopped, I was also sad to learn that I did NOT have the best t-shirt in the store. Have you seen this computer nerd classic?
“And I logged off for this!?!”
Love it.
Know what I sayin?
