American Exceptionalism #1 : The Gift of Language
68Part One of this series on American Exceptionalism, inspired by President Obama's insistence that America is not an exceptional nation of exceptional people, will focus on American Sign Language.
I had not realized the full value of this gift to the hearing impaired among us until this morning. My wife had her TV tuned to Ty Pennington's Home Makeover: Extreme Edition. He and his crew had taken on the challenge of producing--from the ground up--a very special home for a very special family.
No, I don't remember the family's name. Okay, I never caught the family's name. But the key points to the Makeover Rationale? You bet:
1. The parents have a teenaged son but had also adopted half a dozen young girls from China, all with special needs. One girl was blind, for example, and two were deaf.
2. The father was in the hospital, dying of brain cancer. His greatest concern was that the family he was leaving behind needed a decent place to live.
3. The existing home was falling apart as well as cramped, with narrow hallways and massive amounts of dangerous black mold running rampant. Which was why the Home Makeover crew razed that structure to the ground and built an entirely new (and much larger) structure.
4. The new home was completed and occupied just three days before the father passed from this world. He could no longer see, but his wife brought the scale model to his hospital bedside and let him feel it before he left.
5. Ty's work is in and of itself more than enough to serve as the focus of an American Exceptionalism piece, but today's Hub takes a look at the two deaf girls, who said in American Sign Language:
"In China, there was no language for us. We had no language. Here we do. This makes us very happy."
Let's think about that. Am I comparing the United States of America to the Republic of China and saying that we are exceptional while they, by comparison, are not...quite...so much?
Exactly. Yes. That's what I'm saying. And there are at least two young deaf Chinese American girls who agree.
A major part of American Exceptionalism lies in the drive inherent within our citizens. When a need exists, we not only perceive that need...but we also do something about it.
You see, it turns out that China does indeed have a sign language. Our own version is related somewhat to France's version, according to Wikipedia, but many countries have a system that would be useful to to their deaf population. In America (including the English-speaking parts of Canada and some regions in Mexico), pretty much the entire population is aware such a thing exists.
But in China, the two girls never even "heard" of such a thing. You're deaf? So what; that's your problem.
Yep. That's it, all right. Part of our exceptionalism in this country is expressed through our Big Mouth Syndrome. Got a problem? We surely will make it our business!
In the case of ASL (American Sign Language) specifically, its early development was pretty much a natural occurrence. Residents of Martha's Vineyard, back in the day, started coming up with a high number of deaf folks due to, apparently, a rather hardcore downsizing of the local gene pool. Lots of deaf kids = lots of deaf adults eventually = learn to sign and pass it on, duh! That was pretty much the formula, and pretty much any group of people in similar circumstances in any country could be expected to come up with something to aid in communication among its members. Nothing really "American Exceptional" in that as such.
But over time, America took hold of that system, developed it, taught it widely (despite being suppressed for a while by those who thought signing really sucked)...until now it's everywhere! It's everywhere!
That's American Exceptionalism in action, at least in one form: Knowing a good thing when we see it, supporting the concept, and expanding on it.
It doesn't have to be American Sign Language, of course. It could well be something like selecting the best Republican nominee available in 2012...supporting the candidate...and expanding the conservative base to a landslide win on Election Day.
The sign language message that would send to the Manchurian President and his radical liberal agenda? Simple: Fist closed, middle finger extended? No, no, not that; we're all semi-civilized here. No, it's just that Obama is--well...see below.
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I couldn't have said it better myself. I tend to stay away from political hubs, myself. I'm not sure why, but frankly, I think it's a lack of courage on my part. This, however, is brilliant! I'd also like to point out that Helen Keller was an American girl. If she wasn't exceptional, and didn't put a hint to the folks out there that America is exceptional, then we've lost our understanding of what the word actually means.
Whether I like them or not, and frankly, I don't, what burns me the most about the Obamas is their attitude that the nation that has allowed them to be the president and first lady is considered to be an unexceptional dump. They don't even recognize the exceptionalism of their being in the White House in the first place. That's disturbing to me.
Great, great hub. Up and awesome and useful.
The other thing that makes America exceptional is that (outside of government meddling) we are a people who seek to find ways to allow people to help themselves, and will do it for them only when they are incapable of helping themselves.
And agree with your final message there. But ... whether you say it in sign, in words, by voice or by song, the only way that actually counts is to show up at the polls in November 2012 and vote.
Hey, FitnezzJim - while I agree with your final message, I have to say one other thing...showing at the polls in November won't make a difference if we don't hit the primaries and pick the right candidate in the first place!
If you mean exceptional as superor, Ghost, then I fully agree with you. America is exceptional! If you mean exceptional as different, then Obama is the man. He is so different our country can not afford another 4 years of his socialistic, naive leadership (?) in absentia.
Back atcha, Mr. Happy. Thanks for commenting.
Motown2Chitown: Wow, thanks for thinking of Helen Keller. Exceptional indeed.
You definitely nailed it about the attitude of the Obamas, too.
Jim: Agreed, except that there are a few other ways to "actually count". Such as, watch the neighbor's kids so SHE can go vote...:)
Motown2Chitown (again): Well put.
drbj: Uh, yeah, reckon "exceptionally dismal" would fit the Prez, all right. But usually, "exceptional" is understood to mean "really really good" if it's not turned into an adverb by the addition of "ly".
Hm. And Obama DOES ly a lot....
Exceptionally great, great hub, Ghost! Once upon a time in my life, I started a business and found a location to lease. The landlord was a very conservative, white gentleman. I, a black man with a dream and very little money. Each month - for 12 months - when the rent was due, that conservative gentleman refused to take it, instead wanting to see me succeed.
America is indeed an exceptional place. Flawed in some ways - but great in many others. And many of its people are just the same - exceptional. My hope is that it can become exceptionally exceptional. Thanks!
Dexter, what an awesome story! And, a perfect example of American exceptionalism, as are you. You need to tell that story in a hub, my friend!
American exceptionalism manifests itself in the fact that we are the nation that not only takes in those in terrible need, but also the nation which loves television programs that glorify generosity.
Only in America.
Thanks, Motown2Chitown! I appreciate your kind words. Maybe I will write a hub on that story!
Dexter, I agree wholeheartedly with Motown2Chitown--that story is purely begging to be told!
Will: Good point!
Ghost32, I enjoyed you hub and couldn't agree more. Americans should feel proud of their country and the opportunities it provides to everyone. Dexter is a great example of how we enjoy seeing each other succeed. It's not always about getting ahead, sometimes it's about helping someone else find their place.
Very well put, KK Trainor. Now, to hop on over to YOUR place, check out your profile. That cool avatar hooked me immediately.
Obama has said some really stupid things the past two years but the "exceptionalism" statement was over the top. It's almost like the man is ashamed of being an American and what this great nation stands for. Then he has his flock of sheeple who gobble up every word he says as the gospel.
Every American is exceptional if they desire to be. I was running the dogs this morning and had a thought about Americans who are exceptional and the resentment of those who aren't. It went like this. There are the doers in this nation and then there are the "I don't have to do that if I don't want to" crowd.
That is certainly correct with the birth of the entitlement crowd and that attitude about life in this nation. But here's the rub. If you don't want to strive to be successful and take advantage of the opportunities that are abundant in this nation, please don't act resentful toward those of us who do. You can either take the bull by the horns and deal with it or expect someone else to deal with it for you while you sit on the sidelines and watch.
I prefer to live my life in an exceptional manner as a believer in the principles this country was founded on. That's what makes an American exceptional and I sure don't want to see anyone "fundamentally change" the very fabric that has made us exceptional in the world. Be exceptional. There will never be an adverse consequences to doing your best and not expecting anyone to give you something because you are breathing.
The Frog
Say it, Frog! I'll gladly be one of YOUR sheeple! Between you, me, HubPages, and the lamppost, I think the Obamas are ashamed to be American. I think they want everyone to "like" them - and the US as well. Fooey. I'd rather continue to be the envy of the world than have everyone like us. You said what you said VERY well.
Ghost I love reading your HUBs. I agree 100% and I think Obama is a joke. I think we need some real leadership. But if you get more right wingnut teabags in there, as they've already shown, all the handicaped folks including the deaf will be on the streets begging for money just like in the rest of the 3rd world countries because the funds to help them will be cut so the corporations and big boys can keep their tax breaks. "Exceptional Stupidity" is not leadership and a Republican president will not stop the cruelty of the Teaparty. You know in your heart I'm right. To stay exceptional we must protect even the least of us. Peter
I loved this hub. Sign language is important no matter what race you are. Now for the political part of this. I read all your responses and damn who wants to get involved in all that? Not me.
To many think that their opinion is right and will fight till the end. I say good luck and see you in hell. I will be waiting!
Mrs. J.B. - Just curious here. You expecting a lot of company?
Frog: Well put. Reckon you could say there are those of us who tend to take the bull by the horns, and then there are those who are simply full of bull.
It took me some years to absorb, but there was an incident (in a good way) in a mine where I worked at age 25 or so for about 10 months in 1967-68. I was assigned as a temporary 4th man to a 3-man crew highly favored by the bosses (they were good!). My job was simplicity itself, mainly just sitting at the foot of a long stope, running levers on an air-powered slusher, dragging ore down the grade into a storage chute with a 4-foot bucket.
Once that was done--which usually took no more than maybe 2 to 4 hours of an 8-hour shift--the ONLY other thing I had to do was send up the guys' blasting supplies on the bucket about an hour before end of shift so they could get their charges set.
Which meant that half of the time, I was sitting there on my butt, muching my lunch, reading a book, twiddling my thumbs.
At the end of that job (about a 3-month deal), that crew gifted me with a bottle of Jack Daniels Black Label. My eyebrows went up: "What the--?! All I did was my JOB!"
They looked me right in the eye and replied, "Do you realize how RARE that is?"
Not until then, I didn't. Apparently, those of us who routinely do so are exceptional--by default.
Motown2Chitown: Ditto. (See? Rush isn't the only one who can have ditto-heads!)
Peter: Love you like a brother, but one of these days, you've just GOTTA realize I AM one of those right wingnut teabags--in fact, one of the more gung ho versions belonging to our local Palominas Tea Party. And the difference between thee and me and how we see the handicapped folks (including the deaf) is that you feel ONLY the government can help them while I feel it's NONE of the government's business.
I remember rather well, the first time I met (or even became aware of) a person who was hearing impaired. It was my first year in college. She and her sister, both attractive, were attending the same school. I REALLY wanted a date with her (the sister who had the impairment), but made the dumb-ass move of trying to make the date on the PHONE. Which didn't work so well.
BUT: There was no government program assisting her at that time (1961)...yet she was in college, cracking honor roll grades right along with her unimpaired sis.
Not buying the "cruelty of the Tea Pary" perspective. In fact, to paraphrase a Biblical analogy (though I'm not a Christian now, I did at one time more or less "absorb" the King James version of the Bible), I see liberals as people who want to steal fish from hard working fishermen to give to those without fish--and I see Tea Party activists (like me) as fishermen who prefer to show the fishless folk how to built a boat, get out on the water, and cast a net.
Cruelty has absolutely nothing to do with it. Keeping a person dependent by providing handouts without assisting in the growth of the recipient is (again, as I see it) far more cruel long term than providing the structural motivation to encourage personal growth.
You ARE correct when you say that to stay exceptional we must protect even the least of us. The difference between us is in how we define "protect". Many people curse (or at least disdain) Wal-Mart, for example, but I look at the employment (not handout) opportunities that humongous corporation provides for many citizens considered "unemployable" by others, and I applaud.
Another example: My own parents. I recall once asking my mother--I think I was still preteen at the time--how it was that we three kids (I have two younger sisters) were out there working hardcore all summer in rattlesnake country in Montana. After all, the ranching family on the other side of the ridge worried so much about snakebite that they took THEIR kids into a house in town every snake season.
Her reply: "Your Dad and I want you to learn to be independent. We won't always be around to take care of you."
They accomplished their goal--all three of us are exceptionally self-reliant people. Of course, it WAS hard for our parents to DEAL WITH IT once we got old enough to assert our independence from THEM--especially in my case, me being the fire-snorting rebel of the bunch.
Nations rise and fall. Even this one. ONLY those assets that are INTERNAL--self reliance, independence, the willingness to help others BY CHOICE--will help either the individual OR the nation survive in the long run. Short term "fixes" are long term disasters.
Okay, so that comment turned out to be a Hub-in-One.
Bottom line: In my heart, I do NOT know you're right. I'd not go so far as to say you're wrong, either--but we do see the situation from such drastically different angles that (so far at least) never the twain shall meet.
Mrs. J.B.: Me! Me! I want to get involved in all the political responses! Me! But if you'd like to have coffee in (little h) hell, that's cool. Um, warm. I'm very familiar with the neighborhood!
There are many people with whom I won't "discuss" politics either--but only because they aren't "discussing", simply hurling invective. Peter is not like that. He's a man of good heart, and (seems to me anyway) extremely sincere in his beliefs. If I were to refuse to talk about politics with Peter (at least occasionally--we don't have these discussions on EVERY page), I might as well also turn my back on my favorite uncle and my dearly beloved kid sister, BOTH of whom still think Obama's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
And hey, Peter's WA-AY ahead of THAT curve! LOL!
Frog: ROFLMAO!!!!
HAHA: I knew I would set a spark. Yes I expect to see a lot of people in hell. I have then entire left wing reserved. Sorry Ghost.... I just felt the urge to kick up some dirt.
Love:
LeeLee
Alright...so where's my damn coffee? And, I love political discussions that don't deteriorate into mudslinging and name calling...So, count me in for coffee and discussion. Ghost, I gotta say, I'm on the fence about the whole TP thing...I tend more toward libertarian I think than actual conservative. Ugh. I wish I knew for sure.
I will make the coffee, you ready?
I'm ready! :-D
Mrs. J.B.: Dirt is good stuff. At least I certainly can't slam it--not after building our home with earthbag walls.
Motown2Chitown: Hey, not knowing for sure is a super-common thing; you're no doubt in some very good company (especially for our major coffee klatch). My Mom, when she passed on at age 89, still hadn't figured out if she believed there was such a thing as the Hereafter or not. I saw her in a dream about 18 months later, beat up some dudes that were giving her a hard time (she didn't look 89 any more, more like a strong 45), then asked,
"Mom, you DO realize you DIED, don't you?"
Her response: "Can it be true?!"
Okay, so that's religion, not politics, but it did let me tackle BOTH "forbidden topics" on a single page! LOL!
I've hardly ever been "unsure" of anything in my life--oh, I CHANGE my opinions from time to time, as my 6 divorces made abundantly clear, but at any split second, I've GOT opinions. Big time.
There are a few areas where my view is not strictly "Tea Party classic", but on the most important issues--getting government off our backs and cleaning up political corruption--I could have been one of the founders.
Thanks you Ghost for your superb explanation of your stance. All I was saying was don't you think that little girl deserve a chance to learn sign withour having to pay for it? Just like all the children in America that get a free education like you and me? Peter
Oh, I agree with both of those things. But I find myself so often agreeing with the major motto of the Libertarians...total personal freedom with total personal responsibility. I don't believe in NO government, I'm certainly not an anarchist, but I don't want them in my money, my bedroom, or my church.
The religion I'm pretty sure of, but I certainly have an open mind about even that.
Go MOM! I love it. When my stepfather was dying, he was having some trouble letting go of THIS world. The Hospice nurse kept a journal and one night while he was sleeping he started talking. She could tell he was having 1/2 of a conversation. She said finally he sat up and said angrily - "Oh, yeah. That's easy for you to say, you're already DEAD!"
So, who know, you know? My dad was married 6 times too...lol My mom was wife number 5.
Peter, I can see State-level public schooling being a good thing when NO federal money is either funding or coercing the States in matters of policy, curriculum, etc., etc. It's when Washington starts oozing control, growing like The Blob, that I flinch. Every time.
Motown2Chitown: I've never really disagreed with the Libertarian stance. My disinterest in the party stems more from the observation that Libertarian candidates just don't seem to be effective vote-getters in most elections. When it comes to Monster Hunting (big government), it's like the Libertarians add up to being a fly swatter while the Tea Party packs the punch of a Stinger missile.
Guess I beat your Dad on the marriage count--six DIVORCES, but Pam is wife #SEVEN. (And NO divorce in the offing--15 years and counting, still hooked at the hip.)
Love that "...you're already DEAD!" line. Classic!
Nah, Dad hit six divorces too, Ghost, he just died before he could get married a seventh time. And you know that sucker stayed friends with every last ex wife? Crazy. I actually wrote about him...in a hub called A Man Named Pepsi, if you're ever interested.
That's my biggest issue with Libertarians too. No one knows what their platform is and they are itty bitty. I totally see your point, but honestly, I can't get over Sarah Palin when I think of the Tea Party...lol
Ghost,
Contrary to what liberals believe, there is nothing jingoistic about believing in American exceptionalism. Of course, ever since our own government began breaking the Constitution (primarily, violation of enumerated powers via activist interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause, Necessary and Proper Clause, and General Welfare Clause), we have ceased to be exceptional.
But going back to strict enforcement of enumerated powers, in all three branches of federal government, would restore American exceptionalism. Illegal "activist" federal laws, EO's, regulations, and court decisions are legion. All signing statements are illegal. Strict enforcement of enumerated powers would mean vacating/repealing/defunding all federal decisions and powers that violate a Borkian conception of the Constitution. Over 100 years of serial illegal federal power usurpation would have to be scrubbed away. The stolen powers would be returened to the states and the people, as the Constitution intends, and massive cuts in federal spending would be possible because enormous reduction in federal powers permits enormous reduction in regulatory operational, promulgation, and enforcement expense.
America WAS exceptional because it placed state sovereignty above federal tyranny via the Constitution, and inured the people with inalienable rights in the DOI. Both of these bedrock principles of our highest laws have been crushed by federal officials in all three branches behaving like tinhorn fiat dictators ever since the industrial revolution began, inuring their own ideologies the status of formal law.
I say with no exageration that until every judge in America is a clone of Robert Bork, every Congressman is a clone of Michele Bachmann, and every president is a clone of Ronald Reagan, we will be short of the mark. There can be absolutely no compromise. Unless and until the federal government embraces legal originalism in all matters, small and great, we will never be exceptional again.
Stu
Motown2Chitown: Well, see, there ya go! I've seriously studied Sarah, probably in as much depth as anyone this side of the fellow who put together the forthcoming documentary on her (The Undefeated). I don't WANT to "get over" Sarah Palin--I want her (and quite frankly, ONLY her) to be elected President in 2012.
Stu: What you said, except that we can IMPROVE on Reagan, not just clone him--if we put Sarah in the White House. Reagan never did attempt to actually reduce the size of the federal government, just to slow its rate of growth.
Not saying he WOULDN'T have done so if he'd had both houses of Congress on his side, but still.
I do see us as exceptional RIGHT NOW, however. Just not AS exceptional as we ought to be, need to be, and WILL be.
I see our country as EXCEPTIONAL also. I love this country. It is a great country. I just do not like some of the things the extreme liberals are doing to it. My ancestors go back to the Mayflower and have fought in every single war this country has been in and I resent that people who come in from other countries are trying to change it to fit their image of their countries. The Star Spangled Banner does not need to be sung in Spanish, I do not want to press 1 for English, and I do not believe that people should get SS if they did not pay into it and are not members. I do not believe that serving 2 years as my representative in Congress or the Senate should provide you with a lifetime retirement or to better health insurance than I get. I do not believe that the children of those representatives should not have to pay back student loans and I should. I think they should have to be responsible to all the laws I have to be responsible to. I am an American just as much, if not more, than they are and I resent that they should be treated better.
I think I am done with my rant for the month now. Thank you for listening.
OOPS, I meant citizens, not members.
Hi Ghost,
Agree. Reagan had a great ideology, but he lacked the ability to implement it at a practical level. And in some ways, he violated his own ethos - he overspent, and he supported socialist death squads in Latin America. I know most his violations of his own principles were to end the Cold War, but a real patriot will put principle ahead of result.
Stu
Here here Becky! Finally a voice of reason. She has the right idea. If it's right it's right for everyone including all the scum in D.C.
Peter
Becky: Nice rant! If it helps any, though, last time I researched the subject, the Congress-critters don't get retirement pay that quickly (despite all those emails we've all seen that say they do).
Wait. You only rant once a month? HUH!
Stu: Exactly. I see Reagan as a great "starter conservative role model" for the modern era...subject to extreme upgrades as they become available!
Hi Ghost,
Totally agree; we're in exact sync on this.
Stu
Ghost, I have to say that I fall victim sometimes to the mass media (even Fox...lol) and Sarah has always seemed to be lacking something for me...not sure what. I wasn't a big fan of hers when McCain chose her for a running mate in 2008 - but then, I was more or less certain there wasn't a chance for her, as McCain is FAR TOO MODERATE to win as a GOP candidate. I thought that then. Of course, everyone did, really. Even the conservative pundits said if you want to hand the white house over to the Dems, just run McCain. The problem? Republicans and Independents will NOT vote for Moderate candidates. Say what you will (not you, but the skeptics) but even W wasn't as moderate as folks thought he was.
Anyhow, I have problems with her "quitting" as the governor of Alaska with the BS excuse that she was doing it to focus on her family. She was doing it to focus on 2012 and I think that's okay, but I think it sucks that she let the people of Alaska down to do it.
Just my take. Of course, if you have insight that I do not, I welcome it. I was in 2008, but am not so much today a student of politics. I think 2008 and Obama wore me out and wore me down. :-(
Stu: Cool!
Motown2Chitown: I totally understand about 2008 and Obama wearing you out and down.
Ah, but Sarah did NOT "quit" in the sense of "bailing out" on the people of Alaska. Here's the insight (yep, got some), her side of the story, as presented in Going Rogue (a solid read, or a solid listen if you pick up the CD set rather than the book--though the book is available now for something like a penny on Amazon):
She was NOT doing it to focus on 2012, either. She WAS doing it to draw the fire of her attackers away from the Governor's office so that her successor, Sean Parnell, COULD get something done for the state.
After the 2008 campaign, the AP and other attack media didn't ignore her. Instead, they sent a whole lot of folks up to Alaska to finish destroying her. Using the state's own tough ethics law, they filed 86 ethics violation lawsuits against her.
She settled one out of court simply to get it out of the way (i.e., not because she couldn't have beat it in court); all of the others were dismissed.
But they were still a-coming, tsunami style. They could not be ignored. And they'd accomplished what they'd set out to do: The day to day business of the Governor's office was brought to a logjammed halt, buried in the blizzard of deliberate enemy paperwork.
So Sarah made the one move none of the haters ever would have believed her capable of doing: She drew all that fire away from her beloved Alaska in exactly the same way some birds will draw a predator's attention away from the nest--by pretending to be crippled, to have a broken wing, running with little heartbreaking cries of distress, luring the killers away from the babies.
And it worked. Sean Parnell has managed, since Sarah executed that brilliant maneuver, to accomplish quite a number of the items he and she had on their joint agenda prior to 2008.
When she did what she did (resigned), she did NOT know if there was any future in politics left for her or not. But her resignation was a "military maneuver" worthy of Sun Tzu (author of The Art of War) AND it was a move only a true statesman (stateswoman? statesperson?) could have even considered. That is, she cared for the well-being of the state MORE than for her career.
She did NOT let the people of Alaska down. Rather, she refused to ALLOW the Palin-haters to permanently paralyze the entire Alaskan state government.
Remember the big Kenny Rogers song, "The Gambler"?
"YOU GOT TO KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM
KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM
KNOW WHEN TO WALK AWAY
KNOW WHEN TO RUN...."
Sarah Palin is one who knows.
Ghost, I couldn't have gotten a better answer from Sarah herself, I think. Thank you! I may start to pay a little more attention this year. Obama has worn me out, though, badly. And, living in Chicago, let me tell you this, I am NOT thrilled about having his chief of staff as the mayor of my city. The sound of the words "Mayor Elect, Rahm Emmanuel" make me cringe and my skin crawl. People complain all the time about the Chicago political machine...well, here it is in full effect and it trickled down from the damn white house. That makes me furious!!!!
Yeah, I only rant once a month. What of it? I do not have red hair and I am very even tempered. How else do you think I can live with redheads and people with PTSD? Not just one redhead, like you, but three of them. Husband, daughter, and youngest son.
Motown,
Palin didn't resign the governorship to focus on her family. Her opposition hit her with a massive raft of ethics charges (over 80 of them), and she didn't feel she could perform her job duties as governor if she had to spend all day defending herself. But guess what? After she resigned, none of the allegations were even investigated by the AK DOJ. My guess is that most if not all of the charges were contrived to get her to resign. I think this was a giant, and very successful, smear.
Stu
Thanks, Stu. The insight is helpful. As I mentioned to Ghost, even I fall victim to the hypnotic power of Mass media on occasion, and by then, I was so disgusted with the results of the 2008 election that I was just too tired to deal with anything beyond what I was seeing in the news daily. :-)
Hi Motown,
YW. The MSM can really do a number on you. Stick with FOX!
Stu
Thanks for the wisdom, Stu! How on earth is a conservative like you surviving in Vermont!?
Hi Motown,
I just try to have fun with it. I just ordered a deluxe Team Bachmann T-shirt. Can't wait to get it and drive the commies here crazy.
Stu
HAHAHAHAHA Stu, that's funny as all get out. There aren't a whole lot of conservatives in my neck of the woods either...lol Ah, well. We are who we are and where we are, I suppose.
Motown2Chitown: Yeah, I remember being REALLY glad I didn't live in Chicago when Deadfish headed back that way.
Becky: Point taken. My lone redhead may well have as many total idiosyncracies and/or ailments as all three of yours put together, but playing "my redhead's more [whatever] than yours" is a fool's game for sure--so I won't go there! LOL!
Stu, I surely hope you've got a trustworty sidekick with a video camera who can follow you around Vermont when you're wearing that Team Bachmann shirt. A few clips of Vermonters' reactions ought to go viral on YouTube in half a heartbeat.
Motown2Chitown: You may already know about this, but just in case you ever need a "conservative lifeline" in Rahm-country, here's a link I found to a website that welcomes Chicago Conservatives, Comma, Repulbicans:
Wow, Ghost...no I did not know about that. Thank you ever so much. I'll take a look! :-) You're such a gem. If I wasn't married and you weren't married, and I wasn't 30 years younger....well, I might make my way to Arizona. ;-) HAHA...No worries, I'm half kidding. Don't send your wife after me!
All compliments appreciatively accepted, for sure.
Not to worry about my wife; she could use the help around the house! And about age differences...
We have two prison pen pal friends who will be released from prison next year--and who WILL be joining our household. Of course, they are romantically involved with EACH OTHER...but the younger of the pair IS about your age! LOL!
Well, then. I'll bring the hubby. He'll do the cookin', I'll do the cleanin', and we'll all be one, big happy family. ;-)
Uh...you might want to rethink that. Because around here, there's a lot more "cleaning" than "cooking" needed. See, we have a two-burner camp stove AND a big propane fridge, so that's a piece of cake. Well, not cake, no oven, but still.
But cleaning? Well, the big generator is down and the washing machine needs a part, so if cleaning includes laundry, it's WASHBOARD TIME. Then there's no dryer--got one, but it takes too much power, nothing here at present big enough to handle it. So the clothes all have to hit the clothesline.
Then there's the matter of cleaning YOURSELF. Don't yet have the funds available for power showers--it's "sponge bath" or else "cold water shower" out under the storage tank...or nothing.
Plus the TOILETS. Not flush versions yet, money issue again. Buckets with a bit of water and Pine-Sol in the bottoms, standard seats plopped on top. Each of those has to be lugged to the outhouse pit and dumped, then rinsed at the storage tank tower and refilled, Pine-Sol added, and set up again--EVERY day.
Plus (nope, not done yet), this is intermittent HIGH wind country, up to 75 mph gusts on occasion, and plenty of gritty red dirt flying around, getting into everything.
Still packing the U-Haul, are you? ROFLMAO!
HAHAHA, Ghost! For now, I'll probably stick around here...lol I think it might have been the toilet thing, not really sure. ;-) My husband won't use a public restroom. I don't think I could talk him into that.
Good call!
Homesteading is definitely not for everyone. Even in the pioneering days, the vast majority of folks "back East" clearly understood that the people making up the wagon trains were out of their everloving gourds. Not much different today.
Plus, wait'll you see tonight's Hub...once I get it written.
Sounds like fun.If I bring a shower and a gas water heater and a real actual flush toilet, can I come? I have a camp trailer with a WORKING bathroom.
Becky, you're welcome any time, especially if you're bringing a WORKING bathroom with you!
I wouldn't say you're out of your gourd, but I know it wouldn't be for me...lol My hat is off to you, dear one!
Understood, Mo. I first learned about "city type folks" when attending a three-week training for a major insurance company in Hartford, Connecticutt. Long story short, I met (during my free time) a group of half a dozen young people ranging from age 8 to age 26. All had been born in inner-city Hartford; none had ever been outside the city limits.
They had a TV showing more of the world, but not one of them could even IMAGINE a world outside of their city. Let alone imagine LIVING there!
Well, Ghost, truth be known, I spent the second half of my childhood in northern, rural Michigan, so I'm not *quite* the city slicker, but my preference, I must admit, is an urban environment. I spent most of my childhood dirt poor, and the bulk of my adulthood, to be honest. I've always found being poor a great deal easier in the city. Call me crazy. :-) I'll admit, now that I'm able to take my first real breath financially, I want to do it where it's sort of easy, if that makes any sense at all.
Heh! For us, it's actualy easier out here--but that's mostly because we hate neighbors with a passion.
Okay, not exactly "hate" them. But our preference would actually to be about 50 times more remote than we are now, even. We can still see rooftops in the distance, boo-hiss!
Easier to handle the lawn work when there's no lawn, for example!
I take it by "northern, rural Michigan", you mean the Upper Peninsula? The U.P.? You were a Yooper?
At one time, I owned every CD ever recorded by Da Yoopers. Wife #6 grew up a Yooper on a dairy farm. Hates Holsteins to this day!
I love the country. The furthest I have been out is 8 miles out of town though. My nearest neighbor was right next door but it was my aunt and uncle and she lived on the other side of the duplex. At least I didn't have to worry about my kids. They spoiled them and watched over them when I couldn't. She also rented to me cheap.
I grew up on a ranch in Montana, just six miles out of town, but with no neighbors as far as the eye could see. It helped, of course, that the mountains blocked line-of-sight pretty quickly. Had we been able to see through dirt and rocks and such, we could have seen one neighbor a mere 3/4 miles to the east and another about 1.5 miles to the west.
Wow, Ghost. That would have been far too extreme for me, I think. I was born in Detroit, and as soon as I came of age, I ran right back to the city. Eh, we are who we are, right? The one thing I can tell you is that whatever city I happen to be in has to (absolutely MUST) be near a large body of water. So, Detroit. Now, Chicago. I absolutely MUST have my lakes and rivers.
I lived up on the side of a mountain overlooking the valley that the town was in. Beautiful view but it included the town of Hawthorne, NV, the lake, and the entire Army ammunition dump. I was 4 miles from another house but could see hundreds. Remote yet not isolated!!
Mo & Becky: Isolated. THAT'S the word! My ideal place is BOTH remote AND isolated!
But for now, the Border Fort will have to do...:)
Can't do remote and isolated...lol I need to hear my neighbors slamming around, or I feel lost in the big bad world. :)
See? We're both examples of American Exceptionalism! You feel exceptionally "lost" without noisy neighbors, while I feel exceptionally blessed! LOL!
Right now, I live in an apartment. You have no idea how blessed the whole family felt when the family upstairs moved. Two boys who jumped around all the time. They would sit in the living room dribbling and then wonder why we would bang on the ceiling. We couldn't hear our TV because theirs was so loud. They would wake us up every day when they got up and I am a heavy sleeper. They got up at 4:30. The ceiling light fixtures would rattle all the time, It sounded like they were jumping on the beds all the time. We celebrated when they moved.
The lady in the office is putting an older gentleman, his room mate and disabled son in there and we are happy about that. They should be quieter anyway.
Sounds like it certainly couldn't be any worse, at least.
Pam and I've both lived in apartments at times--though only once, briefly, in our 15 years together. But we also both hate 'em with sufficient passion that we'd go straight to a tent on bare land rather than ever rent an apartment again.
For sure, 'cause we've done it.
They say that variety is indeed the spice of life. I love that we all have such different ideas about this.
My mother loved rural living. There are times when I look at the main Chicago artery that I live on, and listen to my neighbors knocking things around in their kitchen that I do indeed wish to be in my childhood home - where all you heard at night were crickets and really yakky bullfrogs. But, then I remind myself that I love the human congestion of the city - and I never feel lonely here. I can put up with a little bit of noise for that feeling. I'm one of those who absolutely has to feel connected to the world - although I have oodles of respect for people who can, and do, live happily and successfully in more remote or isolated locales. :)
(Chuckle) Mo, those of us who prefer the countryside tend to feel MORE connected to the world when we're away from the city. Or at least I do; guess I probably shouldn't be speaking for others.
I understand. I feel more connected to nature in the country, people in the city. And, I can't live without being connected to people - where I can touch, feel, and smell them. Although, sometimes they get mad when I do those things, especially if they've never seen me before. ;-)
Especially the smelling part, one might suspect? LOL!
Oddly enough. Don't know why someone might find that strange. Oh, well.
I think the smelling part is strange, to say the least. I think they all smell too much. If they don't smell of bo, they smell of perfumes, hairspray, scents from soaps, and they all conflict and mess up my asthma. Give me some good, grass, woods, and dirt smells. I also love flowers but they mess with asthma too.
Heh! Good point, Becky. I quit using colgne or even after shave lotion in the mid-eighties after discovering wife #4 was allergic to pretty much any perfume out there. (For after shave, it's been pretty much straight rubbing alcohol ever since.
Mo, there seem to be a LOT of folks allergic to various aromas. Of my seven wives, three have had sever problems in that area.
Thankfully, I haven't run into that problem, and my husband's allergies don't tend that way. It's rough.
It is. Then again, believing as I do in reincarnaton, I also remain aware of the truism that says,
"If you're having an easy life, it's just that you're in a RESTING incarnation."
You know. Between those big, sometimes extremely painful, but ever important life lessons.
That thought surely does keep me from envying those who "seem" to have it easy, anyway.
I don't envy them. I don't think they understand how amazing and valuable every moment can be. Every now and again, I'll get to feeling sorry for myself, but most of the time, I'm damn grateful for every struggle and trial. It's made the good times that much sweeter.
Mo, we also have to consider that the rough times are the learning times. HE only gives us what we can handle.
Mo, Becky: Looks like you two have it covered. I'll be offline for most of the day--gotta take my exceptional American wife over to her son's to grab a shower and see the grandson, etc.
How is the grandson and I know the REAL shower was divine?
No clue on part one; nobody home at Zach's.
So we buzzed on over to his Dad's, Pam's ex's. Where I left the two of them to chitchat while rambling on yonder to hit the ATM for tomorrow (stupid mental health place only takes cash, of all things). They got a bit more than an hour of private time, which was good.
Her shower was, um, slightly less than divine. She didn't figure out how to turn on the hot water until after she was done.
Sorry about the disappointment. Funny how uncompromising those places can be.
Uncompromising and often incompetent.
You know, Becky, that's what I've been told...lol By many wise folks such as yourself. I just wish he didn't think I could handle so MUCH sometimes...lol Truth be told, though, I don't know a single strong hearted person who hasn't been through adversity. I'll take it as it comes. :) Ghost, give Pam our best.
Thanks, Mo. Done.
We just got back from her appointment with her shrink Amazingly good morning. The doc was actually friendly and helpful to Pam this time around--in part, apparently, because of the lengthy letter I sent her after she messed up with my redhead after the LAST appointment.
Then the clinic FINALLY figured out that instead of paying $90 per visit, we should--according to their sliding scale for self-pay folks--actually be paying $12. THAT helped!
That would be a big help. Are they going to reimburse you for their error?
ROFLMAO!
Becky, I'd never ask, and they're not going to volunteer. The former (and previously only) mental health care clinic in our area was a monumental horror of mismanagement and incompetence that finally went down the tubes. This office is their replacement. Money is so tight for THEM that they're not even set up to take credit cards or checks--CASH ONLY. They're juggling staff hours, have NO psychiatrist in-house, and are ONLY able to hook Pam up with a shrink via TeleMed.
Pushing 'em too hard in a doomed-to-fail attempt to recoup a couple hundred bucks might just be the straw that broke THIS camel's back.
Well, in the interest of keeping them open a little longer, and therefore accessible to your wife. I wouldn't push it either. It will just make it easier to pay them now. I wish we had a place like that here. We do not have one that is on a sliding scale and the only one that takes our insurance is not taking new patients. We have to go to another town, 50 miles or more away, to find someone.
Ours is closer at the moment, about 23 miles door to door. Without that one, though, it'd jump to a 100-mile pop.
Mr. Happy Level 7 Commenter 11 months ago
I am staying out of any political comment here regarding the 2012 Election. We're supposed to all be dead in December anyway, no? (lol)
I just stopped by to read your article because I saw in the tittle that it dealt with sign language.
I think sign language is awesome. I would like to try learning it one day too. I think it is very useful as well, in many cases. Signs with our hands are used all the time from police officers directing traffic to soldiers, to those who have speech defects, etc.
Thank you for writing this Mr. Ghost. All the best to you!