Is it just me... or has the news become an extremely biased, relatively uninformative negative source? You can't turn on the television without seeing someone bashing someone else, a group defending itself or just a plain out hatred upon a belief? Everyone has an opinion and you have to be on one side or the other. There is no middle ground. No happy median. I think if it doesn't change soon... it will be the downfall of this country, if not already. [Update 4/16/09: I guess I'm not the only one that has noticed - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/220128066]
I really can't say how wrong it is when it's engraved in our minds from the moment we are born. Me versus You. Us versus Them. Pick a side. It's black or white where gray is unacceptable because that means it's unclassifiable. And what will the computer do if it can't classify someone by checking a box next to a definitive answer. Would the system really malfunction? I doubt it.
Ever play dodge ball? It sucks. The bully (which is often the bigger, stronger, more forceful type who is probably that way because they have a poor home life and being the bully is the only way the way they express themselves and hide their feelings so that they do not get emotionally more damaged than they already are) picks other 'bullies' for their team thus leaving the kids that have to forfeit their ham & cheese croissant sandwich with sprouts and organic cheese doodles so that they do not have to suffer humiliation in the form of the classic wedgie or the iconic trash can over the head (with push) manoeuvre. Heaven forbid you be the one that tries to stick up for the poor kid with the wedgie... you'll get the ole' stuffed in a locker treatment because you defended wedgie kid when it had nothing to do with you. You were sitting on the bench in deep thought, contemplating life and writing poetry (even though you kick ass at dodge ball) but you stood up and got involved because you thought it was the right thing to do. Shame on you. Mind you're own bees wax why don'tcha... and pick a side buddy.
For some, it's all we knew. For others, it's all we're ever going to know. There are some people in this world that are going to spend their whole life with their panties in a wod. They are going to wake up every morning like someone peed in their cornflakes. That's their life and I will never, not even in my last breath on this earth, understand why people choose to live it. A little hope goes a long way even though happiness is perhaps the hardest emotion to feel, it's one of the most rewarding.
The moral to the story is not to not play dodge ball (even though it does seem a smidge on the barbaric side) or not have your mom make you croissant sammies (they are yummy)... it's to realize that you don't have to be one way or the other. You don't always have to be right or wrong because life is not black or white... it's more of a misty to smokey gray. Just pick your shade.
'that it only happens once, is what makes life so sweet.'