{"id":9893,"date":"2020-07-16T11:59:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T16:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=9893"},"modified":"2020-07-16T11:20:26","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T16:20:26","slug":"halfway-through-an-angry-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2020\/07\/16\/halfway-through-an-angry-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Halfway Through An Angry Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

First The Virus\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a just-like-that kind of thing; one minute we were running our own lives, like competent adults, and next minute we\u2019re sent to our rooms, like kids on a school night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it was \u201conly\u201d the virus, we were angry at nature; if you\u2019re out to get us, at least fight fair, and let us see you coming. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2020 Is An Angry Year\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The virus made us feel vulnerable, not just here and there, felt like everywhere.\u00a0 <\/span>We were angry about jobs and money, about security, angry about feeling small.\u00a0 <\/span>We were lonely and angry about that. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We were angry at the news, but we kept watching the news.\u00a0 <\/span>We were angry at being talked down to, like we were kids who had to be reminded to brush our teeth.<\/p>\n

We were angry waiting for press conferences and updates, and then we were angry because they said the same things as the day before.<\/p>\n

Our leaders made us angry.\u00a0 <\/span>We grew tired of the way they talked, their mannerisms, saying the same thing day after day, new clothes, but same words, same favorite verbs and adjectives.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This picture seemed so 2020 to me, until I checked…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We were angry at toilet paper hoarders.\u00a0 <\/span>And we were angry that THAT was even a thing.<\/p>\n

We were angry at people who took it too seriously.\u00a0 <\/span>Or people who didn\u2019t take it serious enough.<\/p>\n

We were angry at journalism, like it was the doctor you went to when you were sick, who made you sicker.<\/p>\n

We were angry about being angry, a little more simmer every day.<\/p>\n

And Then George Floyd<\/strong><\/p>\n

On first seeing the video, we were sick.\u00a0 <\/span>And then we got angry.<\/p>\n

That cop, Chauvin, with the knee on the neck, with his hand in his pocket, and that look on his face, ah, I wonder, how many times was this man killed in the fantasy world between people\u2019s ears.\u00a0 <\/span>(And I wonder, I wonder, how many police officers, all over America, daydreamed about getting one minute alone with him\u2026)<\/p>\n

Nothing made sense, at no level.\u00a0 <\/span>Multiple police versus one, the minute his hands are bound, he\u2019s no threat.\u00a0 <\/span>Even if he was an Olympic sprinter, he couldn\u2019t run away, because upper body and arms, that\u2019s part of the recipe of speed.\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019ve got him, there\u2019s your car, if you\u2019re going to arrest him, then do it, take him, what book is this the by-the-book of?\u00a0 <\/span>And of the other officers, not one, in 8 minutes and 46 seconds thinks, Hey, maybe we oughta\u2026<\/p>\n

If you were black, I\u2019m not gonna touch that –<\/p>\n

If you were white, you were ashamed.\u00a0 <\/span>If you were a cop, you were ashamed.\u00a0 <\/span>If you were an American you were ashamed.<\/p>\n

And guess what; shame and ashamed, both lead to anger.<\/p>\n

Then It Got Mob-by<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something about how it played out, it didn\u2019t feel proportional, like all the virus anger rolled into this reaction.\u00a0 <\/span>One minute we were unified, outraged over what one of our own had done to one of own.\u00a0 <\/span>But the minute the mob crossed the line, doing wrong unto others, they lost their angel wings, became another version of Chauvin, and that made us angry.<\/p>\n

Those of us with some age, this whole racial thing in America, it doesn\u2019t seem to ever end.\u00a0 <\/span>Youngsters are screaming, like they\u2019re the cavalry, not seeming to realize all the prior cavalry, and all the improvements from the really bad ole days to the present imperfect days.<\/p>\n

The media didn\u2019t mind working us up.\u00a0 <\/span>We split in our ten or thousand ways, each way led to anger.<\/p>\n

The Picture That Seems So 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was something about this picture.\u00a0 <\/span>It seemed so 2020 to me.<\/p>\n

My first thought, \u2018How did we get here?\u2019 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just anger, its rage.\u00a0 <\/span>And because she\u2019s white, and female, I have a different reaction.\u00a0 <\/span>I know my culture.\u00a0 <\/span>This, whatever this is, this isn\u2019t what we raise.\u00a0 <\/span>How did we come to this?\u00a0 <\/span>What good comes from this?\u00a0 <\/span>Does she represent her generation?\u00a0 <\/span>If so, what will her descendants be like?\u00a0 <\/span>Is this America on the ascent, or descent?<\/p>\n

I was conclusion jumping like it was an Olympic event –<\/p>\n

– and then, I checked.\u00a0 <\/span>Turns out\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turns Out The Picture Is From 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a real picture.\u00a0 <\/span>And its also about police killing a citizen, but it\u2019s from 2014, it got walked forward, into my life, a form of lie.<\/p>\n

First glance, it looks like she is in the face of the cop, junkyard dog aggressive, but that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019s close, and she\u2019s in contact, but she\u2019s yelling over his shoulder, at someone behind him\u2026 and that changes everything\u2026<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 2020 for you.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t know who to trust, or where to get our facts.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t know what to feel, when to feel, if to feel. \u00a0 <\/span>Which makes us angry.\u00a0 <\/span>Or angrier. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With me, I can\u2019t stand anger.\u00a0 <\/span>It feels evil.\u00a0 <\/span>I don\u2019t want it near, I don\u2019t want it within.\u00a0 <\/span>I have never once prayed, out of anger.\u00a0 <\/span>It separates me from Good. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I pause.\u00a0 <\/span>I retreat.\u00a0 <\/span>I seek neutral.\u00a0 <\/span>And I feel the temperature of my gauges.\u00a0 <\/span>Down, down, less, less, get that needle back in the green\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _<\/p>\n

This edition of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories is dedicated to self-management.\u00a0 <\/span>Inside each of us is this little original us, that needs us to be good grownups, protect it from harm.<\/i><\/p>\n

Uncle P can be reached at eightyoneantiques@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First The Virus\u00a0 It was a just-like-that kind of thing; one minute we were running our own lives, like competent adults, and next minute we\u2019re sent to our rooms, like kids on a school night.\u00a0 When it was \u201conly\u201d the virus, we were angry at nature; if you\u2019re out to get us, at least fight [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[59,894],"yoast_head":"\nHalfway Through An Angry Year - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2020\/07\/16\/halfway-through-an-angry-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Halfway Through An Angry Year - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First The Virus\u00a0 It was a just-like-that kind of thing; 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