pastoral
I need out. The grocery store pays the bills, but I can’t get complacent. I have to keep up my motivation to find something else. A customer service supervisor position just opened up that most of the folks there think I’m handily ready for, but…I just need something else. The feeling was especially acute as I blocked and faced the medicine/cosmetics/dietary aisle with Nicole. We didn’t say anything for what must have been fifteen minutes, silently rummaging through the little boxes and bottles on the shelves. I contemplated making some inane comment about the products, but it would have been kind of like calling a secret meeting in communist Russia and discussing ways to improve the Party–like those cloyingly cheerful “associates” in the training videos that chat casually away from customers and management about how great the store is and how much they love their job. It just wouldn’t jive. But we ended up talking about school and fall break and her stint at Governor’s School and whatnot… Not too bad. I still need to find something else, something…design-oriented. We’ll see.
Here’s the only thing I’ll say re: Judge Alito’s nomination. Listening to the immediate reactions to the event this morning on NPR, I couldn’t help but notice the number of times his race and sex were pointed out, the latter especially in contrast to Justice O’Connor and Harriet Miers. “He’s not a woman,” was mentioned many times among other factors that might dissuade certain special interest groups and pundits from giving their approval. Can’t we get past things like that? Can’t we evaluate people “by the content of their character” instead of by things over which they have no control? If our society’s ever going to become truly colorblind and equal we’re going to have to stop pointing out things like that. Yes, our country’s not equal (and there’s a time and place to be proactive about fostering diversity), but neither is it homogeneous, and if we truly let the chips fall where they may with respect to someone’s race and sex and evaluate them based on merit, it simply stands to reason that the makeup of the public arena will reflect the percentages in the country at large. And we have a long way to go before we get there. But pointing it out over and again and encouraging our minds to dwell on it won’t help. Race or sex should be as much of a non-factor as, say, eye or hair color when evaluating someone’s aptitude for a role in public affairs–we shouldn’t even think about it. Dredging it up again on the airwaves certainly isn’t helpful.
Listened to Rush too. He was certainly excited about the whole ordeal.
will your schedule allow you time for interviews?
i understand your need for something creative/design-oriented… some days i love work because i really enjoy spending time with the others there. but on slow days or when they’re not around, it can be suffocating.
congratulations
Congratulations on the soloing, Matt. Way to go! I remember that plane well.
The fear with Judge Alito is that he could do something bone-headed again, like when he said a husband has to be notified before an abortion. In some cases, that really endangers the woman. It would be good to have another woman on the Supreme Court. You might need to walk a mile in her moccasins to understand.
Love,
Aunt Lucy
Hi Aunt Lucy! So glad you found my journal. Thanks for you support, too :)
Did you get a chance to check out the sites I mentioned in Wilmington? If not here they are:
http://www.muffinfilms.com and
http://www.angryalien.com
Enjoy!
Are you guys hunkering down for the winter yet up there?
Love,
Matt
I’ll work interviews into my schedule… I don’t work 8-5 so I have openings throughout the day. It’s nice to know that you understand, too :)