A Cherry Picking Reply

(NOTE: I get a lot of comments from readers and social media subscribers. I wish I could reply to all of them, because I do appreciate anyone who takes the time to send me a comment or email. But to respond to all of them would take more time than I have. Maybe one day and with enough paid subscribers I can, but at this point in time, it’s near impossible.
Now and then, though, a comment comes my way that beckons, nay, BEGS for a response. Like this one.
So, I clear ten minutes in my schedule, put my hands on my keyboard and reply with a heartfelt post.)

Dear Barb,

Sorry it’s taken a few hours for me to get back to you. You wrote this comment earlier this morning and I had to get myself fully caffeinated before I could even attempt a reply. Because I have a choice how to respond here. All people have a choice. And the choice is between full on snark or a scaled back, more logical approach to your comment.

This is a tough one, Barb, because the first thing that pops into my head is always my favorite retort. My knee jerk thoughts are unavoidable, as they appear on their own, but they aren’t always the kindest. So while I can’t help thinking them, I tend to shy away from posting them in the hope that by abstaining, a civil, respectful conversation can ensue. (That being said, there is a folder on my computer entitled “Things I’ve Written But Will Never Post.” I have given my children permission to post it all upon my demise. Just, let ‘er rip.)

For instance, when you said, “I think you should stick to photography,” my knee jerk is “And I think YOU should stick to the business of your own country’s government,” but I don’t say that, Barb. Because it’s snarky and I don’t believe in responding to snark with more snark, which is why it took me a few hours to reply to you. I had to allow time for those knee jerk thoughts to subside so they can be replaced with what I hope you will view as a logical, respectful response.

<cracking my typing fingers>

Barb, I find a lot of things fascinating: pregnancy, how cream turns into butter, black holes, and those fish that can live for years in mud. But amongst the things I find most fascinating are people who feel justified in telling other people what to do AND what to think.

Now, I’m not talking about the sharing of perspectives and worldviews and belief systems. Those are wonderful things to discuss and debate and as long as both are applied with a heavy dose of respect and civility, those involved in the discussion will come away better for it. Yeah, that’s the good stuff. I LOVE that stuff. I could sit down with a pitcher of margaritas and talk to you all afternoon if that were the case.

No, I’m talking about people who feel entitled to tell other people what and how they should think and/or to shut their mouth altogether. These entitled folks are more fascinating than those mud fish, Barb. And that’s saying something.

I have to marvel at people who feel perfectly comfortable telling other people what to think. That right there tells me we will never align politically. You know, cause I’m not a fan of that.

And the most interesting thing to me is that these people would be standing up and cheering if the sentiments that veered into politics or social issues aligned with their own way of thinking. I’ve seen this time and time again. People will play nice until they disagree and then, they get nasty. They engage in ad hom attacks. They make condescending insinuations based on assumptions. I know YOU know how that works, Barb.

But unless you have cameras set up in my home or are stalking me through my computer or living room window (you aren’t doing that, are you?)  you have no idea what I watch. I realize Fox News is the boogey-man hurled as an insult, and I would happily tell you if I watched it, but I don’t. I’ve seen some segments, sure. I mean, that was the only way to watch that last Harris interview, so you bet your sweet bippy I tuned in then. But other than that, no.

So, you may continue to assume, I can’t stop that, but, if in the interest of respectful and civil discussion, you would care to ask me what news sources I read, I would be happy to let you know.

Now, onto the rest of your accusatory questions and insinuations.

“You cherry pick things to take about in politics.”

Mmmmm. I love cherries. I made some outstanding hand held cherry pies from my best friend’s cherry tree this summer. Good stuff. I wish you could have tasted them. But those cherries were the result of actual cherry picking. What you call cherry picking is simply talking about the things that are important to me. I mean, we all have issues and topics we deem essential; things we are interested in and want to share. I don’t have time to talk about all of it, so, like EVERYONE ON THE PLANET, I talk about the things important to me. Including cherry pies.

“Have you ever held a gov’t office in any form?”

No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

“Are you racist?”

Oh, Barb. I’m disappointed. When you pull out the racism card, well, you kind of show your hand. It’s like a kid on a playground with no insults left so he hurls a “Yeah, well, you’re stupid.”
And I get that the racism card is an easy card to play. It’s the easiest card in the deck.
You just toss that baby on the table and hope it makes an impact. But in my card game, those sort of meritless tactics designed to elicit outrage simply get you banned from the table. And a hard eye roll. You know, my mom used to tell me if I didn’t stop rolling my eyes they would one day get stuck in my head. But look—I JUST rolled them again when I read your post and I’m still good. Nice try, mom.

“You think putting him (Trump) in office for 4 years is the best thing for your country right now?”

Barb, in the US, we’ve got two choices ahead of us. Just two. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. dropped out and threw his support behind Trump, so we’ve got TWO people to choose from. Like most Americans, I watched the country change these past four years in all areas from inflation to immigration. Crime in the United States is soaring. Businesses, even BIG businesses, are closing left and right. The economy, and the people living in it, are suffering.

And I compared the course we are currently on to the country’s economic course the four previous years. And after making those comparisons, the choice is clear to me. The difference is, Barb, I don’t disparage anyone I know who feels differently. I don’t light up their Facebook posts or inundate the comment section on their blog. Because I would never presume to tell someone else what they should think or how they should think or tell them to refrain from speaking since their perspective doesn’t match mine. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, Barb, but the way I see it, that would make me a very small minded person with a brain closed tighter than my jammed Tupperware drawer.

“I know I'm a Canadian as you have pointed out to me before and I should basically mind my own business. If you know politics as you claim to then you should realize that your President affects the World not just the US.”

Well, sure, the American president affects the world, but so does your Prime Minister, Barb. And yet, how many posts have you seen me make about Trudeau?
Actually, I think there have been 2 or 3. And that was back in 2022 when he authorized your Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to immediately freeze the accounts of truckers protesting the vaccine mandates all without a court order and with full legal immunity. Pretty sure that was it.
And I refrain from commenting on Trudeau and Canada’s government not because there hasn’t been a plethora of material to write about, and certainly not because I agree with Trudeau politically, but because…wait for it…it’s NOT MY COUNTRY.
(The only exception to this is maple syrup. I love maple syrup. You run out of that stuff and all bets are off.)

So, there you have it, Barb. I hope I satisfied your accusations and in so doing, quelled your condescension.
I mean, I’m not holding my breath or anything, but still, I hope.

I know you’re not going to like this graphic, Barb, but I posted it anyway.
I might be good at holding in my snark, but my peanut butter has made no such promises.