Just dropping by to blow off some steam because I am feeling exasperated
again. I seem to feel exasperated a lot and this story explains why.
Here is a part of a conversation I had yesterday with a relative. She
says, "I think China sent that coreena virus to us on purpose." In case
you think I am misspelling the word corona I am only spelling it the way
she pronounced it. I say, "Why do you think that?" She says, "I heard
that it came from the communist part of China." Feeling my exasperation
rising again, I say, "Which part of China is that?"n She says, "I heard
that it came from Woohoo. That must be the communist part of China." I
say, "Why do you think they sent it on purpose?" She says, "Because
they're communists." I say, "Why would communists want to do that?" She
says, "Because communists want everyone to die." I say, "Why do you
think that?" She sighs and says, "Do you even know what a communist is?"
At this point I am tempted to say that, yes, I know what a communist is,
but you don't have a clue what it is. Encountering ignorance does not
bother me. It always offers an opportunity to teach something. What
bothers me is, for one thing, the assumption that on a topic that has
been one of my special interests since I was a teenager and have devoted
much time studying on my own and have participated in with a lot of time
invested with other people who shared my perspective on the subject,
that I am the one who does not know what he is talking about. And
furthermore, I have explained what communism is to her time and time
again and it appears that everything I have ever said about it just went
in one ear and out the other. Usually when I explain it as soon as I
finish talking she starts telling me about some recipe that she tried or
something similar. That should be a clue that I was not being listened
to. Her statements this time, though, showed ignorance on a number of
levels and rather than just repeat things I have told her so many times
before I decided to inform her of some other things that I have not
spent so much time on. I tried to explain something about the geography
of China and the political situation there. I also explained that it did
not make much sense that they would have unleashed the virus on purpose
when they were the ones who were first effected and strongly effected at
that. When I paused she started telling me about the personal life of
someone she knows, but whom I have never met and am uninterested. That
is, she made it clear to me that I may as well have been talking to
passing clouds. Do you see why I spend so much time feeling exasperated?
As I was typing this I was reminded of another incident that happened
way back when I was in college that was similarly exasperating. Bear in
mind that when this happened I was majoring in biology, but I really
don't think anyone needs to have studied biology to understand what I
was trying to say. I was working in the cataloguing department of the
school library in the work-study program. There were some secretaries
there who saw some birds hopping around on the lawn. It was a cold
winter day too. As they were looking out the window one of them started
cooing about how they were going to have babies. I looked too and saw
what they were referring to. The other secretaries agreed with the
assessment that the birds were pregnant. I explained to them that they
were seeing the effect of the low temperature. The birds were fluffing
up their feathers to trap air and to give themselves some insulation.
That is, they were trying to keep warm. To this day I don't know why I
didn't mention anything about birds laying eggs, but it just didn't
occur to me at the time. Nevertheless, a bird's pregnancy takes place
outside of the bird's body and they do not show signs of an impending
hatching. What do I get in reply to my explanation? I am told,"We're
women so we know about things like that." Again, the assumption was that
I was the one who did not know what he was talking about. I calmly said,
"Did you know that I am a biology major?" The reply was, "That's some
kind of science, isn't it? Doesn't it have something to do with
flowers?" Again, just some steam release about having to go through life
feeling exasperated with people. --
___
Thomas Paine
“One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
