I Really am Sensitive…
November 13, 2006 – 9:35 pmAs far as sensitivity toward the plight of others is concerned, I am a conundrum. People who know me well enough would characterize me as either a softy or a misanthrope. Here and there, people will tell me that I wear a misanthropic facade, while my innards are soft, gooey, and warm. I don’t know which story to buy.
Sometimes, I find myself leaving the table I sit at in the library when a minority sits next to me. This isn’t because the newcomer is a minority, I just happen to be leaving when he sits down. While walking away, I wonder if he thinks I left because he is black/Mexican/Indian, whatever. I, at the very least, want to appear racially sensitive, since that is what society has told me to do, so naturally I am insecure about the image I portray to those of other races.
Since we are on the topic of sensitivity, I should mention that I have come to the conclusion that homeless people need to stop hanging out on the University of Utah campus. I have nothing against homeless people, just the ones who come to the library, get a temporary NetID, and browse for pornography in the Middle East library. I also would like the guy who smells like a rotten deer who comes the Middle East library to research the Bible code, while screaming violently about the end of the world to be removed. While we’re at it, let’s get rid of the guy in the Union who was sitting behind me watching Rosanne on the Oh! Channel tonight. He was laughed at an heretofore physiologically impossible level, ate three personal pan pizzas, vomited in his cup, and went on watching Rosanne.
Finally, have you noticed that nothing on my sidebar has changed? I will get around to that.
2 Responses to “I Really am Sensitive…”
Turn the question around - why is it important to you what others thinks about your compassion, social awareness, etc…
Arguing about public awareness and how you make others feel based on social, personal, and external prejudices is an easy argument and no merit is gained from having it. Leave such cheap arguments for political pundits, the self-absorbed, or those lacking, unfathomably, self esteem. Facta non Verba. Social tolerance is a two way street, and just because you don’t feel like being social, doesn’t mean you have to be for anyone, even if they are oppressed into such groups as “minority”. One can simply be an asshole, without being a bigot or a racist. An equal opportunity misanthrope as it were - “It’s nothing about you, you’re just human.”
But the question that interests me is of your highly bizarre behavior. If you prefer to be alone, why are you in a public building?
Salt Lake City has numerous places where on can be alone, even on a college budget. Only 28% of the land in the entire state is privately held - Utah is a great place for solitude. The glaring contradiction can at times result from certain external factors, “you want to be alone, but resources you desire/need are found and limited to a public location (library)”, however even in such instances you have to accept a responsibility on your part - that you are in a public building.
So, now matter how you would prefer to be, you still have chosen to be in public. You chose to go to school (a public activity), not to live in the mountains. You must have known that going to school, would involve you with other people, and place upon a demand for certain resources in the public domain. So the question is - do you want to be a misanthrope, or do you want people to think you are a misanthrope? You specialize in language - a field predicated on the assumption that at least two people will want to communicate ideas to each other - that is not a private activity.
So, I have to wonder. Do you really want to be a misanthrope, or do you want others to think you are. Which brings us back to the first question - why is it important to you, what others think about you. Who are you trying to impress, you, or them?
So, after being up for nearly 30 hours, I will conclude my day with this
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By J. on Nov 15, 2006
interesting that you choose this topic… Did the survey the U sent out about diversity issues spark your idea?
By caleb on Nov 15, 2006