Alright, on this episode of I had to say it, we're going to talk about something that has the potential to be a little bit divisive. You know, this is one of those things, that's kind of where I stand on things. That's what all of these things are going to be, at least until we get some traction on here. So maybe start having some guests, and then you get multiple opinions.
This time, I want to
talk with everything that's going on in the world today.
And right now in particular, about hating people and discriminating. Something that has never really made a lot of sense to me is the things people get hung up on when it comes to dealing with other people. The general, I'm not going to try and sit here and act like I'm, you know, Gandhi or a saint or anything. But I really don't understand people who hate somebody over something they have literally no control over. And also has literally no bearing on the outcome of your day, the things in another person's life that literally have nothing to do with your interaction with them, it's not going to change who they are as a person, the quality or content of their character, and make change their life experiences and the things they've experienced and been through. But ultimately, at the end of the day, has no direct impact on your interaction with them. Because those things that they literally have no control over. I have no bearing on you personally on your day to day life. You know, seeing some random guy walking down the street and going I hate him because he's a guy or I hate him because of his, you know, complexion or the shade of his skin. Or, you know, I hate that guy, because he's got a limp. And I don't like people who limp anything like that is just, you know, I'm in such a waste of your energy. And there's so many better reasons to hate people than that. I mean, you want to hate somebody, realistically, you could find, you know, spend a little time get to know them find a good reason to hate that person, hate them, because they're pompous, hidden, because they're, you know, an arrogant ass hate them because of the way they save, you know, Parmesan, it really taking the time to get a little bit of knowledge before you have a opinion about somebody, just, you know, it makes such a huge difference. And it's not necessarily, you know, again, I'm not trying to say that I'm so pious, and I'm so great, because I'm not I can be extremely petty. And there are things that people do that drive me nuts. But it is literally based on things that people have some sort of influence over. And, you know, without going too deeply off the psychological rabbit hole of well, this is how they were brought up. And this is that and that is this. Yeah, we're adults, at some point in our lives, we have to start taking responsibility for our own, you know, foibles and our own issues. And at some point, if we all just kind of embraced our logical minds and our adult selves and said, You know, I can see this behavior that I'm performing. If I saw somebody else doing this towards me, it would irritate the hell out of me, maybe I should rethink my behavior. Now granted, you know, that's, that's a pretty big ask these days. I mean, we live in an age of, you know, entitlement. And if you don't agree with me, you're an asshole. And with social media, the internet, the access to literally the world's knowledge, databases. Everybody today has a voice. And, you know, in a lot of respects, everybody having a voice is a good thing. Everybody having a voice gives everybody a chance to have their say, to feel validated to put their thoughts and beliefs out there. I mean, that's literally what I'm doing right now. The downside to everybody having a voice is everybody has a voice. Anyone can get out there with enough effort and make a noise loud enough To try and drown out anything they don't agree with. And unfortunately, it happens. It happens a lot. People act without thought they start getting offended and upset without the facts without reasons without, you know, without knowing the whole story. Sometimes, people get bent out of shape over the dumbest little things, and I understand it. I get upset about a lot of things too.
I'm one of those people. If I'm driving
down the highway, and I'm in the left lane, and somebody is riding my bumper, I'll move to the center lane because obviously they're in more of a hurry than I am in the left lane, according the driver's ed that I took way a long time ago. And I'm sure the rules haven't changed. The left lane is the passing lane. It's not the hangout and lollygag Lane. I get that. It's irritating when somebody is in the left lane slow. I try and be considered about it. On the other side of that coin. If I'm in the left lane and I get up on somebody's tail and they just sit there. You're in the left lane, you're not entitled to the right to say well You're going too fast. It's just a common courtesy. Get out of the way. Yes, I hate that person. And honestly, it's not like a deep personal abiding hatred, it's not something that's going to affect my life. It just gets me a little irritated. And that's the other thing. People are taking things that they should just be getting a little bit irritated by and blowing them so far out of proportion. You know, something caused you a minor inconvenience. It's not this massive drama issue that needs massive social change. social change is real and needs to happen. I'm not saying it's not. But you know, the barista mispronouncing your name at Starbucks, when you're getting your half Caf double nonfat latte. No, that's not the end of the world. You don't need to cancel culture that Starbucks because they discriminated against you. They mispronounce your name, get over it. It's it's unnecessary drama. It's dumb. And like all this stuff, all you know, you sit there and you look at it, and there's real injustice in the world, there are real things affecting people that don't need to be happening. And so much of it could be avoided if we could actually get past this little, you know, half inch curb that everybody seems to be tripping over every time they walk from one room to the other. That is judging somebody without any basis. It's really, again, I'm not trying to be preachy, I'm not trying to be like, I'm so great, I'm so great. But honestly, you know, you look at somebody you see the color of their skin, that literally tells you nothing about them other than the color of their skin. It's not a basis of knowing how they're going to act, how they're going to think how they're going to talk. Wait until they open their mouth before you decide they're a friggin idiot. Wait until they do something that is actually and truly heinous before you decide you're going to get offended by their interjection into your day. because realistically, even if you're not going to do it, because of a moral compass or feeling that treating somebody civilized is the right thing to do. You're giving yourself you're giving away too much of yourself to these people that realistically don't know don't care and have nothing to do with the rest of your day. You get let yourself get all worked up over well, you know, I went over here and I saw this Phil and he don't look like me and he don't act like me.
And did you
still get whatever it was you were looking for? Did you ever did you still managed to accomplish what you were going to do? Then who cares? And granted, you know, as soon as I tend to start talking about those things, I'm that's where I'm guilty of it. I slip into, you know, this little stereotypical redneck, got a tongue in my voice and no tolerance in my in my spine kind of situation. And I know that's not right. I know what's not right. I know plenty of good people that our country I know, I got family that's Southern, I've got you know, friends that are everywhere. I really I I try to reserve my prejudices and choices on Are you a dick or not? That's my personal metric for things. If you treat other people decently I'll treat you decently. I see you being a prick to everybody else. I'm just gonna assume you're being a prick about me when when I'm not around. And I don't need to associate with people like that. And realistically, honestly, I'm happier for it. I mean, I've been accused more than once of being, you know, kind of a jerk or, or whatever, you know, I could have been called everything from you know, low level dicta come full on asshole. And depending on the situation and the environment. It's true. I'm not gonna deny it. I'm fully capable of being just the biggest jackass. But if I'm doing it, there's a real solid chance you did something to push me to that point. Because, again, it's I feel like it's investing too much of my own personal energy in being upset. It's counterproductive. It doesn't gain anything, it doesn't, you know, allow anything to be better or worse. It just is. And it really doesn't. There's no bottom line. There's no payoff at the end of the day. It's it's a misuse of energy that can be used constructively. And it took me a long time to get to this point. I mean, obviously, like I said, I'm in I'm in my early 40s, early 40s. Right now, I didn't come to this conclusion overnight, there was a big chunk of my life where I went through life with a chip on my shoulder and mad at everybody didn't give him a chance to give me a reason. I just looked at him be like, You're an idiot, get away from me. And realistically, it's going to happen. We're all human. We're all fallible. I think if we take the extra couple of seconds to question why we're feeling a certain way, or why we're doing a certain thing, it'll give us a whole different skew on how we're working. And honestly, I think it'll increase our personal happiness just a little bit, just by doing things for a thought out cognitive reason instead of a knee jerk. Simple thing. Okay, and I'm gonna pull one One last little random thought into this particular recording, where let's kind of address this, you know, this thing that we all do to a certain extent, and that, you know, we know everybody else around us does the best way, I think and again, my two pennies, I mean, what do I know, I'm just just some guy, but honestly, a lot of the stereotypes and the prejudices and the the the getting hung up on the superficial stuff, you know, that kind of stuff. The Cure For it is not getting in somebody's face and screaming and telling them, you know, what a piece of human garbage you think they are? The solution and it's, you know, again, my two cents, the solution towards you know, ignorance and hate is an 11 education. It's, yeah, it sounds a little bit hokey. It sounds cliche, but ultimately, at the end of the day, it's the truth. You can't go through life, hating somebody based on something so stupid and superficial once you get to know them. And, you know, that's, that's part of the problem. People, you know, don't like to go outside of their comfort zones, they don't like to interact with, you know, new and strange, creepy things. So, you know, next time you got that random person who might seem a little standoffish, and you can't figure out why, you know, and invite them to a cookout, invite them, you know, if you're doing something social and gonna have a bunch of people over, you know, try and sit down and talk to them, see, if they're having a problem, see, if they're having a bad day, that little extra human interaction and that little extra touch, you can't change the world by trying to change the world. You got to do it in you know, little steps, baby baby steps, little pieces, you know, you're not going to change the world in a day, but you might change the day for you know, one person you can you can get somebody looking at new way thinking a new way. It just takes the little things, you know, play some really good music, some jazz, some blues, something that's doesn't, you know,
outside their comfort zone.
You know, show some cool paintings have some cool art hanging up where people can see it. It's it's all about broadening horizons and expanding minds and education and and like I said, you have
to have compassion in your heart to do these things. Yes,
some people just don't have that capacity. And those are the ones you really got to reach for.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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