Political polls? How about a manners movement
As a full-time homeschooling mother, I find it profoundly difficult to nurture this adolescent adventurous spirit of mine. Daily routine and consistent expectations serve our household well at this stage of life so I have to do what I can, when I can, to get my fix.
In a pinch, nothing shouts adventure to this stay-at-home mom like a good cold call (a completely reasonable rationale for maintaining one’s landline). Cold calls provide an unparalleled semblance of suspense; the phone could ring at 6 a.m., 9:30 p.m. or every hour on the hour regarding any number of scams or solar panel salesmen. I’ve even received marriage proposals from a few foreign Fred Astaires. Unfortunately, as of late, the calls have left me wanting more. Fortunately, it’s an election year. My 2020 vision now includes a plethora of exhilarating new exploits … political opinion polls.
Knowing full well my political opinion changes nothing, unlike my vote, my adventurous aspiration has become answering each question with the complete contrary to my sincere standing. With my political footing securely in place, this consideration poses a compelling challenge that embarks a fascinating conceptual journey into the domain of my political adversaries. Plainly speaking, the questions take me places.
“Do you believe the attention being put on the ‘Me Too’ movement is appropriate or exaggerated?” the automated interviewer droned. The question launched me back to a time and place that had been begrudgingly buried in my memory for more than 20 years.
I was 15, on an overnight trip to Ashland, Oregon with my 10th grade English class. We were there to see Phantom of the Opera. On top of my plans to take advantage of Ashland’s $5 piercing parlor, I was looking forward to showing off the new dress and Birkenstocks I had bought and paid for with my own hard earned money.
A friend convinced me to buy the dress from a hip vintage shop downtown, Chico. It was a fulllength, two-tone, A-line halter dress that grazed the tops of my new ash-gray Birks like it was made for me. The bodice was the most vibrant blue I had ever seen. Below the bust line, the electric blue-purple polyester tangoed with a vivid blue-teal to create a perfectly pleasing Polynesian pattern. I loved that dress and I loved how it made me feel; bright and beautiful.
Before the performance, a group of us traversed downtown Ashland in search of the famed piercing parlor, me in my new dress. I was brimming with confidence, head held high, shoulders back, more gliding than walking when something broke my stride. It was an arm wrapped in black leather, and it was wrapped around my neck. The belligerently butch woman in her Doc Martins, jeans and leather jacket waltzed me around, whispering things into my ear I do not care to remember or repeat, then flirtatiously waived goodbye as she strode leisurely away with her partner leaving me standing there, fully in tact, yet deeply wounded. I hated that dance and I hated how it made me feel; dismal and defiled.
The trip continued although my confidence did not. The $100 pair of shoes I had earned on a grueling weekend sleeping in a trailer and selling glass sculptures at a fair in Susanville with my dad, and the $40 dress I had purchased with my precious babysitting money had suddenly lost their value. It took some time to put them on again, but I did. They were my favorite things and I was not going to let one crass moment, a “Me Too Moment” I suppose, steal them away from me.
“Do you believe the attention being put on the ‘Me Too’ movement is appropriate or exaggerated?” My conclusion remains unresolved. I do believe in manners, however. The golden rule has never gotten anyone into trouble that I know of. Treat others the way you’d want to be treated ~ Matthew 7:12.
I can easily envision the noteworthy benefits of teaching today’s youths the intrinsic value their bodies hold, and that respecting others’ is an easy and essential extension of that value. We could call it a “Manners Movement.” I’d jump right on that bandwagon … just not via political opinion poll.