AMERICAN WAY FINDS NEW TRADITIONS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT

The American way used go be different. Not that we’re living in a new world, but it’s just different.

Instead of “do your work, keep your mouth shut, treats others fairly” we get “find a gig, live out loud, tell others how to do it.”

That’s a change from the lock-step life celebrated by those who did it, but didn’t like it.

They didn’t like it, but they kept their mouths shut, which is also an American tradition.

Now everyone has a platform, everyone makes noise, but who is listening?

In the clamor for attention in an online world, complainers come up big.

Make a good complaint, draw a big audience, then what? Piquing interest from strangers is a shot in the dark and you never know who might step out of the shadows.

It’s the same shot with friends, family, and acquaintances. You think you know someone until they start explaining the advantages of believing stupid shit. The lasting message after that is you’re the stupid for not believing them.

In any case, don’t bring up the last election, Jan.6, or indictments for tax fraud if you want to keep friends.

Don’t equate republicans and libertarians with racists and white power, boogaloo boys and proud boys. That makes everyone uncomfortable.

If you like sticking it to the Nanny State by living life on your terms, fine. Just don’t complain when you get tagged for leaving your lane.

Complain The American Way

Someone didn’t like the rainbow flag I flew for June. They didn’t say they didn’t like it, that would have been go revealing. Instead, they wanted me to explain why I flew a rainbow flag.

Like I’m going to explain a rainbow flag to a grown man? No, that’s not happening.

What did happen:

“Why are you flying a rainbow flag?”

“Because I’ve got one to fly.”

“Do you like rainbows?”

“Everybody likes rainbows.”

“But why fly that flag?”

“Because it adds to the neighborhood. The only problem is I think it’s upside down.”

“I think so. You should check.”

“No, I’ll take your word for it. You seem to know a lot about rainbow flags.”

No confrontation, no names, just a nice exchange between people with different opinions. Except it wasn’t so nice. It was more a passive/aggressive take on Pride Month, but probably more.

Where else could it have gone? A nice talk on Black Lives Matter? Covid vaccinations? When it starts with questions about my rainbow flag, it can’t end well.

The Top Image Explained

That’s a shipwreck near the mouth of the Columbia River. Oregonians and others have seen it there since 1906. I saw it for the first time this year. Since I was in the neighborhood, I whined and complained to get my way.

I was going out there with, or without, others on the trip. My way or the highway, or in this case the beach way. I opted for the Peter Iredale in the perfect jacket for the occasion.

Going out there felt like getting a stamp on my Oregon passport.

What else could be a stamp on an Oregon passport? Climb a tree? Swim in the ocean?

How about stamps on the American Way? A factory job that breaks men by age forty and delivers a gold watch out the door? An honorable military career trashed by traitors and insurrectionists? Normal people embracing the worst president’s worst traits?

Who doesn’t know someone who has decided whining and complaining about how badly they are mistreated is better than working toward a better outcome in life.

Change starts small in out of the way places. One attitude at a time changes and people find a better way.

If you find common ground with others, you are part of the American way. On the other hand, if your outlook is based on aggressive ignorance, unfounded doubts expressed by pinch-faced men shouting on Fox News, and call the fear generated a kind of knowledge, you might want to tune up that education.

Let’s celebrate this 4th of July with a small step together. Take off the red hat and join the American way today.