tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post7550166666007727368..comments2024-02-24T03:14:25.170-05:00Comments on A Half Baked Life: Reason, Civility, and Carrot Fennel SoupJustine Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14190295175501659469noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-4759594369279981152010-11-12T05:46:11.843-05:002010-11-12T05:46:11.843-05:00thanks for the recipe!thanks for the recipe!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-71111591610641613742010-11-05T16:51:03.171-04:002010-11-05T16:51:03.171-04:00I agree, talking does not change things. It's...I agree, talking does not change things. It's good to talk, but our actions need to back up the words. I'm not sure how to change the nation into a kinder more civilized group of individuals. I have chosen to be nice, and to encourage others around me to show the same compassion towards others. One day when I'm finally able to have a family, I will teach my children to love others, and learn to appreciate our differences. but for now, I think it takes all of us as individuals, to continue working with the individuals around us, and to help each of them learn to be kind, and understanding. Legislation does not change people's hearts, that is something that happens when they are affected by others, and they choose to change.<br />I love your blog, and of course, your honesty.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712553731274873122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-19461752402566553282010-11-03T19:19:59.511-04:002010-11-03T19:19:59.511-04:00I really like this post. It is honest and realisti...I really like this post. It is honest and realistic.<br />I try to be kind to others but the biggest task on my plate is to raise my children to not bully or alienate. I think the best way to do this is allow them to be themselves and for my husband and I to be tolerant of our kids. Teach them acceptance of themselves. Then we try and extend this out to the world. We were reading a book the other day which had a picture of a black child. B was caught off guard. I used it as a teaching moment. We all need to take more time and more responsibilities for our own children.Cristenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17979335536682976259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-66363667892263328612010-11-03T09:49:48.645-04:002010-11-03T09:49:48.645-04:00It's a really good question and a lot of times...It's a really good question and a lot of times, it is just a lot of talking. Though, while it may not create immediate change, it may influence small shifts down the road that can result in changed behaviours for future generations. I hope even if I affect no visible change now, that somehow it starts adding up down the road. If that makes sense.Lollipop Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01020874415819057995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-46706342745996646722010-11-02T21:54:00.628-04:002010-11-02T21:54:00.628-04:00I think, as I said elsewhere, that it's not an...I think, as I said elsewhere, that it's not an either/or proposition. Yes, we must work to make the world better, but we must also assure children who are being bullied right now that they are valued and that there is life beyond the place where they are now. I doubt that Dan Savage thinks that his It Gets Better Project is going to save the world from bigots, but it does get the word to those bullied kids that there is more to the world than bullies. <br /><br />As for the answer, I don't know, except that we must strive to be civil and compassionate in our every interaction, and those of us who are parents or teachers or mentors must demand respectful and compassionate behavior from the children we influence, and we must also teach them to look with a critical eye at the culture.<br /><br />As we were leaving the polls today W asked me why I voted, and I told him that voting decided who would get some very important jobs,and that I had voted so that the people who got those jobs could make the world a better place for other people. And he asked "and will other people make the world better for us, too?" I told him I hoped so.Jennifer Thorsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04999871200590569742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-71650862145183930152010-11-02T21:11:59.483-04:002010-11-02T21:11:59.483-04:00I hear you. I was sitting in shock watching the W...I hear you. I was sitting in shock watching the World Series seeing all those violent commercials. DirectTV was the worst. In one a guy breaks into a movie booth and poisons the film-guy in order to steal movies so you can watch them on DirectTV. The other has two droids beating the crap out of each other in this guy's home as he moves from room to room quietly watching them destroy his house. And what about the scary movie adverts?! Is it really family tv to show a submarine guy get drowned to death? I just hate the level of desensitization these days. It seems like we've crossed a threshold.<br /><br />Can I be really controversial? Here goes. In some ways I think this level of rudeness also relates to the level of lies and rhetoric that have come to be accepted in our country's politics. I really dislike that some prominent political leaders decided that misrepresentation of the truth can become truth if you just repeat it often enough. What happened to integrity? Being considerate went there, wherever "there" is...inBetweenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17212548401525577878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-43730650494566939192010-11-02T11:59:55.565-04:002010-11-02T11:59:55.565-04:00This is a great post. And you raise a difficult qu...This is a great post. And you raise a difficult question because, really, it's not enough to protest, to talk, to be horrified. And you are also right that it is part of a larger problem, a general selfishness - or cruelty - that people harbor. The Tyler C thing, especially...I have thought about this quite a bit. Firstly, because it so shocked me and he belonged to a an age group I frequently teach. Secondly, maybe, because it happens so much more than anyone admits. <br /><br />Sometimes, I'm heartened. My students are a different kettle of fish. Things that were issues for my generation have become less so for younger generations, though I realize that this is not true for all. Sometimes, though, I'm saddened. Because humanity does appear to be stuck in a perpetual cycle of meanness. <br /><br />I think - and this may sound inane - that I believe in leading by example. I have always admired kind people. Politeness, niceness, tolerance, decency: these are things that people don't HAVE to practice all the time, but the ones that do...those are the people on whom I tried (not always successfully) to model my adult self. And I have to believe that this will be the case for many of the young'uns behind us.Adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06955659206478903815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-18694485866107841682010-11-02T10:44:02.019-04:002010-11-02T10:44:02.019-04:00Great post, thanks for saying all this.Great post, thanks for saying all this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544913458028415917.post-47632923453957645372010-11-01T23:40:14.424-04:002010-11-01T23:40:14.424-04:00What do I do? I don't bully people. If I see...What do I do? I don't bully people. If I see someone in the street struggling with a map, I ask if they need help. If I see someone with something heavy and I'm going the same way, I ask if I can spell them in carrying it. If I disagree with what someone says on their blog, I don't comment - it's their space to air their wacko views. If I have too much of a veggie or lettuce in my garden, I bring it into my office to share. And I give my dog an awesome life. I may not change the world, but it helps make my corner a bit mmore pleasant and sometimes even generates a smile. And smiles are important - people are much less inclined to be nasty to each other if someone's just been nice to them.<br /><br />And then I go home and scream at the news. Cuz I'm not a saint, and some things just need to be screamed at.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com