Sleeping Isn’t A Crime is a webcomic by Steve Teare, posted on the Nib. Below is the first panel. Head over to the Nib and read the full comic. It’s well worth your time.
Tag: society
Some Game of Thrones Thoughts
I didn’t part of the morning reading about the storm surrounding the Sansa rape scene from Game of Thrones. The backlash had been fascinating. Please note: I haven’t seen the scene, and, as I don’t watch the show, it’s unlikely I shall. And, there’s no protest: my current tastes run towards other content. I have had enough brutality in my life to seek it out.
Reading some of the commentary, I’m left with a key thought. It appears the scene was ugly and brutal, as rape is. I’m not reading anything that portrays the scene as anything less than horrific. Gruesome, disturbing; perhaps, there value in that. Facing the reality of rape; that all the attempts to justify rape culture really are justifying ugly brutality.
Maybe the producers meant to impart a social message. I don’t know, and don’t care. More importantly, this can be leveraged. We can erode the justifications and minimization our culture throws up against rape and it’s victims. If this scene starts a deeper debate about rape and culture, then perhaps it’s net effect will be positive. If more people deeply understand the evil brutality that is rape, good can come of this. So I hope.
To Be A Seattleite
I consider myself a western Washingtonian, even though Mr. Ron Rudd might not.
“If you weren’t born in Seattle or the Northwest, you’ll never be one of us.”
Though born in Rhode Island, my parents were born in Washington, as were all my grandparents. My father and his mother were born in Seattle. Next: my parents met at UW. And I was supposed to be born in Seattle, but my timetable was a bit off-kilter. The family was in Rhode Island as my father attended the War College. So, I guess if I must be disqualified from “one of us” status, I’ll accept the consequences of my father’s service with pride.
Deeper: why do I consider this place “home”? Well, the biggest reason was that we always called it home. Flying out to Seattle was always “going home to visit grandma” (sorry grandpa, but it was always “to visit grandma”.
Lastly, this is the place we moved when my dad decided to retire from the Navy. And where I’ve lived the vast majority of my life here. Lastlyiest lastly, there’s the simple fact I love it here.
Please note: I’m hardly offended by Mr. Rudd. Actually, I find him quite witty, and the piece is quite clever. It did give me pause to consider, though. Which is worth a heap of oysters, shucked by hand along the Edmonds beach: my happy place.
Reflections of a “Shusher”
I enjoy Anil Dash’s commentary. His background diverges significantly with mine; he provides me food for thought. His writing challenges the way I see the world. Sometimes with rather profound topics; though, today, he looks at the mundane world of cinema. More specifically, the cultural variation regarding the act of viewing. Read: “SHUSHERS: WRONG ABOUT MOVIES. WRONG ABOUT THE WORLD.”
Ok, I assume you finished reading. So, full disclosure, I come out of cultural world of the “shushers”. My norms dictate quiet, church-esque near reverence during cinematic experiences. Mr. Dash’s essay, though, reminds me (with a delightful wit, IMHO) that my view is one built through ONE cultural lens. Not the only one, not the right one, just one. That varying from my norm doesn’t impart inferiority, lower class-ness; simply difference.
I finished with thoughts of “how do we, in this global culture, navigate these differences without clashing too painfully?” Reading some of the comments reinforces that point. It’s very hard for us to break free of our underlying cultural upbringing and see the “other” in a balanced, respectful way. I expect this will be a continuing aggravation to an embracing, diverse and peacefully co-existing society.
Expectations of instant responses are getting silly
On a regular basis, I get hit with complaints that I didn’t respond to a message. “I left a message with you 10 minutes ago. Why haven’t your replied?” I get hit with this in all sincerity and, sometimes, with angry vigor. Another colleague was lamenting to me that they’d sent several emails and left several voicemails that morning and were ANGRY that the hadn’t heard back. She was a bit taken back when I pointed out that this person has 100s of clients and is extremely over-worked, and that I was certain there was no insult meant by her less-timely response.
I think that this stems from our always-on world. Email, texts, etc, come fast; we have nearly instantaneous communication. We get answers from Google/Bing instantly. We are accustomed to immediate response. So, waiting even several minutes feels unreasonable.
I notice, though, that when people are drawn out of themselves, raising their focus, they easily see the bigger picture. They see that I really can’t respond instantly to each of the 100 some odd emails I get in a day. And that taking some time to respond isn’t disrespectful.
Perhaps we need to just slow down. Perhaps we can. Perhaps….