Hypocrisy in my home

My husband is the biggest hypocrite known to mankind. As a parent, you are supposed to lead by example. It seems my husband has the opposite theory. Apparently it is best for him to do the things he tells the children should not be done. Of course, while he is doing it, everything is okay.

A few days ago, he instructed my son for the 1,000^th time that he should not play video games, as they are “no good.” He immediately takes the controller from him, and inserts his own game, and proceeds to spend 5 hours playing the stupid video game that he scolded the child for playing. What in the world is he thinking?! To me, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. If my husband can play for hours, then my son should be allowed to do the same thing. Fair is fair, and I do not care if he is an adult or not. You cannot instruct without example. It is the equivalent of telling a child not to take drugs because they are bad, but the person is telling the child as he or she is consuming drugs! Or explaining to a kid why he or she should eat healthy as you are steadily consuming numerous candy bars. Sense is sense. 

Sometimes I feel that my son would do a better job of leading my husband than what he is doing at leading my son. Jamie (my husband) is constantly telling my son (Tyler) that he needs to pay attention more. Well, Tyler constantly sees Jamie not listening to a word that comes out of my mouth. How is that going to teach him to listen or to be more responsible? That’s just it-It’s not. Hypocrisy frustrates me to death- especially when I have to deal with it almost daily.

Sunday

Ahh, it is Sunday again. The day I spend all day doing the homework that I have successfully hidden from myself since Thursday afternoon. The day I kick myself in the butt for yet again forgetting that I have 24 hours worth of assignments to do in less than 12 hours. Sunday and I normally have a very special agreement. But on this Sunday, I am going to attempt to get my work done even faster, as today is just entirely too beautiful to spend inside! The gorgeous weather has definitely been a problem for me the past few days. I just want to work in the yard, spend hours upon hours perusing the many isles at Home Depot and Lowe's, and sit on my front porch and listen to the chirp of the birds as they eat the freshly laid grass seed out of my front lawn. For the sake of my school work, I must pretend it is raining cats and dogs and that a blizzard of magnificent proportions is headed this direction. I am trying to tune out the sunshine shining through the many windows surrounding my heavily burdened computer desk, begging for me to just take a quick peek through the closed blinds. It beckons for me to take that one single glance. But I know, with that one glimpse, I will be sucked in until long after night fall. Until the lightning bugs of late afternoon retire. Until I can no longer smell the fresh cut grass of my neighbor’s lawn. But then, who would want to miss the bats flying after those pesky mosquitoes, or the “woot woot” of the owl in the distant tree awaiting the appearance of his next meal to come out in the still dark. Maybe, for the sake of my homework, I should relocate my whole desk to my front yard, printer and all! Apparently, Sunday and I will not agree today; we just cannot agree!

I found this quote to be rather fitting for our class topics as of late.

"The American Dream has run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It's over. It supplies the world with its nightmares now: the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, Vietnam."

James Graham Ballard - 1983

Fences

Troy Maxson, the main character of Fences written by August Wilson, could be perceived to be racist, but I do not believe that he is. I feel he uses the words “nigger” and “cracker” very loosely. During his era, it was not an obscene word or phrase. He never speaks harshly about either race, really, but uses a matter of fact tone. He tells of being more concerned with whether or not the person is being good and fair to you, and not the color of their skin. He tells his son, Cory, to not worry about whether someone likes you, but make sure they are “doing right by you.” He never tries to teach his children to be against any particular color of person, but tries to instill in them an ethic to work hard, and not look for people to hand them anything in life. He looks for equality in races, and believes there should be no difference between people based solely upon race. He speaks seldom about sports, and in particular how he played baseball, and should have made it to the major leagues. During Act I, there is a discussion between Troy, Bono, and Rose that I found inspiring. While conversing about what Troy “could have been”, Bono made the statement that “Times have changed…You just came around too early.” Troy responded that it should not matter what color you are, if you are a good ball player then you should be able to play ball. I wholeheartedly believe in that statement.  I can appreciate how Wilson portrays the ugliness of the times without being rude and harsh. He did a magnificent job of telling the truth, and not truly making someone racist against one another. The play gives the reader an opportunity to truly see the truth of the situation for the black community during the 1950’s era and earlier.