Being Bruno

A couple of days ago I had a bout of the snippy means. I didn’t like it at all, I was out looking to be offended then to defend myself in as biting a way as I could. There was a desire to devastate, not complete total destruction, but to leave a whimpering bloody mess, emotionally. I think I was successful in combating this urge, and Thank You God, it only lasted about one day. What has come out of this illness though was an observation / realization that we have become a society that views the snippy means as a valid form of communication and indeed a normal, bold, truthful, witty way to live.

We hear these “witticisms” from everywhere around us, these childlike blurts of power or position posturing phrases are spit out from our government leaders, are blurted out from the pulpits of our religious institutions, are ubiquitous in our newspapers, literature, television, music, and film.

These “witty” attacks on our fellow humans are so pervasive I doubt that we even notice them. I would dare to say that we no longer notice our own use of them and indeed would find it hard to have wit without them.

My mother has had a case of the snippy means ever since, well occasionally since menopause (more specifically during), but more specifically since my sister in law got ahold of EST and “honesty”, more specifically “just being honest in how I feel” itis. This case of snippy means has gotten real strong in the last few years since she became addicted to the television, and I suspect getting older and becoming a widow. Now I suspect her fears are adding to this illness, and as I write this I suspect that many of us use the snippy means to lash out in our fears of rejection or being alone or different or uncared for. My question really though is how does one respond to the snippy means, not our own, but the snippy means that are directed toward us? In a world where these responses are not just verbal but happen in stores on the roads, everywhere in some way or other. Retaliation is a built in response, when I was younger I would often find myself giving in to the desire to retaliate, to bite back, to say, essentially “oh yeah, well then take that!” in a battle of wit, word, action, to prove myself a better, or “I am not going to be taken advantage of” mentality.

I don’t think there is any one answer. 

I wish we still had heros though, Superman, The Lone Ranger, Jesus Christ, the simple heros who lived an example that led toward a kind caring civilization that embraced justice over rightness. But alas the newer versions of these heros are more concerned with rightness than justice, but justice and just behavior has changed meaning in our lexicon, from a quality of being fair and reasonable, or a concern for peace and a genuine respect for people, to one of revenge, making sure I get mine.

Peace

Bruno