"Todd Is..."
I talked to my Father over Father's Day weekend, and it made me think a little about where my frustration with this country comes from. He asked me, "Why are you so bitter and angry? You're too young to be like this..."
So I took a month to think about it... and to be honest, I can't nail down a specific, singular reason.
That's not to say, however, that I'm ignorant of the reasons that I'm already aware of.
First, I'd like to preface what I'm about to say with a little personal history about myself that some of you may be unaware of.
Before I started my job as a Property Manager on the local Air Force Base, I was a photo-shack guy at Magic Mountain... never mind that I hate theme parks with a passion, I just needed a job.
During my tour at Magic Mountain, I got to see my Father for the first time in ten years... no shit. I was real happy to see him, as I always am, since I was raised by my Mother, and, since he was a Marine, I didn't get to spend too much time with him until he was stationed at the old El Toro Marine base outside of Tustin, California shortly before the first Iraq War.
My Dad is a really Conservative guy, and like I said about Conservatives in the past, I don't think that they are here for no reason... they have a place in our society that's incredibly important. They are a social tether to our past; a past that people of my generation never got the pleasure to experience. I would've loved to live in an era of a world that isn't drowning in media over-saturation; where I don't need to know every thing that some stupid celebrity does every minute of every day.
If you've noticed, I try to stay away from Pop Culture bullshit, as it irritates me as much as it does most people, but when it's shoved down my throat, I feel like it is my obligation to respond. Naturally, my Father and I are on different sides of the political aisle. This has made it difficult for me to have honest conversations with him, so, like I was raised, I try not to make things worse by saying what I know to be true from my own experiences.
At the same time, my Father oftentimes doesn't have these same compunctions, and feels the rightful need to express himself honestly to me, no matter how much I may not agree with what he has to say. Herein lies the problem with our Generation of Americans: we're too fucking nice and polite for our own good. Sure, we may view ourselves as iconoclastic loners on the fringe, but we're not... we hold protests that are meaningless, we voice our opinions on stations that nobody listens to and we have Blogs where we preach to the choir.
In other words, we only reinforce the cognitive biases of our audience without positing new ideas that challenge the status quo.
So all this has led me to a new definition for who I am as a person: I Am A Trailerpark Liberal.
Yes, Todd now lives in a Trailer Park.
And let me tell you, Trailer Parks have changed in the last ten years in Southern California.
When I was a kid, there were only two types of people that lived in Trailer Parks:
1.) Poor White people.
2.) Old White people.
Now, you'd have to strain your eyes to find any White people in any Trailer Park in Lancaster... I wish I were joking here.
Most people that live in Trailer Parks nowadays are Mexican immigrants. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Ranchero music as much as the next guy, but come on!!!
How much of a stereotype can you live up to?! It's almost cartoonish!!!
Boom-bum-bum-Boom-bum-bum-(in the background) Hai-Hai-Hai-Haaiiiiiiii!!!!! Ah-Whoooooahhhh!!!!
Am I in a George Lopez special that I'm unaware of?!
All I'm saying here, is that we're all vulnerable to stereotypes... no matter how true they may be, or what political stripe we may identify ourselves with.
Later!!!
So I took a month to think about it... and to be honest, I can't nail down a specific, singular reason.
That's not to say, however, that I'm ignorant of the reasons that I'm already aware of.
First, I'd like to preface what I'm about to say with a little personal history about myself that some of you may be unaware of.
Before I started my job as a Property Manager on the local Air Force Base, I was a photo-shack guy at Magic Mountain... never mind that I hate theme parks with a passion, I just needed a job.
During my tour at Magic Mountain, I got to see my Father for the first time in ten years... no shit. I was real happy to see him, as I always am, since I was raised by my Mother, and, since he was a Marine, I didn't get to spend too much time with him until he was stationed at the old El Toro Marine base outside of Tustin, California shortly before the first Iraq War.
My Dad is a really Conservative guy, and like I said about Conservatives in the past, I don't think that they are here for no reason... they have a place in our society that's incredibly important. They are a social tether to our past; a past that people of my generation never got the pleasure to experience. I would've loved to live in an era of a world that isn't drowning in media over-saturation; where I don't need to know every thing that some stupid celebrity does every minute of every day.
If you've noticed, I try to stay away from Pop Culture bullshit, as it irritates me as much as it does most people, but when it's shoved down my throat, I feel like it is my obligation to respond. Naturally, my Father and I are on different sides of the political aisle. This has made it difficult for me to have honest conversations with him, so, like I was raised, I try not to make things worse by saying what I know to be true from my own experiences.
At the same time, my Father oftentimes doesn't have these same compunctions, and feels the rightful need to express himself honestly to me, no matter how much I may not agree with what he has to say. Herein lies the problem with our Generation of Americans: we're too fucking nice and polite for our own good. Sure, we may view ourselves as iconoclastic loners on the fringe, but we're not... we hold protests that are meaningless, we voice our opinions on stations that nobody listens to and we have Blogs where we preach to the choir.
In other words, we only reinforce the cognitive biases of our audience without positing new ideas that challenge the status quo.
So all this has led me to a new definition for who I am as a person: I Am A Trailerpark Liberal.
Yes, Todd now lives in a Trailer Park.
And let me tell you, Trailer Parks have changed in the last ten years in Southern California.
When I was a kid, there were only two types of people that lived in Trailer Parks:
1.) Poor White people.
2.) Old White people.
Now, you'd have to strain your eyes to find any White people in any Trailer Park in Lancaster... I wish I were joking here.
Most people that live in Trailer Parks nowadays are Mexican immigrants. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Ranchero music as much as the next guy, but come on!!!
How much of a stereotype can you live up to?! It's almost cartoonish!!!
Boom-bum-bum-Boom-bum-bum-(in the background) Hai-Hai-Hai-Haaiiiiiiii!!!!! Ah-Whoooooahhhh!!!!
Am I in a George Lopez special that I'm unaware of?!
All I'm saying here, is that we're all vulnerable to stereotypes... no matter how true they may be, or what political stripe we may identify ourselves with.
Later!!!
posted by Todd Tobin at 5:39 PM
3 Comments:
Alright my dark an moody friend. It's been almost a month without hearing from you, and I'm just checking in to see how you are. Wazzz up?
:)
I'm still alive, I've just been really busy lately.
I'm in the process of writing a variety of posts, and the next one is going to be about my cross-country trip with my sister, Jennifer.
I apologize if I've not been as productive as I have been in the past, I'm just taking a brief respite before I jump back on the horse again.
Nice to here from you, GW, and I know I haven't been consistant when it comes to getting around the blogosphere, but I'm working on that as well.
Later!
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