The Whole Picture

Look at the image above.  Can you tell me what the picture is?  Can you tell me what any given individual piece is?  Of course not.  My asking you to do so is just silly.  Yet we do similar things every day.  To our fellow human beings.

One of the big stories in the news is "the MAGA kid".  Given the current political climate, the conclusion most of us jumped to was a reasonable one, but apparently we were wrong.  To what degree we were wrong remains to be seen.  But that video is just one piece of the puzzle.  

As more of the puzzle is assembled, the big picture is very complex.  I do stand by my description of the boy's expression as a smirk, though, although I'm no longer certain why he's smirking. 

In essence, we picked up a single puzzle piece and decided what the entire picture was.  

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I see this a lot in smaller ways, every day.  Pretend you see the following:  A middle aged woman is checking out at Wal-Mart.  Within the purchases, you see a Barbie doll  and a Nerf gun.  Who is the doll for?  The gun?  

Look at a picture and write a story about it.  That's one of my favorite writing exercises.

The tendency to do this - to fill in the rest of the picture - is not something to be ashamed of.  It's hard wired into the human brain.  But we gotta be careful not to let it get the best of us.  Remain open to more information.  And, you know, don't go on a uninformed rampage.  That we should be ashamed of. 

Blades and Books

When my minions were little, they watched educational TV shows.  The specific show changed depending on the minion (after all, the oldest is now in her 40s and the youngest is currently in the womb) but every single one of them had the same game.  One of these things is not like the other.

Gillette has a new ad campaign that focuses on how men should teach their sons (and help each other) be "the best a man can get".  Don't punch each other out.  Don't force yourself on others of either sex.  Basically, just be a better human being.

People who can't tell why a banana is different from a monkey, a walrus, and a horse are in an uproar.  Gillette is attacking men!  The feminists have taken over!  Run for the hills!  Times like this are why adjectives exist.  Masculinity is fine, y'all.  Toxic - that's an adjective - masculinity is not.

The behaviors addressed in the ad apply to either sex.  But society has dismissed them when men do them.  Boys will be boys, right?   That's the entire point of the ad.  But man, have I seen some crazy responses.  One guy posed his children with guns.  (Well, the boys.  The girl was holding a flower.  But I digress.)  "I'll raise my kids how I want, you stupid razor company."   Did Gillette tell you not to teach your kids gun safety?  (Did Gillette tell you not to foist medieval gender roles on your daughter? Oops, digressed again.)  Because I missed that part.

If you use a Gillette razor, your penis is not going to vanish.  Unless you're using it very wrong.

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I discovered organizing guru Marie Kondo, or at least her philosophy, a long time ago.  She's in the news now for apparently ordering all of us to toss our books.

My books "spark joy" for me.  Therefore, Marie Kondo said I can keep them. Not that she's the boss of me, anyway.  God knows I ignore that advice about neat rows in my sock drawer.

In conclusion, let's play a round of that game.  Which is different: A suggestion, a hint, a bit of advice, or an order?