When the news staff settled on the question of the week, I was hesitant.
“I’m afraid of the responses we’ll get,” I said.
The poll asks whether readers found the “Barack Obama” rodeo clown incident at the Missouri State Fair offensive.
Earlier this month, a rodeo clown donned a caricature mask of Obama while the announcer taunted the clown saying a bull was going to catch him, or in his more colorful vernacular: “He’s gonna getcha, getcha, getcha.”
So far, most of our res-pondents, the majority of which post on our Facebook page, see nothing wrong with the incident. It’s been done to other presidents, they say.
Whether that’s true, my gut reaction is it doesn’t make this instance right and as a supposedly cultured society, we’re degrading ourselves by making such a display of humiliation acceptable.
La-de-da, you say. Come down from that high perch.
OK, I’ll bring the lesson home.
The discussion about a senior living center being built on North Kentucky Street riled a few feathers.
The Register reported on the issue but refrained from weighing an opinion on whether the 3.8-acre parcel should be rezoned.
Not long after the city approved the rezoning an elderly “gentleman” came calling and launched into a diatribe against the city council’s decision.
If built, the new facility does not deserve the services of the fire or police forces until “it’s on the tax rolls,” he said.
From there he wandered into my space — both physically and verbally — about what he viewed as the downfall of society.
“I know your type. You love gays and are for a social welfare state,” he said coming up close to my face.
I was tempted to ask whether he was enjoying my contributions to his Social Security check and Medicare benefits, but he never let me get a word in edgewise.
He then stormed out, leaving the office stunned. (Another reason I’m glad I work among others.)
THREE weeks out, he’s probably still thinking, “I sure told her.”
My take is that because I’m a woman, he felt empowered to talk in such a disrespectful manner. I can’t imagine him ever talking to my dad that way.
That’s why bullies pick on the weak: They don’t have the guts to pick on someone their own size.
My caller also wasn’t there to have a discussion, only to vent.
I’m sure President Obama takes the Missouri State Fair instance in stride and marks it as another example as the progress we need to make to overcome racism.
I’ll follow his cue.
I don’t mind being branded as a person who loves my fellow man, straight or not, and wants to help the less fortunate. In fact, it’s a privilege.
