Of Matters Unspoken...

Dear Maria,

Sure enough, leaves falling and temperatures in the 70s. Ah, the holiday season here in the Lowcountry. Thanksgiving dinner last week with four generations at the table—well, life reaffirmed as a series of renewals. At one point I think I was sharing a recliner in violation of a house rule that calls for only two bodies at a time. I know I count as two, and the three little guys who piled on took us into misdemeanor territory. Throw in the sometimes two, sometimes three young girls crowding into the mix, and Uncle Scott got a good old-fashioned mugging. Great fun!

Last week, a former student—they are all former students now, but I can’t seem to drop the phrase—asked me why I didn’t say more about current events in my posts and comments. I took that to mean the news on the national and international fronts, politics, local affairs, and perhaps more understandably, education. All I could say is that I am superficially aware via headlines and some articles but am reluctant to wade in on specific events that are beyond my knowledge of what is or is not going on.

What should I say about a news item like beheadings? An answer on my part becomes a kind of fill-in-the-blank.  I am: appalled, horrified, repulsed, disgusted, sickened, bewildered, aghast—and? Physical violence, one against another or writ larger group against group, will not come to a halt in my lifetime. Does it matter if I think human beings will never exist on this planet with doing physical harm to one another?

Not that I am without opinions obviously, but for my part I do lean more these days on the notion of what is actionable. A former colleague—see, there it is again—and one of my closest friends sent me the Rolling Stone article on rape at UVa and asked for my feedback. Didn’t want to read it, but I did. As I wondered again at the use of physical force (if the story is true), which is hateful to me, I thought to ask how a rapist would explain his actions if confronted by his daughter, or would the rapists want their daughters attending UVa. Or sisters.

Sure, I suppose it is possible that one of my questions could find its way via social media to those involved in such activities or right on the cusp of joining in, and perhaps my thoughts would give one of them pause. Possible, but improbable.

So much in the world is mind-numbing and heart-wrenching, to be sure. As it goes these days, fortunately, I am nearly never asked to ponder much of anything serious for public consumption. Head in the sand? Yes, with all due self-awareness. I would rather run a load to the dump for a friend, or pull someone’s empty garbage can back into the garage, or pick up the tab for lunch.

Or let nieces and nephews pummel me into submission. And thankfully.

Hug the ones close at hand, be sweet, and take care,

srk