ONCE I WAS APANACHI...
...the raven haired sister of the Indian chief Vinetou. My cousin of course was the chief himself minus the wig. To those of you who did not watch Polish TV in the 70s, I need to explain that Vinetou was a character in the German series based on a book by Karol May. There were others, American "Bonanza" and "The Broken Arrow" so us Polish kids did actually play Cowboys and Indians. But now I think that we should have been playing Democrats and Republicans. It would have done me more good.
It would surely prepare me for what the real America is all about.
We did not have a "real" horse because grandma’s German shepherd Ajax refused to play one. We did not take scalps. I’m sure grandma would not allow it. And in our plays, the Indians were the good guys and the cowboys were bad. Why? I do not know. Maybe it was because if my cousin made me play a blond cowgirl, I would run to grandma and tell on him. I knew I was born to be the Indian squaw. I loved the idea of running in woods pretending to be chased by the invisible White Men with Guns. Besides I thought I looked good with homemade bow & arrow rather than a gun.
My cousin had a "rifle" made out of a piece of wood, and he engraved "Winchester" on it. I’m embarrassed to say but the only plunder that we were ever able to get was anything from grandma’s pantry. Our favorite? Chocolate covered graham crackers called Koreanki (little Koreans? Don’t ask). I shot a lot of arrows for these. We also destroyed a few blankets by leaving them over night in the rain; those were perfect to throw over the lighting stroked tree that fell, to set up a wigwam.
Over the years, thanks to my loving family, I somehow developed that sentiment for the underdog. So no matter how I felt about a particular team, organization, group, religious or non-religious, I always cheered for the underdog. I couldn’t help it even when my son’s team was wining (which happens a lot); I felt that someone should be standing for the other team, the losers. Sorry son.
Luckily, I met a man who shares the same eccentricity.
On the day of our arrival, we were not affiliated with any party or group. Now I think that we had an advantage of not being born Republican or Democrat. Perhaps it has helped us to be more objective, see things from both sides, as we did not pick our friends on those grounds.
Before I arrived in US, I knew that there were only a few Native Americans left. So I obviously became in favor of them. At first, I was unaware of any anti-Catholic sentiments. Then came the African- Americans, and gays and whoever else that needed to be supported for being a minority. I tumbled upon several prominent American Jews as I still cannot understand how one can ask for tolerance if does not practice it itself.
Years back, I lived under Communism where the Catholic Church was oppressed, so it was shocking to me to learn that in democratic United States, similar rules apply. Also, the perception of Communism and people associated with the system in the US is distorted.
Usually, when the opponent runs out of arguments, he may call me a "leftist" and it proves that he has no clue what real Communism is about.
In fact, Communism is tyranny. Few become rich, the rest is manipulated (yes, the media plays a role) and all in the name of so nauseatingly repeated "values." Corporations trash the environment for profit, and the government is bribed to allow it. Communist leaders secure their position by surrounding themselves with loyalists, and you know what? It’s typical for a Communist leader not to admit to his own or his party’s mistakes. Perhaps, this subject deserves a whole new article.
On November 2nd (2005), my view of "what it means to be an American" changed.
I just found out that it is completely different of what I thought for years. I have to adjust now. And I put together what I already know with the newest findings. It came out like this: the majority of us love to talk about and watch anything about sex. Every TV show comes down to sex at the end. We pay more attention to "who’s hot" than to global issues. We like to hear about sex among celebrities, teachers seducing students, and as we all know, sex sells. Yet we are more conservative than any nation that I know. Ok, it’s silly but I think this is a good example. My husband had no problem with viewing Janet Jackson’s breast on any foreign TV except for maybe Al-Jazeera. We (Americans) love to watch Jerry Springer, but we ban Janet from live TV. We don’t approve of gays being married, Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky caused a national scandal but President Bush’s invasion on another country with a result of thousands of people killed does not occupy our minds that much because "he is a man of great values."
The majority of us pray a lot, are deeply religious, talk a lot about the importance of education, yet in the US there are twice as many shopping malls as there are high schools. The Church of Materialism has the largest number of believers.
Is it of anyone’s concern that voting against people’s rights sends us a few decades backwards? President Bush promotes "moral values." What moral values? I believe that as an individual, I do not have a right to force my beliefs on anybody. I’m a Catholic, but as I understand, Jesus’ teachings weren’t mandatory.
America to me was a cradle of democracy and since I remember, always associated with tolerance.
But when The White Men with Guns won in November, I realized that I was teaching my kids the wrong values.
I blamed myself for such a turnout. Were my arrows not sharp enough? Should they be poisoned?
And when my son stopped after soccer practice to give a homeless man a bottle of root beer he just purchased to quench his thirst, I was proud of him but I worried too. He needs to change his values in order to make it. People like my son or my daughter will be shouted at and called "bad" names like "liberal." They need to be tough, go to the church more often, "save" gays, support dead penalty (although its associated with backwards countries), buy SUV, get a gun, vote Republican.
No need to move to Utah to enter the Bushland, the Sea of Red States spread out evenly leaving the West and East Coasts, Midwest and Hawaii in Blue. Utah is where 72% voted in favor of the President Bush. Isn’t that where you can marry your underage cousin? Other issues? Abortion equals bad while killing Iraqi children with illegal cluster bombs equals good.
Alright, you may say that my prejudice against White Men on Horses developed back in my childhood due to too many Western movies.
But more Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history of US!
I comfort myself thinking that on November 2nd, I found myself living in a "blue state" and being proud of it.
We are in the right state, alright, just the wrong country.
...the raven haired sister of the Indian chief Vinetou. My cousin of course was the chief himself minus the wig. To those of you who did not watch Polish TV in the 70s, I need to explain that Vinetou was a character in the German series based on a book by Karol May. There were others, American "Bonanza" and "The Broken Arrow" so us Polish kids did actually play Cowboys and Indians. But now I think that we should have been playing Democrats and Republicans. It would have done me more good.
It would surely prepare me for what the real America is all about.
We did not have a "real" horse because grandma’s German shepherd Ajax refused to play one. We did not take scalps. I’m sure grandma would not allow it. And in our plays, the Indians were the good guys and the cowboys were bad. Why? I do not know. Maybe it was because if my cousin made me play a blond cowgirl, I would run to grandma and tell on him. I knew I was born to be the Indian squaw. I loved the idea of running in woods pretending to be chased by the invisible White Men with Guns. Besides I thought I looked good with homemade bow & arrow rather than a gun.
My cousin had a "rifle" made out of a piece of wood, and he engraved "Winchester" on it. I’m embarrassed to say but the only plunder that we were ever able to get was anything from grandma’s pantry. Our favorite? Chocolate covered graham crackers called Koreanki (little Koreans? Don’t ask). I shot a lot of arrows for these. We also destroyed a few blankets by leaving them over night in the rain; those were perfect to throw over the lighting stroked tree that fell, to set up a wigwam.
Over the years, thanks to my loving family, I somehow developed that sentiment for the underdog. So no matter how I felt about a particular team, organization, group, religious or non-religious, I always cheered for the underdog. I couldn’t help it even when my son’s team was wining (which happens a lot); I felt that someone should be standing for the other team, the losers. Sorry son.
Luckily, I met a man who shares the same eccentricity.
On the day of our arrival, we were not affiliated with any party or group. Now I think that we had an advantage of not being born Republican or Democrat. Perhaps it has helped us to be more objective, see things from both sides, as we did not pick our friends on those grounds.
Before I arrived in US, I knew that there were only a few Native Americans left. So I obviously became in favor of them. At first, I was unaware of any anti-Catholic sentiments. Then came the African- Americans, and gays and whoever else that needed to be supported for being a minority. I tumbled upon several prominent American Jews as I still cannot understand how one can ask for tolerance if does not practice it itself.
Years back, I lived under Communism where the Catholic Church was oppressed, so it was shocking to me to learn that in democratic United States, similar rules apply. Also, the perception of Communism and people associated with the system in the US is distorted.
Usually, when the opponent runs out of arguments, he may call me a "leftist" and it proves that he has no clue what real Communism is about.
In fact, Communism is tyranny. Few become rich, the rest is manipulated (yes, the media plays a role) and all in the name of so nauseatingly repeated "values." Corporations trash the environment for profit, and the government is bribed to allow it. Communist leaders secure their position by surrounding themselves with loyalists, and you know what? It’s typical for a Communist leader not to admit to his own or his party’s mistakes. Perhaps, this subject deserves a whole new article.
On November 2nd (2005), my view of "what it means to be an American" changed.
I just found out that it is completely different of what I thought for years. I have to adjust now. And I put together what I already know with the newest findings. It came out like this: the majority of us love to talk about and watch anything about sex. Every TV show comes down to sex at the end. We pay more attention to "who’s hot" than to global issues. We like to hear about sex among celebrities, teachers seducing students, and as we all know, sex sells. Yet we are more conservative than any nation that I know. Ok, it’s silly but I think this is a good example. My husband had no problem with viewing Janet Jackson’s breast on any foreign TV except for maybe Al-Jazeera. We (Americans) love to watch Jerry Springer, but we ban Janet from live TV. We don’t approve of gays being married, Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky caused a national scandal but President Bush’s invasion on another country with a result of thousands of people killed does not occupy our minds that much because "he is a man of great values."
The majority of us pray a lot, are deeply religious, talk a lot about the importance of education, yet in the US there are twice as many shopping malls as there are high schools. The Church of Materialism has the largest number of believers.
Is it of anyone’s concern that voting against people’s rights sends us a few decades backwards? President Bush promotes "moral values." What moral values? I believe that as an individual, I do not have a right to force my beliefs on anybody. I’m a Catholic, but as I understand, Jesus’ teachings weren’t mandatory.
America to me was a cradle of democracy and since I remember, always associated with tolerance.
But when The White Men with Guns won in November, I realized that I was teaching my kids the wrong values.
I blamed myself for such a turnout. Were my arrows not sharp enough? Should they be poisoned?
And when my son stopped after soccer practice to give a homeless man a bottle of root beer he just purchased to quench his thirst, I was proud of him but I worried too. He needs to change his values in order to make it. People like my son or my daughter will be shouted at and called "bad" names like "liberal." They need to be tough, go to the church more often, "save" gays, support dead penalty (although its associated with backwards countries), buy SUV, get a gun, vote Republican.
No need to move to Utah to enter the Bushland, the Sea of Red States spread out evenly leaving the West and East Coasts, Midwest and Hawaii in Blue. Utah is where 72% voted in favor of the President Bush. Isn’t that where you can marry your underage cousin? Other issues? Abortion equals bad while killing Iraqi children with illegal cluster bombs equals good.
Alright, you may say that my prejudice against White Men on Horses developed back in my childhood due to too many Western movies.
But more Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history of US!
I comfort myself thinking that on November 2nd, I found myself living in a "blue state" and being proud of it.
We are in the right state, alright, just the wrong country.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment