Arizona is HOT in July!!!
Anyway, I'm getting my new life all set up here, and I'm happy to say things are going well. I've got it all: a car, a (rented) house, two cool roommates, my cat (Isaac got to move with me!), an awesome boyfriend, and a promising new job. No complaints here, that's for sure.
Today marks my fourth day of newbie in-services at my school district. I must say, I'm impressed overall with the district and its employees. Most of the other staff seem confident, professional, and relatively happy; what a change from Mayer!! It seems I have some amazing opportunities for growth here, and I'm stoked to get started!
So the last two days, I went to the Diamondbacks/Cubs game with the boyfriend... The Cubs got killed (9-2) on Tuesday night, but came back (10-6) last night. It was a victory long in the making for Cubs fans.
Anyway, lately I've been trying to be what I like to call a "keen observer of humanity." (This is partially because I've decided not to drink alcohol again until my 25th b-day next month, and I needed *something* to occupy my mind in the meantime!) During said observing, an old belief of mine has been reaffirmed, and another is being formed. First, people (in general) seem to like to have something to cheer FOR as well as AGAINST. This has been confirmed time and time again in my head, from sporting events to wars to politicians to... well, pretty much anything. People like to take stances on things, and I'm no exception to that rule.
However, I've been wondering recently if I should judge this "cheering instinct," as I'll call it at present. Sure, it seems innocent enough at a sporting level, but is it? At the last two nights' games, I witnessed people behaving stupidly in the name of "loyalty" to their preferred baseball team. Before each game (as at most sporting events), fans rise and unite while the National Anthem is performed. Right after that, though, the unity falls and the brutal division begins. When alcohol is thrown into the mix, it's all the more ludicrous. Case in point: on Tuesday night, near the end of the game, two grown men (a Cubs fan and a Diamondbacks fan) had a ridiculous brawl in the middle of the seats. Many people joined in, and more watched, fascinated. I averted my eyes, quickly dismissing the event as drunken idiocy. But is it something more? Are people so eager to fight for a cause that they're willing to let everything else slip by the wayside?
If you think about it, we're constantly judging and placing values on things every day. Whenever we say "good" or "bad" or "that sucks" or "right on," we're judging. In fact, I'm sure we probably do it every few minutes or so about something. At church, it's God= good, Devil= bad and there's unity for a moment. When you get to the parking lot, though, the seemingly united whorshippers are angrily cutting each other off or impatiently waiting for their pewmate to get on the road.
Perhaps this dilemma will never be answered to my satisfaction, I'm not sure. For now, I suppose all I can do is observe. I will say, though, that it seems there are some glaring good things (e.g., education, tolerance, etc.) and some horrendously obvious bad things (e.g., genocide, anger, poverty, etc.). To be indifferent, it seems, is to be inhuman. Yet... where do we draw the line?
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