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Is Different
Good?
Mr Bowtie - 9/18/01
One of the many things that has annoyed me over the
years is having the same thing as everyone else. I’ve never been into
wearing clothes because it has a certain logo, or seeing a movie because
it’s the biggest at the box office. I’ve never understood why people
will wait hours in line to get a Furbie, Cabbage Patch doll, or whatever
the latest craze is.
One of my pet peeves though, is sitting at a stop light and seeing
an identical car as mine sitting in the next lane. I have always felt
like I needed to be different, unique, apart from the crowd, and this
follows through in my taste in automobiles. If a car is the best seller
in it’s class, then there’s no way that I would have an interest in
it. My previous car was a 1999 Camaro SS convertible with a six speed
transmission. It was only one of 365 such units made that year, a
fact that virtually assured that this particular peeve would not happen
very often. Just to make sure I could pick it out in a parking lot,
I changed the cat back exhaust system to a B+B quad tip unit for good
measure.
Recently I purchased a black 2001 Z06, which comparatively speaking
is pretty common since 1819 of these were made. I’ve tinted the windows
and painted the “Corvette” letters in the back, along with a few other
items in my quest to make it a bit different from the rest. In the
future I may get the wheels chromed and do some performance modifications
just to make the car uniquely mine.
The terrorist attacks that have happened lately have caused a tidal
wave of outrage in America, and justifiably so. The acts of these
lunatics, operating under the guise of religion, have caused heartache,
suffering, economic setbacks and have altered the skyline of New York
City and our country in ways that will take years, perhaps decades
to chronicle.
Part of the reaction by some of the Americans expressing outrage over
this act has been to damage the buildings of people that are of the
Islamic or Muslim faith. Some have been killed based on the color
of their skin, and this simply has to stop. It has been pointed out
that no one starting killing white people because of the actions of
the now deceased Timothy McVeigh. To lash out at others because they
belong to a certain religious or ethnic group is as reprehensible
as the acts of the terrorists themselves. In fact there is no distinction
in the mentalities of the “people” that commit such acts.
To reduce ourselves to this level simply plays into the hands of those
that seek to destroy this country, the greatest of nations. They would
surely delight in the fact that Americans would be killing one another
off, setting in motion the seeds of hate that they have planted here.
Their goal of course, is to cause us so much grief that we withdraw
from helping our allies overseas.
I have found myself thinking that it would be in the best interests
of this country to close our borders. We should revoke the visas of
all those who are on our shores that have Middle Eastern ties. Sadly,
I feel this is necessary not so much to protect ourselves from them,
as it is to protect them from us. America has made strides since the
1960’s in terms of tolerating those of different origins. It is apparent
with the announcement of each hate crime that is perpetrated that
we still have a long way to go. It seems that ultimately the best
way to stop the terrorism would be to educate them that we are like
them. We wish to live in peace, raise our families, go to work to
provide for ourselves, and worship our Creator.
Watching the newscasts of young Palestinians throwing rocks, burning
flags and celebrating the deaths of enemies is heartbreaking. It’s
obvious the seeds of hate are being sown at a young age. Yet another
generation has been tainted and another age of hate has been spawned.
I know that we have no room to speak. There is a lot of work to be
done right here, in our own back yard, in our own favorite place to
gather – here on FordvsChevy.com. We argue amongst ourselves which
is better, when in fact there’s not enough difference between the
cars to amount to much. It once again boils down to the fact that
we have been taught that if something is different, it is not to be
tolerated. The few times that there seems to be unanimous agreement
is when there is a “Ricer” to be laughed at, scorned, and derided
because their tastes in automobiles is not like our own.
Why does it have to be this way? Why can we not celebrate our differences,
rather than mock them? If American Indians had succeeded in preventing
the westward advance of the white man, where would we all be right
now? Most likely not in the position where we can bicker other the
relative merits of high performance automobiles! Think of the world
if everyone had imposed on them one type of automobile, then expand
that thought to cover music, movies, and every other lifestyle choice
that we make.
The greatest tragedy that could come of this incident would be if
it weren’t enough of a wake up call. We have before us a tremendous
opportunity to wake up and savor the diversity that God has arrayed
before us. Let’s break down the walls of hate beginning with the ones
in our own heart.
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