I was having a good time at the newly discovered coffee house, Café Ricci, when the conversation slowed to a crawl. We were there with my middle daughter and somehow the conversation went from King Corn, the movie, to farm subsidies and then the fact that a local rice grower (Republican) is running for State Senator. Of course he takes subsidies. All rice growers around here take subsidies. Also, this particular candidate doesn't care much for government intrusion into his or anyone else's business. (Oh, the irony!) Then my daughter mentioned that she was a conservative. I already knew that but stupidly I forged ahead; 'Tell me one thing that a Conservative has ever done for this country?'. That was it. Silence. No more talk about politics. We went back to safer subjects, but later, I did wonder, why aren't Conservatives able to answer that question? Because when it comes to social legislation, the Conservatives believe that we don't need any. That somehow we are all given the same opportunities and talents at birth and if we don't use them properly, that's our fault. Social Security? They hate it! Medicare? They hate it! Civil Rights? They hate it! Equal Rights for Women? They hate it!...obviously, as that Constitutional Amendment has languished for 38 years! Actually a little bit longer if you consider the fact that it was first proposed in 1923. Conservatives have always opposed this legislation since 1972, yet some women call themselves Conservative. I don't get it? And then look at the wage disparity between men and women; it's Conservative men that own the majority of those businesses that pay less. This is still a Patriarchal society and Conservatives love it that way.
The Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work. At the time of the EPA's passage, women earned just 58 cents for every dollar earned by men. By 2006, that rate had only increased to 77 cents, an improvement of less than half a penny a year. Minority women fare the worst. African-American women earn just 64 cents to every dollar earned by white men, and for Hispanic women that figure drops to merely 52 cents per dollar.
I've learned my lesson…for now. Next Friday we will discuss those same safer subjects while enjoying our time together.
It has gotten very hard to discuss politics of any sort, even with family members. In my family I cannot talk about Arizona's Immigration policy with my son, because he comes back at me with rhetoric from the conservative talk shows that don't use facts in their spew. I really thought he understood what this law really means, but I found it is best to agree to disagree and move on to safer subjects.
ReplyDeleteIt's personality types...I think. My daughter (middle) is an extrovert and married to one as well. We used to tell people in our MB training classes that extroverts talk to think while introverts think before they talk. It's true every time! She is the only extrovert and she's the only Republican.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm really glad I had two introvert offspring! And I can use my n=1 example: my mother was a classic extrovert and that rare thing: a Fifties Careerist, Feminist, Uber-Conservative, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Government, Anti-LGBT's, Limbaugh-loving Southern Republican Activist. She'd have figured out how she and Glen Beck were second cousins once removed.
ReplyDeleteI cannot get my head wrapped around that to this day!
The only thing I can say for sure is that Mom knew she was not only smarter and more competent than those lazy, do-nothing Democrats, she was also smarter and more competent than any man she'd ever met. She got to be Absolutely Right any way she looked at it. I didn't dare start blogging my liberal schtick until Mom had been dead for about ten years; she was one powerful broad! With my Introvert self, I don't think I said much while she was alive, either. But she loved me.
Nice Mother's Day post!
Whoa! Your description of your mother was great! I'm sure there was never a dull moment when she was around.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was a liberal and she made sure that all three of her children were grounded in that. Of course she was an introvert as well.
And I'm well aware of the fact that extroverts can drain the energy right out of you. My last boss was a Grade AAA Extrovert and I shared a room with him one time at a conference and although I had left the conference early and had gone to sleep in our room, I was awakened when he returned and began to tell me about the day. I kept my eyes closed but he continued. It was over an hour of one sided conversation and I never once indicated that I was awake...yet he continued to talk.