Busy, busy, busy! We’re all pretty busy these days.
I mainly like being busy. Busy people feel purposeful.
But ‘tuning out’ isn’t a necessary by-product.
I’ve heard that people learn differently. I believe that. Some need to get their hands dirty, others need to study words, and others need a picture presentation in order to absorb information. I’m a listener. The layers of meaning in spoken language is a fascination to me. What people “say” can IMHO give us a large volume of information. We mustn’t overlook the additional benefit of comprehending “How they say things”, “What may have inspired what they say.”, and “Who they are talking to.”
For the listeners, there’s always a certain amount of conjecture as is with the observers who tend to judge people on their appearances. Both methods can fail miserably on getting a ‘correct’ or whole ‘story’. But a good listener hears ‘something’ and ‘leans in’ hoping to sift out some ‘truth’. A great comment listeners use is, “Tell me more.”
There’s been a large amount of upheaval in our language. Our youngest generations are using their own ‘slang’ as young people have always done but there’s an alarming level of also redefining ordinary speech. Yet, if you listen closely, there are still enough clues available for exchanging ideas. Whenever I feel as though someone and I are not ‘on the same page’, I’ll ask, “What are you using as a definition of “poor”? or “Can you tell me how you define “oppressed”?
By now you’re likely asking, “What’s your point?” LOL
Here goes:
I was driving around doing errands yesterday while listening to the radio. The local news report was on and this is what I heard:
“A college athlete will not be charged with assault and battery for shoving and slapping a fellow teammate last month. Instead, he’ll be mandated to attend a “Corrective Thinking” class within a year.”
(Of course, I don’t know why the “slap” occurred or whether that athlete may have elected for that ‘alternative’ punishment.)
BUT the information I heard DID alert me to the existence of something called a “Corrective Thinking Class”. What in the name of George Orwell is going on?!
When was the imposition of a fine or suspension as a punishment replaced with ‘thought control’? Am I the only one listening?
We’re in deep “doo doo” people.
And I’m reporting this, as an alarmed listener, because so many people who are ‘busy’ may not be aware of where we are headed.
Sillyfrog's Blog 
We’ve been there for a long time unfortunately.😔
It’s no longer being hidden. That alone ought to be ‘ringing alarms” throughout our country. Thanks for commenting!
College athletes and athletes in general have always gotten a pass for poor behavior, so this does not surprise me, unfortunately. Sports are all about money, not building good character 🙁
I’d need to know “What inspired the slap?” and/or “Did it happen the way it was reported?” before I’d condemn the ‘alleged’ poor behavior. Your take on the point my post was making is on “What we don’t know.” and “How you ‘feel’ about “What we don’t know.” rather than my alarm over “What we DO know about how it’s being handled.” God bless you, Paula. You serve as an example of another ‘kind’ of thinking.
That’s very condescending, Susan, which is why I don’t often respond to your provocative posts. God bless you, too!
Sorry… I couldn’t think of a better way to say it. I truly found your comment curious. Your alternative way of approaching the topic is not something I haven’t seen before. If I misinterpreted your position, please correct me. Condescension is oft in the eye of the beholder, as is, the way we choose to respond to things. 😉
My position is exactly how I stated it without any comment on your way of thinking. My position is that it does not surprise me for an athlete to receive a very mild punishment for an alleged offense, rather than a fine and/or suspension from games, as that might cause a loss of advertising dollars. I am not commenting on the offense itself as you did not provide details. The fact that they renamed the old detention as corrective thinking is silly, but it doesn’t overly concern me as much as the fact that certain people in our society, such as athletes, have always enjoyed an above the law type of status.
Well stated. I understand your position … (that was a college athlete not a pro) but I also understand your position on “renaming” something as “corrective thinking” as not a concern and a lesser sentence than a suspension. There’s the rub. The ‘renaming’ and behavioral “lessons” are graver concerns to me. Thanks for clearing that up. I appreciate all positions. They speak for themselves to all who may vary in their interpretations.
Punishment for unwanted behavior has always been the method for reducing it. I agree that taking a class doesn’t seem like a punishment in the normal sense as something that’s supposed to ‘sting’. Where you see a lesser sentence, I see an attempt at ‘training’ which sounds like a gulag approach implemented in colleges already suspected of ‘indoctrination’.
Seems to be a lot of that going around these days…
wow! Definitely, we’re in deep doodoo! xo
Much appreciate your agreement. Makes me wonder whether “mind blindness” transcends any other kind. 😉