Do You See What I See?

So I told Mint Julep that I didn't want to be one of those people who's like, "so I was listening to NPR the other day..." But ummm...err...so I was listening to NPR the other day and this guy had written a book about growing up with his single mother.

Now, in my ignorance I assumed dude was Black and just you know real articulate. Heh. Although when he said he and his homeboy decided to drive from Texas to Alaska and the car broke down in Oregon and he fell in love with the trees and decided to settle there - that should have clued me in that he was in fact white.

So NPR chick is like, "growing up did you have any male role models?" And he's like, "yes. There was this guy in the neighborhood. And the other one was Bill Cosby on the Cosby show. Back then I thought it was Black people whose families that were intact. I thought that all Black kids grew up with their dads."

I was in the car like, SAY YOU SWEARRRR! That's bananas, man! But it's really not, is it? It's all about perception. This is why I hate, like really hate, when rappers and athletes (and other famous folk) be on that, "I am not a role model" ish. And kids shouldn't do what I do. Or pay attention to what I do. Cause my actions shouldn't have any influence over their lives. Or impact their thoughts. Or their views. When that's totally not the reality.

The reality is that people look for answers, for solace, for understanding of themselves, their life, their corner of the universe, from various outlets: personal relationships with family, friends & others; the lack of relationships with family, friends & others; books; movies; televesion; music, travel; and on.

You can never know what will color someone's context. Their perception. Their idea of the world. But once you find out, it's usually fascinating. And sometimes totally unexpected.

That's my time y'all! Happy Rum Punch Friday!