"May You Live In Interesting Times"

The foregoing is an old Chinese curse.  Upon first blush it sounds like a warm wish for good tidings.  Wrong-o!  Since the Chinese are "inscrutable," whatever that means, they tend to hide their true feelings so as not to overtly insult their counterparts.  While, occasionally, knifing them in the back.  But what they really mean with that admonition is, "may you live in dangerous and chaotic times."  

And boy, are we ever!  

Things were pretty tame back when I was growing up.  With exception of the occasional war, we just played outside after dark and drank from garden hoses and ran with knives and rode around in the back of pickup trucks.  We were just normal, everyday Americans, living normal, everyday American lives.  Such a shame that this same sort of life is no longer available to our kids of today...

So I got to thinking, what have I experienced that's become more "interesting," in the Chinese sense of the word, since I've become aged and infirm?  Here's a partial list:

  -   When I was young there were just boys and girls.  Now?  There's like 57 genders, they tell us, and perhaps as many as 100!  Hard to keep up, it is, especially for old folks.  Now that's interesting!

  -   When I was coming up everybody had guns and nobody got shot.  Now?  The "more equal than us" we've let manage things are letting hardened criminals out of prison by the tens of thousands and doing their very best to disarm us, and folks are dropping like flies.  That's damned interesting!

  -   It used to be that Democrats and Republicans were both flag-waving, military-loving, patriotic Americans.  Now?  Republicans are flag-waging, military-loving, patriotic Americans.  That's seriously interesting, doncha' think?

  -   It used to be that impeaching a President was reserved for "High crimes and misdemeanors."  Now?  Impeachment has been reduced to a kind of "sport," with actual crimes just optional...   

  -   It used to be that boys peed in the boys' room, and girls peed in the girls' room.  Now?  Everybody pees wherever the Hell they want.  That's interesting, sadly.  

  -   On the subject of cars, it used to be that people actually enjoyed driving (like me!).  Now?  It seems that some would actually rather let a satellite up in the sky drive their little electric cars around for them.  That's scary!  And interesting...

  -   It used to be we'd cured typhus, and the bubonic plague, and whooping cough, and polio, and tuberculosis, and measles.  Now?  Take a trip to Lost Angeles.  You could contract any or all of the above listed diseases by just walking down the street.  Interesting?

  -   It used to be that folks worked hard to get ahead and become successful and wealthy.  Now?  It seems that some would rather just bitch and moan and complain that some others are well off and that they aren't, and wish those other folks' taxes raised to punish them for being successful.  That's interesting.    

  -   It used to be that dropping a piece of paper on the sidewalk in San Francisco would get you a ticket for littering.  Now?  Taking a s**t on the sidewalks of San Francisco will get you applause.  Unfortunately, that's far too interesting.

  -   The climate when I was growing up was just fine.  Very enjoyable.  Now?  The climate is just fine.  Very enjoyable.  Any questions?

  -   It used to be that calling somebody a socialist was a terrible insult.  Now?  Calling somebody a socialist is a complement and calling somebody a capitalist is a terrible insult.  Now that's interesting. 

  -   It used to be that Hollywood actors and actresses were smart enough to know that if they spouted their political opinions, Right or Left, although almost always Left, they'd piss off half the Country.  Now?  They've pissed off half the Country.  And they keep on doing it.  Far, far too interesting...

  -   It used to be we depended on those fun-loving sheiks in the Middle east for our oil and gas.  Now?  We depend on new, high-tech, and ultra-safe petroleum extraction methods for our oil and gas and are completely and totally self-sufficient.  In fact, America is now a net petroleum exporter!   That's very interesting!

  -   It used to be when there was a girls' track meet, you could be pretty sure all the participants were girls.  Now?  The winners are generally the tall ones with beards.  I wish that wasn't so interesting.

  -   It used to be that folks had pretty well gotten over that whole racism thing.  Now?  We elected a guy awhile back who reignited it and we've been paying the price for his having done so ever since.  Interesting? 

These are just the ones that I could think of right now.  There may be more.  In fact, I'm pretty sure there will be more.  Stay tuned.  Because I want your life to be "interesting" as well...