January 7, 2014: Once again I’ve touched a nerve with my candor, concern and
comedy. What the hell is it about me that makes people want to fight or leave
the room or cast stones or cast shoes or polish shoes or wash their hands … ?!
People are demanding I make a definitive statement on Global
Warming, so I thought I should hit the pause button on my Seagal movies—I just
got four new ones from the library, incidentally, including Black Dawn, The Keeper, Into the Sun and
Born to Raise Hell—and take time to
explain myself (just like I did to the police when they caught me outside that
woman’s window watching her make a soufflé).
Based on the wealth of evidence that various parties have
been presenting, it seems like there is ample data and so-called authoritative
testimony to support any and each view if someone wants to have that view supported. This is what I find so
discouraging about these discussions, because they take us down a pointless
road. As much as we’d like to believe it, I really don’t think anyone’s opinion
is ever going to be swayed one way or the other, excepting in those extremely rare
cases where they’re more intelligent than I am, so all it serves to do in the
end is escalate emotions. (Jack and Shannon are just one example, but there are others—Shannon and Jack, Jack & Shannon, Shannon & Jack, Jak & Shannun, Sh'nun & Yak …)
So what could I possibly add to any of this, except more
stomach acid.
No, I’m thinking logically, as both Mr. Spock and myself are
wont to do. I’m thinking about the details that dance on the periphery of this
whole discussion, and that’s where I see something worth talking about.
For me—a simple, albeit extremely handsome man—it’s all
about what I can do to address environmental issues at the grassroots level.
One of my prickly peeves is people who pointlessly idle their cars for lengths
of time, despite a state law that limits it to three minutes (and I believe even
disallows it entirely outside of school buildings, which ironically is where so
much idling takes place—and not just in the administrations).
It seems such a simple and obvious thing to me that the
world—at least the town—is a better place when auto emissions are reduced. I
mean, who could argue with that? Is anyone in favor of exhaust? Doesn’t it kill
hundreds of suicides each year in their garages? Doesn’t it smell awful? Isn’t
it just good old-fashioned pollution and shouldn’t we want less of it?
Is there anyone (excepting perhaps C. Montgomery Burns) who
isn’t in favor of recycling? I mean, can’t we agree that if it’s possible to
create a little less plastic, or use a little less paper, or re-use stuff over,
that we’re helping the world at large? I mean, this is what we’re telling kids
in nursery school. There must be a modicum of truth in it.
So I think for most of us, that’s all we need to know. It’s
probably enough to know anyway. And
while I appreciate and admire those who actively work at creating good changes
(and I’m not saying what they are, folks!) at the larger levels, for most of us
schlubs—even the incredibly handsome ones—it suffices that we perhaps do a bit
more walking when we can, try to kill the car engine a bit more often, and try
to be a little conscious when it comes to our consumption in its various forms.
(Once again, we return to consciousness and all the glitter
it entails. Please refer to other Blah-ugh! posts, like this
one … or don’t. What do I care what you do, as long as you shut that
god-damned car engine off, you nit!)
Sometimes I wish I had more power to make a difference, but
alas I find I’m just an impotent man (though a gaggle of very grateful women
would vehemently disagree!) …
But there is that local opportunity to make things better,
and since I have such a short attention span, and such an inability to take
much of anything that seriously, at the very least I can … Well, you get the
idea!
Okay, Seagal Time! Carry on …
