On a popular book site, a
reader-reviewer gave Katie Kennedy’s LEARNING
TO SWEAR IN AMERICA only one star, although almost every other reader gave
it five stars. The one-star reviewer said, “I’m just so tired of contemporary
sci-fi.” Well, what you are tired of
is not the point. If you want to review your emotional status, go to
badmoods.com, not goodreads. On a book review site, the point is the book, not
your feelings.
So many folks, though,
operate only on the basis of how they feel.
I know a controversial
public figure who is often boorish, misogynistic, and rude. [No, not a
politician.] He is criticized for that. His supporters, however, say, “You
don’t know the real him. He also does a lot of good in secret.”
I do know him. I know that
is true. I have seen him do good in secret. Also I have often seen him be
boorish and rude and mean-spirited in secret, even to his friends and best
supporters.
The problem is: he
operates only on the basis of how he feels. He got stuck at a four-year-old
mentality.
Four year olds, if they
are feeling good, will be nice to anyone they are with. If they feel bad, they
will be mean to anyone they are with, even if that person is the one who loves
them and takes care of them.
It’s all about how they
feel. How the other person feels, or acts, is not in the picture.
That’s normal for a four
year old. To be mature, however, as persons or civilizations, we have to grow
beyond that, learn to recognize that it, whatever “it” is, is not all about us.
JRMcF
johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com
Katie Kennedy’s latest
book is, What Goes Up. It’s published
in hardback, paperback, audio, and electronic, from B&N, Amazon, etc. Six stars, out of five.
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