My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Posts Written By L Parker Brown

The PC of Lying

by on ·General

I recently saw a movie titled, The Invention of Lying. Although it is classified as a comedy, I didn’t find much humor in the 2009 film. A few scenes made me chuckle, but overall I thought the movie was boring and just plain silly. In that film world no one ever lies. Everyone tells the truth and says exactly what they are thinking. When the main character, Mark, finds himself at wits ends after being fired from his job and watching his life slide downhill, he decides to do something different to improve his life. He tells a lie – the world’s first lie. Since no one in the universe is familiar with lying, people believe everything that Mark says and he soon begins taking advantage of his newly acquired skill. Nice stretch of the imagination, but the movie left me wondering how the real world would be if everyone told the truth all the time. 

The film gave me cause (yet again) to think about the downside of political correctness, an apparent good idea run amok. Now it has become a game that no one wants to play anymore, but everyone is being forced to participate to avoid being tagged out. You frequently see the absurdity of PC exposed on live TV programs, you hear it from politicians at public forums, and you even feel it when you and your peers hesitate to candidly express your thoughts, because you don’t know what reaction you will receive if your thinking does not align with theirs.

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Don’t Quote Me

by on ·General

A couple of days ago, I discovered on a blog that I just happened to visit, a quote that was attributed to me. What’s the problem you ask? The problem is those were not my words. I never made the statement. In fact, I had never even visited that blog before. Thank goodness it wasn’t a negative statement. And it would have been all right to be quoted if those had been my words, but they were not. Since I was not the author of the quote, why was it credited to me?

I know what you are thinking. Of course, I know full well that it is not unusual for several people to have the same name. Numerous people throughout the world share their name. So the quote could actually have been made by my namesake or it may have been made by someone impersonating me because she (or he) didn’t want to disclose her (or his) own identity.

As I have discovered, plenty of people have the same first name as I do, just as countless people share their name with Charles Smith, Kathryne Johnson, and William Jones. But come on, there are not a lot of people who share the same given name and the exact hyphenated surname. Are there? Raise your hand if you know them. Just as I thought.

Take Kathryne, for instance. And notice the unique spelling of her given name.  Now let’s say that Kathryne’s last name is — we’ll use a hypothetical  — Johnson. You could probably find women named Kathryne whose surname happens to be Johnson. You may even know one of them personally. But when Kathryne Johnson marries and becomes Kathyrne Johnson-Coleman that name becomes a little less common, as was the case when I combined my given name with my hyphenated surname. It became somewhat uncommon.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible for people to have the exact name. But if that is the case, I wish that person sharing my name when being quoted on a blog or some other public place would use a pseudonym. Jill Doe probably wouldn’t mind sharing her name. Do you think?

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Message to My Boomer Friends – Get With It!

by on ·Technology

Just recently I encountered a Boomer pal who I haven’t seen in decades. We hugged and were both genuinely happy to see each other. Years and years ago, we went through grade school together, became best friends by our late teen years, and in our 20s and 30s we were partying and hanging out. We toasted at each other’s wedding, and our children were playmates, until eventually our life’s passages caused us to lose touch. Then, one day she and I bumped into each other on the street and began cheerfully reminiscing and catching up on old times.

Just before we parted from our brief reunion I pulled a slip of paper from my purse and said to her, “Let’s stay in touch this time. Give me your email address.” She replied, “I don’t have an email address.” And then added, “I don’t even have a computer, don’t know how to use one.”

I imagine that my surprised, lip-dropping, wide-eyed expression made me look like a hippie caught by police with a blunt in her mouth. I naïvely believed that all my Boomer buddies from bygone days were as ambitious as I was about keeping pace with things, so her admission that she was computer-challenged caught me off guard. Dumbfounded, the only thing I could think to say was “Oh.”

If we had more time I would have enjoyed telling her about the things she was missing, like the wonders of Web surfing. How she could handle her banking business and pay bills on line; apply for a job or social security, renew a driver’s license, make or cancel a doctor’s appointment and perform just about any task that previously required phone calls or physically traveling outside the home. How she could shop for groceries, books, clothing, furniture, practically buy or sell anything on line — like all of her ex’s stuff.

In fairness, I would also have cautioned her about some of the potential drawbacks of owning a home computer. Foremost, be wary of hackers and viruses; having your home computer conk out when you need it most can be a worse downer than learning that your favorite soap opera is being canceled. Furthermore, if you don’t have a close relative or friend willing to rapidly service your PC, thereby eliminating lengthy downtime and costly repairs, you might have an attack of PC withdrawal pains, which is a lot worse than a bout with arthritis.

But instead of me babbling like a computer junky, she and I exchanged phone numbers, ho-hum, and went our separate ways. And here I am still wondering what happened to her between then and now? We belong to the defiant, try-anything-once Baby Boomer generation of hippies, yippies and radicals. We have a reputation to uphold.  Back in the day, I would have yelled after her, “Learn to use a computer. Tune in, turn on, get with it! And get an email account.” Instead I walk away humming My Generation by The Who, “I’m not trying to cause a big sensation. I’m just talking ‘bout my generation.”

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Black Women Have Issues: I Am Not My Hair!

by on ·Lifestyle and Culture

“I am not my hair . . . I am not your expectations.” No one has made that statement any clearer than talented singer-songwriter, India Arie, whose lyrics to her 2005 hit song, by the same title, are paraphrased in that quote. Arie’s words masterfully express the feelings of countless Black women who are fed up with being judged by how they wear their natural hair.

“When I cut my hair short, I did so because I was tired of putting straightening chemicals in my hair. I just wanted a nice, easy to manage, short natural haircut. I was fine with it, until someone told me that only lesbians wear short cuts.”  Those were the words of one conscientious Black woman expressing her concern over hearsay. Shame on the people who believe that fallacy or the other tale that the natural hair cut worn by Black women is a show of militancy. When you try to apply everything across the board to everybody you get issues. And Black women have issues on this subject. 

Issue number one – Black women are sick and tired of being stereotyped by the way they wear their hair. So let’s debunk the short-hair stereotypes. Do not prejudge or mischaracterize Black women who wear short hair, just because they refuse to conform and adopt the standards of a hair-obsessed society. While some women who wear the so-called butch cut are lesbians all are not.

Issue number two — There are countless Black women who have naturally long and relatively straight hair, while others do not. Some of those who are lacking the flowing tresses will go to extremes to look like what they consider to be acceptable, the American norm. And countless numbers of them will opt for the time consuming, costly process of getting weaves and braids. Unfortunately, many will do so at the expense of losing their natural hair to alopecia. 

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