Okay, okay, I did enjoy Treasure Island when I was a kid, but the pirates didn’t win everything. And it certainly didn’t leave me wanting to be a pirate. I was just thrilled that the boy made it back safe.
Johnny Depp made pirates into clowns, so I can see, from that perspective, why people now consider wearing pirate symbols as just something fun. But a skull and cross bones? Really, what is fun about that? A big red nose, rainbow hair and giant shoes are fun. But a dead man’s bare bones plastered on a little girl’s pink shirt? Oh, wait, the skull is rounded into a cute baby shape with a little pink bow on the top, so that makes it alright. Baby skulls are cute – what?!!!?
So I was at a local fabric store waiting to pay for some festive St. Patrick’s Day textiles, when I overheard this conversation. I don’t try to eavesdrop, I just happen to have excellent hearing, and because of my Asperger’s Syndrome, I have to try to block noises out, which means that I automatically hear all conversations around me unless I try not to listen. I wasn’t in the mood to work that hard, so here’s the jist of what I heard.
“I found the cutest little outfit the other day for Stephanie’s (chose not to remember the real name, so this is just a filler) baby. I am going to give it to her at her shower. It is the soft gray with a skull and cross bones on the front. I know she will just love it! She brought over a cute pink outfit with a skull and cross bones with a matching hat when my little girl was born this fall.”
“Oh, that is so cute. Now your kids will match. How adorable.”
What? Adorable? It’s great that there are matching babies wearing the Jolly Roger? What planet are these women on? What is cute about dressing your infants in symbols of death, destruction, lying, cheating, stealing, pillaging, plundering, marooning, mutinying, and so on?
How is it that we think we are going to have a strong, good nation full of people who will be interested in taking care of the world in a positive, unified manner when we dress from their first days, and entertain them with ideas of the above mentioned? Kids won’t hear how you must not actually act like pirates when that is all we feed them.
I have an acquaintance who often has the right things to say – has great wisdom and often gives proper advice when I am faced with difficulties. But I very seldom take that person’s words seriously because that friend’s life does not show that they use anything they preach. I have another acquaintance whose life and words do usually match. I don’t need to tell you what I do with that friend’s advice.
Please tell me that we don’t need to go as far down as enjoying live gladiator shows again before we wake up to the truth of choosing life to have a good life.
"Most Likely to Succeed" 