Steakbellie: "irony can be so ironic sometimes"

Monday, June 12, 2006

"irony can be so ironic sometimes"

the rich old white people
get their diapers changed
by the grandchildren
of the blacks they feared

8 comments:

Wendy said...: heavy, man.; 2:22 PM
steakbellie said...: i find it kind of sweet in some ways....

i was sitting in Rittenhouse Square, having my lunch minding EVERYBODY's business, when this wonderful black women wheeled an Ancient white old bag over, and placed a cusion down on the bench for her. Lifted her out of the wheelchair, and hand-fed her from a brown bag.

The old lady couldnt talk much but her care-taker talked about the outdoors and what a nice day it was. When the wind picked up, she took off her own jacket and put it on the woman.

It was really a nice scene and you could feel the love and care shared here. I was thinking how this lady's own kids could never do such a great job because they have been so very tainted by the Parent-Child experience, there would be resentment and loathing (as well as love, I'm not a total douche bag)

The whole thing made me smile, and I stayed a few extra minutes to enjoy it.; 2:38 PM
Chris the Hippie said...: I like the story...

The original post, though, reminded me of a darker incident that happened to me.

Every month I design a newsletter for a country club just across the river in South Dakota. Fancy ritzy place for rich ritzy people. A while back they asked me if I could find "a nice picture of a family enjoying a picnic" for the front cover of the newsletter. I found the perfect stock photo in my archives - a family sitting outside in a pleasant (but anonymous-looking) setting, smiles on their faces... The editor of the newsletter made me take the photo out, however, and replace it with a cartoon of a picnic table. Evidently they didn't want a picture of a black family on the front of their newsletter.

It made me sad.; 8:37 PM
steakbellie said...: it's sad, but on some level did you KNOW that would happen? When you selected the photo where you curious if they would point it out? I've done that before...; 10:00 AM
Wendy said...: Just getting back on schedule here... but I'm so glad you told the story. Funny - I must be really jaded - I pictured a nice woman, as you describe caring for a old bitter white man who taught his children to be bigots. He grew old with so much hate that his children didn't even spend time with him anymore and I saw irony in that he, who discrimitated all his life, no longer had a choice. Wow, I'm usually such an optimist.; 12:17 PM
steakbellie said...: nope,
you're not wrong

the reality of what I saw was far more sweet and human than the blog entry I wrote.

The park I eat lunch at has quite abit of rich old white people that get taken out at lunch by their black caretakers...but this particular scene was so nice that it got me thinking about all the other pairings and how ironic it must be for some of them.....; 12:27 PM
Wendy said...: Whew. I thought I was turning into a curmugeon.

It must be really nice working in a city. So many interesting things to see and so many people to watch.; 2:27 PM
Chris the Hippie said...: Re the photo in the newsletter - Yep, I did it on purpose. I do that from time to time - throw a design at someone that I know will make them uneasy. I'm hoping that by making them feel uneasy I'll force them to define just what it is that makes them feel that way.

Or something.; 4:44 PM