Daddy Can You Hear Me?

"To whom or what do we owe loyalty," says I. Family, God/Church, Country, Self? It was a loaded question. Their answers were predictable. Most said family. Of course. Some said Church/God. Hmmm worrisome. We were talking about extremes. I wanted to make the point that the ancient Greek bitch was totally wrong to jeapordize life and limb by demanding that her brother be buried because it was religious custom. He was after all an enemy of the state. Maybe you don't know the story. No matter. The point is the point. And my point was all about extremes, no matter how justified, are really a bad thing.

Blind loyalty to the State. Now isn't that breeding ground for terrorists and if you take that God thing too far, you might find yourself in a jungle drinking kool-aid laced with arsenic. "There's only one right answer", says I. Let's hear it for the "Self," the Self has a belief system which includes these things but they all co-exist in a healthy balance. Oh I was too pleased with my sanctimonius Self, that is until Daddy's little girl made the case for family. "You see where would I be if they hadn't been there when my daddy put me outta the house. I've seen my momma get beat everyday and my daddy's in jail...jail is where he's been for fifteen years." She said it all like you or I would tell someone we had a headache but her eyes told another story. Those eyes were stone cold dead. I thought about daddy and the damage he's done. His little girl loves her family but will never let anyone else in. All of a sudden I felt really stupid for asking my question. What could I say to her? "You're wrong." I gave her an (A) for oral participation. There ought to be a grade for surviving shit and still having the courage to speak.