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In the middle of march my older cousin got married in Edinburgh. I made it there on crutches and dosed up on the strongest medication that the healthcare system can provide outside of a hospital, and I was glad I did, because the ceremony was lovely and I got to see some of my favourite family members (I don't have a close relationship with very many people in my family at all).
Only one less than wonderful thing happened, and I have a feeling that I should just be letting it go, but you guys, it just keeps playing back in my head.
I'm not very good at not getting angry.
We were sat on a table with some distant relatives of the groom's, i.e. no-one I'd ever met before, and my brother. We made small talk fairly successfully. They weren't that far away from us in age and viewed themselves as liberal, open-minded people - we had been placed thoughtfully, basically, and well away from any stuffy uncles who might feel the need to make loud jokes about lesbians once they'd had a drink or two.
But then, like idiots, we got into a conversation about politics.
(Cue the threatening music.)
Gay marriage went ok, although there was a fair amount of "people like you" going on.
We could all agree that European immigration politics are fucked.
But then! Then!
Then we talked about spending cuts.
Well, said the guy who was most politically interested, I don't think they're very bad. It'll be fine.
They mostly affect people who're already worse off, though, I pointed out (possibly less coherently than this, I admit). Women, immigrants, single parents, the disabled, the unemployed, people from working class backgrounds.
Oh, he said, but you shouldn't listen to the statistics on that, he said. They're so politicised.
The thing is, he said, people get used to having things. They get used to being entitled to benefits. They get entitled. That doesn't mean they are entitled to everything they want.
BUT, I said, and probably fortunately for all, we got cut off at that point by someone standing up to give a speech. The conversation was not resumed and no fight broke out in the middle of what was otherwise a lovely wedding.
But I keep thinking BUT, damn it.
Let's translate this position of his into the reality that people are dealing with.
It goes something like, The thing is, people get used to being able to eat. They get used to being entitled to a home and to not starving because they can't work. They get all entitled about it not being legal to treat them as less human than anyone else. That doesn't mean they have the right to actually be treated like people...
One day I will learn to just not engage.
I am vaguely hoping that now I have written this out I'll be able to stop thinking about it! WE'LL SEE. ;;
Only one less than wonderful thing happened, and I have a feeling that I should just be letting it go, but you guys, it just keeps playing back in my head.
I'm not very good at not getting angry.
We were sat on a table with some distant relatives of the groom's, i.e. no-one I'd ever met before, and my brother. We made small talk fairly successfully. They weren't that far away from us in age and viewed themselves as liberal, open-minded people - we had been placed thoughtfully, basically, and well away from any stuffy uncles who might feel the need to make loud jokes about lesbians once they'd had a drink or two.
But then, like idiots, we got into a conversation about politics.
(Cue the threatening music.)
Gay marriage went ok, although there was a fair amount of "people like you" going on.
We could all agree that European immigration politics are fucked.
But then! Then!
Then we talked about spending cuts.
Well, said the guy who was most politically interested, I don't think they're very bad. It'll be fine.
They mostly affect people who're already worse off, though, I pointed out (possibly less coherently than this, I admit). Women, immigrants, single parents, the disabled, the unemployed, people from working class backgrounds.
Oh, he said, but you shouldn't listen to the statistics on that, he said. They're so politicised.
The thing is, he said, people get used to having things. They get used to being entitled to benefits. They get entitled. That doesn't mean they are entitled to everything they want.
BUT, I said, and probably fortunately for all, we got cut off at that point by someone standing up to give a speech. The conversation was not resumed and no fight broke out in the middle of what was otherwise a lovely wedding.
But I keep thinking BUT, damn it.
Let's translate this position of his into the reality that people are dealing with.
It goes something like, The thing is, people get used to being able to eat. They get used to being entitled to a home and to not starving because they can't work. They get all entitled about it not being legal to treat them as less human than anyone else. That doesn't mean they have the right to actually be treated like people...
One day I will learn to just not engage.
I am vaguely hoping that now I have written this out I'll be able to stop thinking about it! WE'LL SEE. ;;
