Avoiding Shit

Advanced Style

Anyone who heard the last episode of The B&J Podcast knows that I’ve become inundated with bullshit that’s left me paralyzed by incoherent burning rage. My solution is to avoid all of the bullshit, but I have to admit I’m not doing a very good job of it.

Nothing that happened last night surprised me. A white prosecutor who loves himself some police folks and who could really care less about the plight of the black folks was going to do as little as possible to get an indictment on Darren Wilson. I’m guessing the most work he had done in the 108 days since Wilson killed Mike Brown was last night when he announced to the world that he wouldn’t, as a prosecutor, prosecute the officer.

I was also not surprised that Ferguson and St. Louis erupted like it did, and I wasn’t surprised that white people didn’t get why people would loot and set shit on fire.

I really tried to avoid all of this, but I’m weak. When a friend remarked about the fires and looting and wondering why they would do that, and I replied with something like, “they must have been very desperate and angry to be reacting like this,” it took about 10 minutes to realize I made a mistake. Another one of his friends didn’t get it and thought the black folks in a former slave state should temper their reactions through a white-person’s prism. As if being told over and over again that it’s okay for white people to kill you without impunity should get a reaction of “meh”.

I knew I had to really stop. So on came Netflix and on came Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Advanced Style.

The last time I saw Planes was when I was in fifth grade. I remembered loving it and thinking how badly I felt for Steve Martin’s character. After all, he’s just trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving, and having to make the trip with someone as insufferable as John Candy’s character must have been really trying.

Fast forward 25 years, and man I have done a 180. Neal was a complete dick who had his head stuck up his own ass, and Del seemed like a nice enough fellow just trying to avoid life. The overall movie holds up pretty well, although now with cell phones there is no way it could happen.

Then I watched Advanced Style, a documentary about a bunch of stylish old broads in New York City. J’adore! J’adore! J’adore! Part of it is being my grandmother’s caretaker. No matter how much in pain she’s in, she gets her hair permed and dyed quarterly because it makes her feel pretty. And it does make her feel better. As heavy as her steps are normally because of her back and knee pain, for a day or two after she gets her did did her steps are noticeably lighter.

Also, some of these women wear the most avant-garde things, it’s truly inspirational. I don’t know what it says about me that the only things that light a fire under my ass is when I watch something about Riot Grrls and old broads with style. But there it is, I suppose.

I think I need to go shopping…