Wow!
I could leave this post at just that -- WOW! -- and it could suffice to express how I'm feeling. Unfortunately, leaving it at that doesn't tell WHY I feel that way.
Throughout the week, people have stopped in to my office and offered words of support and encouragement.
"Good luck, Pat!"
"You go girl!"
"Congratulations!"
"Give 'em hell!"
"It's about time someone took them to task!"
It's been mind-boggling.
This morning, as I got out of my RAV, I noticed the mailroom supervisor sort of standing in front of her pickup, kicking at the snow absently. She was waiting for me and, as I approached her, she opened her arms and just gave me a huge hug.
It's incredible, the support and good wishes that I've gotten from people at my workplace. I commented this morning that, while it's been empowering, it's also been affirming regarding the people we work with.
One of my favorite faculty members came in on Tuesday, asked me if he could get a handshake from the local "celebrity," and voiced support. Now, this guy has been one of my three favorite people here since the day I met him. He's the only PhD I've ever met that's intelligent, logical, witty, kind, compassionate, down-to-earth, humble, and just plain REAL.
He commented that he doesn't understand why there are so many "educated" people out there that are so closed-minded about this while issue. I told him about a comment I'd seen on an internet message board where a clear-cut homophobe claimed intelligence through college-education and, as a result, should be taken credibly as far as her opinions that simply boiled down to "because I say so." Another poster pointed out to her that all the degrees in the world mean nothing unless you retain the critical thinking skills you learned and used throughout college. That applying narrow focus to an issue was contrary to education, and shows an unwillingness to learn anything that one doesn't WANT to learn. Very powerful, insightful.
This professor also confided that his eldest daughter, highly educated at Cornell, about my age, had joined a fundamentalist type of church about 15 years ago and, he was surprised and also disappointed, that her thinking was very one-dimensional where it conflicted with what she believed to be true, based on how SHE felt the Bible (or, rather, the word of God) should be interpreted.
Now, the thing I love about this guy (besides the fact that he's just a decent human being) is that he's TASTED SO MUCH OF LIFE!
As a young man, he went down south and attended a Catholic college for his first year. He lived with Benedictine monks that year and, as he chuckled, was always hungry because those monks ate terrible food. While he was staying there, he went to a KKK meeting, a "colored Baptist" revival, Catholic mass, you name it, he experienced it. It gave him exposure not only to the PEOPLE in these organizations, but to the belief systems and philosophies associated with them. It gave him understanding.
While attending college in the deep south, he took a part-time job driving school bus -- through the "colored" part of town. He relates that, often, he'd pull up to what appeared to be an empty street corner but, as the bus stopped, he'd begin to see the school children climbing out of ditches, coming out of the woods, or from behind buildings -- so great was their fear of standing alone in the south. He also said that, as part of the route to get those kids to school, he had to go through a white part of town and, as they passed through, he'd look in his mirror and, based on what he saw in his mirror, you'd never know there was anyone on that bus. The children all ducked below the windows so they weren't seen.
He has a degree in English and teaches Art History. He's a Fulbright Scholar, performs some sort of consultant duties to the British government, taught for a semester in China, another semester in Hawaii, and has traveled throughout the world either teaching, or being a student of life. I ADORE this guy -- and he's a Republican!
If this guy told me that he truly believed that homosexuality was wrong, I'd listen up, raptly. In the first place, he'd tell me why he believed that, using logic, rational thought, and citing research and/or studies he's perused. But even if he just said that it was his OPINION, based on his life experiences, I'd have a lot of respect for that, too, because he's spent his life learning about PEOPLE, about their experiences and dreams and values -- he didn't pick and choose who he learned from, he made LIFE a learnable moment.
Oh that we could all do that - the heck with that, if only *I* could do that!
Often, after I talk to him, I'm very aware that he is a far better person than I, and a far better person than any other I have ever met or known. If we could all aspire to be something like him, can you imagine the sort of world we'd live in?
