LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter Three

      Look Around You…Stupid Is Everywhere!

       Rebelling Against Stupidity

       “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking ifmankind is to survive.”

       —Albert Einstein

       Stupid at 30,000 Feet

      When I (Carrie) was 10 years old, our family planned a trip to Disney World. I was euphoric—what kid doesn’t dream of visiting Mickey? We lived in Canada, the land of perpetual winter, so the excitement of spending a week in the sunshine state was almost unbearable.

      The flying time from Calgary to Orlando was six hours. For an adult, that’s a pretty long flight. For a kid, travel time is magnified in direct proportion to the allure of the destination, which made that particular trip roughly seventeen eternities.

      My brothers and I settled into our row near the front of the plane, fidgeting and fighting over which one of us got the window seat. This was just a formality, since we already knew how the fight would end. Mike always won because he was the biggest. As the youngest and weakest, I ended up squashed in the middle seat. I tried to cram my carry-on under the seat, but it didn’t fit.

      “Give me your backpack,” Mike said, trying to make some room underneath the seat in front of him. Reaching down, he latched on to an object and tried to move it out of the way. “Hey, this thing won’t budge.” He tugged at it, twisting back and forth.

      Suddenly, the object kicked. Apparently, the man in front of us wanted his foot back.

      Mom had advised us to pack plenty of activities to keep us busy: games, books, that sort of thing. We ran out of stuff to do by the time the flight attendants finished the seatbelt demonstration. Mike dozed off. Daniel and I passed some time obnoxiously changing each other’s in-flight radios to the classical music station, but the novelty of that quickly wore off. The movie commenced—it was boring. We ate all the snacks Mom had packed. Finally, we had nothing left to do but to stare aimlessly ahead as we slowly lost our sanity.

      I was cold, so I reached up and twisted the air vent closed. Daniel reached up and twisted it open.

      I reached up to close it again, glaring at him.

      He slapped my hand away and reopened it. I retaliated in similar fashion and closed it.

      He stood and opened it. I stood and closed it.

      The dispute continued, mounting in intensity. It was no longer about the air temperature. It became a conflict of wills so epic it made the Battle of Thermopylae look like a playground tussle between first graders.

      We fought on the beaches. We battled in the air, on the landing grounds, in the fields, streets, and hills…

      I was about to rally the troops and launch a final assault when a loud noise distracted me. It came from the woman in the seat directly behind me. “AHEM!!!” She was glaring at us.

      In fact, several passengers were staring at us. Apparently, our little skirmish was not as entertaining to them as it was to us, especially since our air vent was located directly in front of the movie screen.

      We had no idea so many people were watching our childish antics. But, of course, the foolish choices we make can, and often do, directly impact other people. I remember my parents frequently pointing out to my brothers and me that “stupid is everywhere.”

       So What’s the Problem?

      This is the age of political correctness. Self-appointed watchdogs are constantly on the lookout for bigots who might disparage someone else’s behavior or choices. Anyone who has the courage to call immorality what it actually is—sin—is slapped with the label intolerant faster than you can say “double standard.” A husband is constantly making humiliating, chauvinistic comments in public to his wife, but who are we to judge? If she is okay with it, then it’s no one else’s business. A teenage girl at church dresses provocatively, but that’s her business, not ours. Ours is not to judge, right?