Sweet Caroline - Part 1
For me and thousands of Boston Red Sox fans, the first few chords of Sweet Caroline is like a call to action. I hear them and I squeal with delight and start dancing. I love the song and have to dance to it. I feel sorry for people who don't have the equivalent of Sweet Caroline in their life. I hear the song and I feel joy and I feel compelled to dance publicly. I am not a good dancer but I don't care, when I am listening to Sweet Caroline, it doesn't matter. My only desire at that point is to hope that my awkward dancing inspires others to dance with me, I just love that song.
Yes, I''m writing this on my blog which is a form of social media. I'm writing it without consequence to how it will affect my friends and family. I am taking a risk. I could have a friend that despises that song and will cease to be my friend that I have publicly stated that I like it. I'm willing to take that risk. I have always been open to my love of this song so if it is news to them that I like it, then they obviously didn't know them well. Also, one of my friends could be a music critic who has publicly trashed Sweet Caroline and they might be worried that this post will damage their professional reputation. Again, I'm willing to take that risk. I can't imagine anyone not liking Sweet Caroline, but if they are truly a professional critic, they will understand that music, like all art, is subjective. There is no accounting for some tastes. Also, I'm assuming that any professional music critic that I know would be secure in their career and not be threatened by my little ole blog.
Social media is powerful. In my province, three people have lost their sources of employment over the weekend because of what they said in social media. Of course, there comments went beyond their like of a song. Their comments have been classified as hate speech in that they were derogatory against a specific group of people and not based in fact. A hair stylist, a teacher, and a treasurer have found themselves out of work today and it has nothing to do with the way they cut hair, taught math, or balanced the books. The three people are out of work because they are lousy human beings. People will say that you have to be so careful on social media. That is not exactly true. If you don't have hate in your heart, you don't have to be careful, you just have to be yourself.
So, I dismiss the ones who caution me about my blog and my posts. They are cautioning me for my posts not out of concern for me but out of concern for themselves. They don't want anyone associating my posts with them because they are worried about their reputations.
The first line in the awesome song, "Sweet Caroline" is "where it began". Where it began for me was a night a few years ago. My sweetie and I were watching tv while scrolling through social media. I found a very cool gif about being proud to be Ukrainian. Well, I happen to be proud to be Ukrainian so I shared it. My sweetie noticed it and also thought it was very cool and he decided to share it as well. I smiled as I was glad to see that he thought it was cool and his phone rang. The voice on the other end of the phone said, "you are not Ukrainian, take it down." I couldn't believe that this phone call occurred literally seconds after it was posted. The person didn't want to be thought of as Ukrainian by association because it might damage their reputation. Ukrainians are good people who have been persecuted for generations for reasons they will never know. Despite this, Ukrainians are generous and loving people. They may not have much, but they will freely share anything they have with a smile. How could anyone feel that their reputation would be damaged if they were associated with being Ukrainian.
My sweetie kept the post in honour of me. I didn't worry about my blog offending anyone's reputation. If they had a problem being associated with a Ukrainian, then they had a problem with me. I am a proud Ukrainian. I have pride in my ethnicity. If people don't want to associate with me because I'm Ukrainian, then that is fine because it is more perogies for me!
And that is where it began.
Yes, I''m writing this on my blog which is a form of social media. I'm writing it without consequence to how it will affect my friends and family. I am taking a risk. I could have a friend that despises that song and will cease to be my friend that I have publicly stated that I like it. I'm willing to take that risk. I have always been open to my love of this song so if it is news to them that I like it, then they obviously didn't know them well. Also, one of my friends could be a music critic who has publicly trashed Sweet Caroline and they might be worried that this post will damage their professional reputation. Again, I'm willing to take that risk. I can't imagine anyone not liking Sweet Caroline, but if they are truly a professional critic, they will understand that music, like all art, is subjective. There is no accounting for some tastes. Also, I'm assuming that any professional music critic that I know would be secure in their career and not be threatened by my little ole blog.
Social media is powerful. In my province, three people have lost their sources of employment over the weekend because of what they said in social media. Of course, there comments went beyond their like of a song. Their comments have been classified as hate speech in that they were derogatory against a specific group of people and not based in fact. A hair stylist, a teacher, and a treasurer have found themselves out of work today and it has nothing to do with the way they cut hair, taught math, or balanced the books. The three people are out of work because they are lousy human beings. People will say that you have to be so careful on social media. That is not exactly true. If you don't have hate in your heart, you don't have to be careful, you just have to be yourself.
So, I dismiss the ones who caution me about my blog and my posts. They are cautioning me for my posts not out of concern for me but out of concern for themselves. They don't want anyone associating my posts with them because they are worried about their reputations.
The first line in the awesome song, "Sweet Caroline" is "where it began". Where it began for me was a night a few years ago. My sweetie and I were watching tv while scrolling through social media. I found a very cool gif about being proud to be Ukrainian. Well, I happen to be proud to be Ukrainian so I shared it. My sweetie noticed it and also thought it was very cool and he decided to share it as well. I smiled as I was glad to see that he thought it was cool and his phone rang. The voice on the other end of the phone said, "you are not Ukrainian, take it down." I couldn't believe that this phone call occurred literally seconds after it was posted. The person didn't want to be thought of as Ukrainian by association because it might damage their reputation. Ukrainians are good people who have been persecuted for generations for reasons they will never know. Despite this, Ukrainians are generous and loving people. They may not have much, but they will freely share anything they have with a smile. How could anyone feel that their reputation would be damaged if they were associated with being Ukrainian.
My sweetie kept the post in honour of me. I didn't worry about my blog offending anyone's reputation. If they had a problem being associated with a Ukrainian, then they had a problem with me. I am a proud Ukrainian. I have pride in my ethnicity. If people don't want to associate with me because I'm Ukrainian, then that is fine because it is more perogies for me!
And that is where it began.
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