Weird Random Questions
I’m just going to dive right in- how do you feel about the Pledge of Allegiance? My daughter has a little situation at school. Every day at the beginning of first period, the students are asked to stand while the Pledge is recited. The students don’t have to SAY the Pledge (they can if they want to) but they are expected to stand. My daughter has decided that she’s not comfortable with the Pledge, and won’t be standing from now on. Since they have a revolving schedule, she has a different teacher for first period every day. Some teachers don’t seem to care; one asked her to stand but when she said no, didn’t press it; and another teacher said students can stay seated if they have a “good reason.” Only one teacher strongly objects, and told my daughter that if she wants to sit for the Pledge, she needs to bring a note from home. Sigh. Why didn’t she just ask my daughter for her reasons? She has some good ones- (with liberty and justice “for all”- really?) So I had to write a note giving her permission to stay seated. (Please, please let this year end quickly and without further incident… we’re so ready to move on.) I guess there is something odd about the Pledge of Allegiance. It almost seems… un-American to impose it on little kids. I will say that I like the Star Spangled Banner. The words are beautiful, and I get a nice patriotic feeling when I hear it. National Anthem- yes. Pledge- no. What do you think? The second weird and random question is on a completely different subject. If you had to choose one, would you rather be blind or deaf? I know, neither. But if you HAD to choose. My son and I would choose deaf. To me this seems like an obvious choice. Vision is much more important! For one thing, you would still be able to run and walk on your own. I know vision-impaired people run with guides, but I wouldn’t want to be dependent on that. And it’s not only running- it just seems like you would be able to lead a more independent life (plus being blind would be kind of scary- I always think about that when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.) My son and I were astonished that my husband said he would choose blind- WHY??? I thought he must be insane, but then just the other day this topic came up with my daughter, and she said she would choose blind as well. When I asked her why, she said “You would still be able to hear music, and hear people talking.” And then I realized- my daughter and husband are both extroverts; my son and I are introverts. Do you think there’s a correlation? Extroverts would choose being blind over deaf, because being able to hear would give them more of a connection to other people. Introverts would choose deaf- we don’t need the social interaction as much (and think how much reading you could get done without all the noisy interruptions!). I’ll end this by saying, I’m really grateful that I have all my senses. How about you- introvert or extrovert? Blind or deaf? If your daughter didn’t want to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at school, would you support that?