Truth, Transparency...and other words.

For anyone who has seen a lot, and read the rest know, while truth is a beautiful word, THE TRUTH ain't always a comfortable thing. Many may have heard the phrase, "you can't handle the truth." 

Take for instance 'transparency', a word that today gets much use, and 'stereotypes', 'research', 'data' among other words that stand tall when used, yet mean many things to many people, even as/while applied. Oanh Ngo Usadi's memoir 'Of Monkey Bridges and Banh Mi Sandwiches' really caught my attention as the memoirist described Vietnamese language. Describing two distinct colors (from my purview) using one word, demonstrated how people can be looking at the exact same thing and 'sincerely' see something different. It was like the time a young woman went in for a job interview and checked the white/Caucasian box. The interviewer looked up at the woman and near shouted, "you aren't white!" For the interviewer it did not matter if one parent was white and the other another nationality. As the interviewer demanded, the woman was required to check the black box since her skin color was brown. Incidentally, shortly after this incident the 'other' box was created, even if I thought (and still think) the only boxes in need of checking is "can you read, write, count, stand, carry, type, work 7 hours straight...alas do the job you are applying for?" Like, isn't the point to get the best 'qualified' people, to deliver the best product/service?

This post was inspired by many recent events. 1) I haven't blogged in weeks...because 2) I just finished writing a novel I've been working on for a lot longer than intended! But also; Numbers three thru dozens (perhaps)...in addition to watching an agglomerate of interviews, commentaries, and documentaries (...particularly Gates on Finding Your Roots, Obama on CNN, Optimizing Productivity by David Bernhardt, Covid Lessons on C-Span), ...I just finished reading My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas (other thoughts here).  

Happy Father's Day... Music Month... Juneteenth...and other occasions celebrated this month!

#ReadingAdvocate #ILoveMemoirs #JustReadAnotherGreatMemoir #JustWroteAnotherBook #WhyIDoWhatIDo #JustBlogged