This week a deliveryman brought a package to our home which was addressed to me. The return label only let me know that had been sent from Woot. Upon opening the package, I discovered that someone had sent me a pretty little blue t-shirt. Embossed on the front was a red heart, a single red tear, and the word ‘LIBERAL’.
This gift made me smile, and when I saw it, I let out a little laugh. ☺
Since there was no note to reveal the sender, it took me some time to figure out exactly who had sent me this sweet little gift.
Earlier this year, as more and more people had began to speak about the issues of the day and of the upcoming election, I had started admitting that, "Yes, indeed, you might call me a “Bleeding Heart Liberal”.
This admission often made people’s eyes widen with surprise. Some years ago the Republican word masters began to use the word 'liberal' as a pejorative. When the term is used these days, it is usually used to indicate someone with foggy unrealistic thinking.
Those blankety-blank so called ‘Conservatives’ just love to take perfectly good words and change their meanings to advance their beliefs. And since they always seem to have an evil ‘other’ to blame for all ills, they love to in toss in code words, malignant word bombs, in order to conger up a fearful image of their opponent.
While waging their war of words against anyone who does not share their ideology and agenda, they have a habit of labeling those who do not share their beliefs as something "other". And so, some years ago, the Republicans changed and distorted the perfectly good word, 'liberal', to mean an unrealistic other. Because their campaign was so successful, and because so many Democrats let themselves be frightened away by the Big Bad Elephants and their war of words, it is no longer fashionable to admit to ‘liberal beliefs’.
But, because I am stubborn, and way too set in my ways to be willing to give in to the other party's definition of perfectly good words that I value, when I hear the charge that someone is a BLH, I remember that other neat little saying that it is certainly ‘better to have a bleeding heart than to have none at all”.
Disclamer: I do not actually believe that people of the other party do not possess good hearts. As a good liberal, I will only accuse them of being misguided. :-)
But back to the main mission, to discovering my mystery benefactor, I tried to remember just with whom I’d been talking when I admitted my beliefs. One by one, as I thought of the friends with whom I’d shared my little joke. One by one, I realized that it was unlikely that any of them had sent me the gift.
Then it hit me that though most of my friends are generous and like-minded folk, none of them are likely to even know what Woot is. If I didn’t have techy sons, I wouldn’t either. It was then that I knew who had sent me the gift. It was the person who often introduces his parents to new things. It was our eldest son.
I was touched by the gift and touched also that he sees him mom as little and petite. I can’t quite fit into the little t-shirt at the present time, but I am going to wear it or somehow frame it and put it on a wall or at least pull it out every once in a while to make me smile.
So thank you dear son, I love it.
Posted by Judi at November 11, 2008 8:42 PM | TrackBack