Surprises and Surprising

I watched Good Morning America and they are doing a segment on jobs which would suit the co-hosts. Today, it was Robin Roberts turn and she was well suited for a job as a lyricist. She worked with Indie Arie and thought she would write a song about morning since she works on an early morning show. The song she came up with was "I wonder how life will surprise me today."

Life surprises me every day and now I have the time to notice the surprises. Day before yesterday, the surprise was that radishes really can go from "seed to food," as I harvested the first fruit of my labor. Yesterday I was surprised that a host of "The View" wore a t shirt for "White Haired Dude" the entire show the day before. I wondered how I missed that and I remembered that I was not at home to watch. I tried to email the show, but was not able to send the email because I imagine everyone was trying to get through.

Today's surprise was that I received an email of Barack dancing with the "caribou killer" dressed as if they were contestants on "Dancing with the Stars." I had received the picture a few days before and was not bothered by that. Today's picture came with a quote "Sheriff Clark was right. Them coloreds is after our white women. Its a abomination." It was not from a friend of mine, but someone who, I imagine, took my email address from someone else's forward. I was incensed that I would even receive something with such a quote. Having known the reality of what happened (e.g. Secret Life of Bees movie, if you don't remember) to Black men who dared look at white women, I don't find humor in anything remotely related to that.

This political season is giving people a chance to show their true colors--whatever they may be. Some of those colors are hopeful and marks of the future. Other colors are too representative of the past and what people "really think." I know, as a southerner, who "Sheriff Clark" represents and to quote one of my friend's favorite lines "It ain't cute."

So, friends, at least learn to use bcc when you send emails, so that you may protect the integrity of your friend's email addresses.

That email was a surprise, but it was not surprising.