What, in today’s society,
does “being open–minded” actually mean? In the past, I think
it may have simply meant being open to hearing different viewpoints without
being a Quick Draw McGraw in judging someone. These days, there is a whole underground
of “code” of man/womanspeak that takes the original meanings of
words and changes them. When someone requests that someone be open–minded
what questions come to mind?
- Are they kinky?
- Do they have a debilitating disease?
- Are we talking about tolerance for listening to new age esoterica?
- Do they live an alternative lifestyle? (e.g. a transvestite or pre-op tranny?)
- Do they belong to some cult-like religion and hope to recruit me?
These are the things that we’ve come up with. What do you think?
Other related personality trait topic: I’m not good at telling jokes. I always forget
the punch line, or flub the delivery. Some people just are not good at using
other people’s material or even material that has been written specifically
for them. I am one of them. Telling canned stories and jokes is an art. It’s
an art that I have not developed successfully. If you let me make stuff up,
or go off road extemporaneous, I can be funny, but follow a preordained script,
I fall flat on my face every time. How important is being able to tell a joke?
These questions and more are plaguing me on a Friday morning.
