I come from a liberal Jewish upbringing, the fairness and equanimity (in the case of our household, how we were raised, what we'd imbibed) I still acknowledge and appreciate - but whose fatal, one-sided delusion and eventual susceptibility to the normopathic groove and grave PsyOp of unconscionable Democrat evil, I grew disillusioned with and finally rejected outright. So much for that.
More lightheartedly, I will share an anecdote which came from one of my two older brothers himself. Leaving aside references to names (his and his two grandchildren's - the lad in question being 7 or possibly 8 by now - VERY precocious and a self-learner on the internet, this being key to the set-up), and keeping the intimacy of his sharing this with me on a Whatsapp message neutral, I'll unabashedly deliver what has to be the most ironic take-down of family "Wokeness" I've enjoyed since...well, ever.
Here's his text, verbatim, coming from upstate NY (scene is NYC), granting the aforementioned editing on my part:
This is an absolutely true story, every word.
J., N., and I are viewing exhibits in the ocean creatures/invertebrates section of the Museum Of Natural History. The area is crowded with tourists, and J. suddenly blurts out in a very loud voice:
"I hate Sicilians, Grandfather. They're ugly and smelly and gross and I hate them."
Me (horrified): "J., keep your voice down. Everyone can hear you. Why would you say something like that? You're saying terrible things about an American ethnic group."
J: "What do you mean, Grandfather? What's an ethnic group?"
Me: "Sicilians. Sicilians, like Italians, are an ethnic group. There are many honorable, hardworking Sicilians who came to this country from the island of Sicily, like Italians who emigrated from Italy or Irish people from Ireland. These are all ethnic groups who came to this country and we don't speak poorly of them."
J: "I don't understand."
Me: "Well, why did you say what you just said? What are you talking about?"
J: "I'm talking about Caecilians. C-A-E-C-I-L-I-A-N-S."
Me: "What are those?"
J: "They're round shaped amphibians like worms."
Me: "Oh." Red faced, I quickly googled the word "Caecilian" which was defined as "any tropical, limbless amphibian of the Order Apoda, resembling earthworms and inhabiting moist soil".
Smart grandson. Idiot grandfather.
I chuckled at my brother's characteristic aplomb and self-irony. This was the lightness reflective of our family.
What I responded in text was as follows:
Wonderful, how he took you down, had you down on the mat, he did.
While he didn't respond to my response - no matter, that - I hadn't the heart (as yet) to put more directly and pointedly what I really meant to say, as he might have been livid on reading this:
Well, it appears you've just had your liberal virtue-signaling ass handed to you on a platter - and this from a 7 year old. From the mouths of babes.
