Brady-ism

‘Happy is as happy does…drink a beer just because…laugh and live with a half-full cup’, these are a few lyrics from a Kenny Chesney song and, lucky for me, mirror my life lately. Yep, toes in the sand and hanging with my favorite people, laughing and living my best life. There was a tiny interruption to all the F-U-N in which I had to return home for a quick minute. I got stuck flying standby which is never ideal; my choice is a middle seat or middle seat. Guess what seat I got? But you know what, it turned out to be just what I needed. My seatmates reaffirmed a deliberate choice I made this year to denounce the ‘Brady-ism.’ Allow me to explain.

Hello Neighbors

I genuinely love chatting people up, including strangers, but on flights, I tend to retreat. I am polite, offer a few pleasantries, but am not interested in striking up lengthy conversations. Instead, I take advantage of the downtime to watch a film, read, write or take cat naps. I reserve flights for ‘me’ time, and the only person I am interested in connecting with is the flight attendant for snacks. God forbid I sleep through the snack cart; how would I survive without a sip of water and the five almonds they dole out? 

After securing my row, I settle in my seat, offer a smile to my neighbors, and get on with the business of scrolling my viewing options. I land on a rom-com series, perfect, light entertainment. My row mates settle in too and set their monitors to news channels—the aisle plugs into CNN, the window to FOX. Unbeknown to me, the series I select has several sex scenes. 

Squirrel Moment

Diverting for a second, I have a question, am I the only one that gets nervous Nelly watching sex scenes on flights next to strangers? I blush, get very jittery, oh no, nakedness, as if I was the one stripping off my clothes. Not the boob shot, ah, jeez, I can’t fast forward fast enough. It never fails. I wind up hitting the pause button, and frozen on my screen is a naked body part; my row mates look; great I am officially a creeper. Is this a thing with anyone else? It’s ludicrous—so much anxiety.

Back to my two sidekicks, picture this, me feverishly fast-forwarding sex scenes, and my partners consumed and salivating the news. Both networks put on a show of doom and gloom. Well, hell, the plane may as well take a nosedive; according to the news, the world sucks. But my toes were just in the sand. I was just out there, in the world that the networks depict as awful. I was just with the masses; people seemed alright. Not perfect, but good and kind. 

Halfway through the flight, when it becomes evident that my mates are not just catching up on the headlines, they plan to watch their respective shit shows the entire flight. I can’t help but wonder, how many hours of news do they watch on a typical day? Is this their idea of downtime? Both channels are on repeat; once you watch half-hour, it loops again, so why keep watching? The message is the same for both networks, hopelessness, and of course, it’s the other guy’s fault; the finger always points at the other side. I want to inquire, I want to understand, but I don’t. It’s none of my business, plus I am too busy with my sexy show.

Who is Coding?

The Hertz commercial with Tom Brady pops in my head. Have you seen it? The advert captures Brady on a chair hooked up, presumably charging his battery and getting a system update. The purpose is to emulate the functionality of electric cars; in particular, Hertz is promoting the fleet of Tesla’s available to customers. The commercial wraps up with a freshly programmed Brady uttering the words, Let’s Go! (Hertz slogan and coincidently also what Brady likes to say on the field) 

Wait, is that what is happening to us? Are we being programmed? Have we fallen for the trap? What exactly are we plugging into and ingesting? And more importantly, who is writing the software, we are downloading? Are we blindly digesting intel, regardless of validity, source, or facts, and selling it as truth?

Pause

Consider this, what if the information and narrative that we are regurgitating as truth, what if it is false? What if we are wrong? That you, we, have been calibrated and are no longer able to decipher between real and ridiculous.

Perhaps it’s time we pause and pay close attention to the dialogue and pushback a bit. Don’t you find the choice of words used to discuss contentious topics peculiar (by both sides of the aisle)? Consider these words, “they are coming for us, terrorists, children in cages, cancel culture, infringing my freedoms, fake news, guns are killing our children, militant, baby killers, civil unrest, republicans are racists, democrats are socialist.” Do you see how these words induce fear and divide? 

Shut the front door. Can we take a few steps back and get a wider shot of the issues? I get it, they want to muddy the water, blur our vision, and confuse us with scary headlines, but surely you can see that these phrases do not capture the whole story. For instance, check out these complexities,

Fake news. Does fake news apply to ALL news networks, including the one you have on repeat? 

Personal liberties; you can’t force me to take a vaccine; it’s my body. Does this stance apply to all personal freedoms? 

Deport illegal immigrants. And what should we do with all the legal citizens and institutions that hire illegal immigrants for a fraction of the cost (restaurants, hotels, cleaning services, roofers, landscaping, constructions, farms, to name a few)? What about the consumers who want to save a buck? Hire the Mexicans, they say. Should we arrest and penalize them? Aren’t they breaking the law too, or is this not the same?

Does freedom of speech and expression only apply to your views, or should it be extended to all regardless of words/actions? Is burning the U.S. flag freedom of expression? Is stating that the election process is fraud protected? What about taking a knee? Well, if he can take a knee, shouldn’t the other guy be free to mobilize his followers in a rally? 

Asking for a friend.

Reflect

It seems that the disconnect is that we want policy and laws to apply and protect our personal beliefs and opinions. But what about the people that don’t share our personal views? And when did thoughts translate to facts or policy? See the problem? Nah, better yet, see the hypocrisy; we are all guilty. 

Redirect

I say we rip the plugs off, take down the righteous flags, put away the gavel (judgment), and get back to the business of treating each other with respect. I am willing to debunk the junk even if it comes from my camp, are you? Listen, hold on to your personal beliefs, have opinions, pray, don’t pray, do you, but accept that an opinion is just that, an opinion.  

If we are going to fly together in this AMAZING world, we should get along. For me, it’s simple; if I genuinely care about humankind, I must care for ALL people. 

I leave you with these lyrics.

Same Boat by Zac Brown

We're all in the same boat
 Fishing in the same hole
 Wondering where the same time goes
 We're all in the same boat

We could all believe what we believe
 And peacefully agree to disagree
 But you can't judge a man
 Until you walk a country mile in his shoes

We're all in the same boat
 Fishing in the same hole
 Wondering where the same time goes
 And money too
 Tryna fix the same broke hearts
 Wishing on the same stars
 We're all hoping hope floats
 And we're all in the same boat

We all been kicked and knocked around
 But you ain't gonna keep a good man down
 You can run like hell from your mistakes
 But you can't hide from your truth

We're all in the same boat
 Fishing in the same hole
 Wondering where the same time goes
 And money too
 Tryna fix the same broke hearts
 Wishing on the same stars
 We're all hoping hope floats
 And we're all in the same boat

Share them peaches, if you're holding
 Take those shots and keep reloading
 If you can't be nice
 Don't say nothing at all
 So help somebody who might be struggling
 Spread a little love, gotta give back something
 If the ship keeps rocking
 We'll all go overboard

We're all in the same boat
 Fishing in the same hole
 Wondering where the same time goes
 And money too
 Tryna fix the same broke hearts
 Wishing on the same stars
 We're all hoping hope floats
 And we're all in the same boat
 Yeah, we're all hoping hope floats
 We're all in the same boat

Together is better,