Cause I Can't Get It Out of My Head

Ben Shapiro

I have a guilty pleasure that has grown a bit in the last year.  It's Ben Shapiro.  If you read this blog, you would know that I have a big affection for the Jewish people as well as common traits that many carry.  I'm pretty sure it's still okay to state positive generalizations of people. One is their ability to argue points without emotion, something that was foreign to me before I moved to New York.  Back in San Francisco, passion was behind everything, to a fault, and it took me by surprise that people here could debate a point with such clarity but didn't get upset if you won the argument.  People perfectly willing and unafraid to state what they believe but equally able to listen and scrutinize your points, until they either conceded or in turn convinced me, sometimes even just agreeing to disagree.  I found that such a beautiful clean way to discuss and learned a great deal.  Another thing about some New York Jews is the speed of their speech and thought.  They leave my brain in a spin most days and as I've mentioned before I've needed to up my fact game at work on the materials and benefits, features of our products or be called out.  Most folks will accept or not question twice about a response I pull out of my arse and I admit, sometimes I get lazy or don't want to say that I don't know.  But not with these Hasidic Jewish mothers, every detail must make sense to them and they will break you down until it does.  The best of all things is when you spar with them and are able to come back strong with each answer and by the end, they shake their head, smiling, thanking you for your time, almost like the match has ended and they appreciated such a lively game.   Several dozens over the years have thanked me in such a manner, said things like 'you're such a smart girl, you know your stuff'.  I never know whether to feel insulted that they were so surprised or happy that I actually passed.  That after 20 minutes of discussion about one cabinet that I'm finally dismissed, noticing their 5 kids staring at me all in the same outfits. 

Ben Shapiro displays similar qualities.  He's far from perfect and many times very distant from my opinion but once in a while I'll completely agree with him but in all the cases, I really enjoy listening to his logic.  Probably even more when I disagree because it helps me to define my own train of thought. I think his weaknesses are due to his age and life experience but I like him.  My mate says that'll get me cancelled.  I listen to Jordan Peterson too with some of the same reasoning.  I don't agree with Peterson always either but he's a healthier counterbalance to the current 3 year old take on things by much of the media.  We all crave a good civilized conversation or op-ed without all the boring 'gotcha take down'.   Honestly, I always thought the democratic party would make complete mince meat of the likes of Trump and all his slimy cohorts since he was especially horrible at stating his rationale and has zero public speaking prowess.  Or that his own party would never stand for such violations of decency.  I figured together we'd come with a quick end to the nonsense but in the most classy way, with strong data, emotionless reasoning and fact based humility.  The last thing I would have ever believed is that someday we'd all be in the same muck, void of any proper social conduct. Maybe that's what I admire about these two.  Many of us have to make real efforts to keep all this nonsense out of our heads each day lest it seep in and penetrate our own behavior.  It all has effects on our health and we're fighting it more each day.

Right now in the hottest summer, during a Pandemic, in a major city that is showing signs of speedy decline, I can only control my own reactions.  Tired and burnt, I combatted the heat with this Wendy's Mock Shake that was incredibly refreshing and delicious.  Much better than I remembered and with no guilt!