Squo?

Aren't you happy it's Friday? It don't mean much to me these days. I work through a lot of weekends and I don't get paid on Friday anymore. To top it off "Big Fun" won't be able to make it this weekend, so it's all downhill. All Friday is to me is an opportunity to dress down in the office, which I hardly ever take advantage of. I think it's important for these cats to see me in a suit all of the time, so they'll know I'm about business. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile in the simple mind wearing dreadlocks and being professional, but I try to pull it off. I believe if staff sees me relaxed, they'll think it's o.k. to relax. But I forgot to get my shirts from the cleaners yesterday, so guess what? Yep, hello casual Friday. So now I'm walking around the office looking like a rastafarian golf pro. These assholes are walking up to me saying shit like "Is that what you look like without a tie on?" and "Hey, sporty!" I hate small talk, I really do.

I'm just getting around to writing about Katrina, and not because I didn't care. I just wanted to soak up as much info as I could to write something informed. But I guess I'm pretty late because everyone has pretty much written and said most of the stuff I would have said anyway. There is, however, one avenue that has been marginally discussed.

I got an email the other day sent by an acquaintance with accompanying powerpoint of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Throughout the powerpoint there are various quotes of scripture that narrate what we see. The point is made that the Hurricane is the foreshadowing of the end of time and it is a sign of God's divine punishment for a wicked nation. At the end of the powerpoint, the statement is made that Jesus is coming back soon, so we better get right. At the end of the email, it admonishes us for sending jokes and other stuff to each other, but not stuff as important as this.

As devastating as Katrina was and as emotionally draining watching footage of what she wrought, nothing pissed me off more than this email and I'll tell you why.

1. Who the fuck are you to be saying "I told you so" about something that God did, you judgmental asshole?

2. If this was God's divine punishment, why strike the least of us with such a vengeance when they have the least to do with the direction of this country. You wanna punish the country and you fuck with BLACK PEOPLE? Squo? (that's "really" in old school Detroit slang)

3. The truth is the truth. A version is someone's side of a story. Don't quote to me from a "version"(King James, et al) quote the source. If you cannot read the source, i.e. Hebrew, then learn, oh so wise biblical scholar. Then send me what the fuck it really say.

4. Hey, bitch in the glass house! Stop throwing rocks and shit! Didn't you suck my dick on Belle Isle two months ago when your man was out of town?

5. Don't tell me what the fuck I send to other people via email. I don't send you shit. I don't really care for you that much.

You really want people to be more religious? What did Elijah say to Malcolm? Show them the clean glass, muthafucka, let them compare it to the dirty one. They'll choose to drink from the clean glass. Clean yo' glass, trick!

If I've offended anyone reading this by my outburst, please accept this in the vein it was written, as a salvo in the ongoing culture war written by a pragmatist hoping to improve on the free exchange of ideas. If you can't accept that:

Fuck You

Hopelessly Devoted to Talking Shit,
KZ