Titleless Men in our Lives

Friday, June 18, 2010 - There are many reasons to hold a month in celebration of Men.  After all, if there wasn't an International Men's Month, how would you know it's time to stroke egos and praise the crooked curtain rods? Seriously, International Men's Month is a good time to send a card to the chairman of BP and tell him how we are so happy a man is in charge of stopping the spewing oil and the cleanup of the gulf after all, the "small people"¹ will be thankful when they see the great work BP will do to clean up their screw ups.

So tell me, in a world that has been, and likely will be for many more generations to come, focused on the success of men, why do we need a month dedicated to men?  Do we need a month dedicated to ignorance - Bliss Month?  How about a month dedicated to stupidity - What the Hell Month Is It? Or we can skip the bull and go straight to Screw Up Royally Month.  Oh wait, BP has already done that.

There are thousands upon thousands of oil pouring in to the Gulf of Mexico, and there are fish, reptile and fowl washing up dead, dying or in serious distress.  The men of BP are spouting off bad crap as fast and furious as their well is spouting crude in to the waters of the gulf. I don't mind celebrating men as a month, but can we be selective of which men we will celebrate?  Cause the BaPhoons are not on my list.

How about we celebrate the fathers and brothers that have helped shape the world. There are the men we rely on - husbands, boyfriends, friends - that will never truly understand how much they are appreciated and needed.  We could celebrate them.  We could call June a month of treating those men in our lives who provide deep meaning and valu with honestly and understanding. I am a fortunate girl indeed.  There are two men in my life who fill very special places in my life. One is my best friend.  He provides me a family to which I go home and married a woman who has become the sister I never had.  Together they have given me two beautiful girls that fill the role of my nieces and give me the chance to be an aunt.   The other is a relationship that to my, defies description. Hi is my brother.  A best friend and a confidant from whom I have nothing to hide.  He is the one person in my life to whom I will openly admit my faults, mistakes, and all the bullshit that I keep solidly bottled up from everyone else.  He sees me cry, pout, shine, laugh and admit defeat.  As a unit, the three of us are joking the "id" the "ego" and the "superego."  A cohesive unit of three very different people.  These are the men in my life that I choose to celebrate for International Men's Month.  Perhaps there is much more to the concept of International Men's Month.  There is Father's Day.... self descriptive.  But what about the other men in your life?  Is there anyone who has helped shape you, or is there for you when you are certain there really isn't anyone there at all? Not your husbands or boyfriends, not the great philosophers or inventors, and not your fathers - but the other men who are sometimes left on the periphery.  These are the guys in our lives who don't have a special day, because they are there all the time.  They get a month.

Today is also Go Fishing Day.  This year I don't recommend casting a line - god knows how many crude oil balls you might catch. Instead, think long and hard before complaining about the rise in the cost of fresh seafood and the lives that will be affected by this spill and find.  I caught a fish once, and I didn't know what to do once it started flopping about on the dock in a panic.  My cousin threw a rock at it until it ceased to panic - and live.  Now the BP Chair and CEO... they should not get a month, or a day, or even an hour.  What they should get is tied to a pole out in the surf of the Gulf, and for every fish, fowl, plankton, or living thing harmed by their lack of concern for the "little people" those same little people should get to throw a rock at them. It's a little like fishing. Perhaps the Muslim extremists were on to something after all.


1.  BP Chairman - gafaw.