Pain in the Neck!

I'm typing at my computer now because after several days of no pain in my throat, it has decided to return. It hurts a bit to talk and a whole lot to swallow, so I'm doing the next best thing by whisking my fingers over my keyboard in a vain attempt to express myself.

I've sat down at the computer several times this week. I suppose it's "writer's block" to feel the need to write something, but be stymied. It's starting to haunt me a bit, this inability to come up with whatever it is that I think I should be writing about. I don't feel any pressure to perform, because my core audience is mostly people randomly arriving on this blog because of something random I said. The current favorite is "adults playing doctor" and darned if I don't need THAT kind of traffic coming here.

At a rehearsal this afternoon, a friend asked if I knew of any Super Bowl parties amongst our general acquaintence. I shook my head, because that's something that never really gelled here in Kansas City (at least in my circle of friends). My buddy then said that people may end up at the house of a tangential acquaintence. To this, I said, "I don't really care much for that guy as a person, so I won't be going."

It was the first time in recent memory that I've expressed such an opinion out loud. I'm sure we all have people we just don't like to spend time with, or even ones we outright dislike. Maybe some people tell that stuff to all their friends (their GOOD friends), but I'm the sort of person who just lets thoughts like those lie.

You may remember this person I dislike from this entry in September. That was my first official interaction with him, and I wasn't thrilled then. In the course of several social engagements after that, I feel quite justified in not liking him. Not so much that I'd openly abuse him to his face, but enough that I certainly avoid being at places where he may be. His house counts as one of those places.

So what's my moral imperative here? Should I socialize with him, hoping that I can (in my own small ways) mold him towards the way that I think men should behave? Or should I be content to turn a blind eye, letting him behave howsoever he will?

As a matter of fact, do I even have a moral obligation in this setting? I mean, he's nothing to me. I'm not related, and I don't see him more than once a month (at the most). He's not the sort of person with which I share any interests, job goals, or hobbies. I find him in all ways ungentlemanly and repugnant. Should I feel guilt for this?

I don't think so. At a certain point, everyone makes a decision. Most normal people have a point in their lives somewhere where they realize that they've been raised a certain way. Prior to this point, people may behave in certain ways only because their parents did. But eventually, everyone I know has had the realization that they are NOT their parents. This realization forces people to look at their own lives and decide if they really believe the things they think they believe.

For some people, it comes soon after they start being able to vote. When people start pigeonholing others for being "pro-life" or "pro-choice", emergent individuals learn that they need to actually decide what they think about such difficult issues. Is it better to tax people to provide them services? Or is it better to let corporations enjoy tax-free status to help them grow? Like it or not, economic policy effects everyone. And everyone needs to have a basic understanding how it works.

So, should I write him off as a fixed character of little value? Or should I assume that a man in his 30s is still awaiting the moment of clarity that gives him the opportunity to change his personality for the better?

Just to establish the grading rubric, I think that a person who uses his size to take advantage of women, who drinks to excess given any opportunity, who makes people uncomfortable with frank invasions of their personal space, and who loudly condemns anything he doesn't appreciate or understand as "stupid" is the sort of person who needs an adjustment.