Ya Harvard Professor!
These are the words that were shouted at @heyitsbriancook as we crossed the street last night on our way to meet friends. The driver, angry that we crossed without the light, screamed and honked at us, then stopped his car to really get into it. That’s when he labeled Brian with that age-old slur of a ‘Harvard professor’. We laughed the rest of the walk and I offered to buy B a sweatshirt at the Harvard Co-op. But when I woke up this morning thinking about it, I wasn’t laughing.
Several things happened in last night’s moment, not the least of which was our realization that people are a different kind of mad. We had done no wrong to him, hadn’t actually even inconvenienced him, and yet he stopped traffic to scream at us. Triggered seems to be the chronic status update of this country. The lesson: we have no idea what pain people might be experiencing in their lives. Soft voices and gentle hands are the way to walk in the world now. Compassion might save you from getting killed.
The other revelation was this man’s weapon of choice. The most vile name he could think to call Brian was an educated, and possibly tenured, academic at one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. Additionally, crossing the street seemed to also indicate a political party preference. Privilege and intelligence are labeled as evils. Aren’t we supposed to strive for higher intelligence? Isn’t capitalism about achieving success?
We are in a communications war driven by false narratives around entitlement, designed to ignite egos. EVERYONE is walking around with an unsatiated and wounded ego, but when the messaging is telling you others have more and they think you’re less, then we turn on each other.
I’m betting that man doesn’t personally know a Harvard professor. And if he has kids, he would be proud if they got into the school. But maybe he wouldn’t let them go because of the “liberal agenda”. That’s how we ruin ourselves.
What are we doing? Why are we sacrificing our sanity and our success to the madness? We need to wake up and realize we are all going though different flavors of the same pain. And shoving that pain onto others is killing us all.