Saturday, February 21, 2009

Knuck if you Buck

There's this song that came out like three or four years ago called "Knuck if you Buck." My friend Ethan used to say it to me in high school, which is how I learned it. Basically, it means "if you're gonna talk crap, you better be willing to throw down and fight."(SH pride! Go Irish)
So today, after playing this ridiculous game called Munchkins, some friends and I went to La Burrita to grab some yum yum goodness in the form of a taco salad. While we were chillin there, waiting for our food, we overhear some stuff going down at the tables where some people are eating. This one fool was doing a lot of talking to this asian guy sitting at another table. He was saying a bunch of pretty messed up stuff about asian people and was just being a real jerk to him. Me and my friends just looked at each other like... wow this guy's a real idiot. I was standing pretty close to the dude, but my back was turned because I was seriously getting fed up with his crap. He kept on talking sh- and I could feel him tapping on my backpack. At that point, in my head I'm just like, Oh hell no. My trusty sympathetic nervous system kicks in, heart starts beating, fists clench, four letter words start working their way into my head. And it's just like, I need to get out of this place or else I'm gonna go Chris Brown on this guy.So I walk out of the place, I really feel like kicking the parking meter, but I know that wouldn't do anyone any good, so I just kinda walk it off. Surressly though, the guy was so ignorant.
But have you ever had experiences like that? I can point to a couple instances in my life where I've been in small confrontations with strangers. And that kinda stuff just sticks in my mind for hecka long and I just think of all the things I could have said. There are generally a couple approaches that I always consider:
1) Excessively Sarcastic Approach (ESA) - you combat their ignorance by being an even better and more skilled jerk. You attack sensitive subjects, you disregard any concern for their feelings, and you use the most ridiculously annoying tone of voice.
2) Logical Argument Approach (LAA) - you combat their ignorance with superior logic, rhetoric, and argumentative skillz. With great Berkeley intelligence, you make them doubt their own abilities and knowledge, or maybe you are willing to simply reach an understandable compromise with them.
3) Feigned Deafness Approach (FDA, not to be confused with the Food and Drug Administration) - you frustrate and thus silence your opponent by completely ignoring them and showing absolutely no emotion.
4) Loving Christian Approach (LCA) - you silence them with kindness and goodwill, doing your best not to get angry or frustrated, no matter how much crap they talk. You put on a big smile, shake their hand, buy them food, and maybe even give them a hug, because you know they are loved by God and therefore have just as much worth as you do.... ok I dunno.

As I was walking home, I was definitely thinking through these four techniques. And then I kinda got stuck on the LCA... If, hypothetically, I went up to the crap-talking dude while he was being a jerk, and I said with a sincere heart, "You know, I don't know why you're saying all this crap, but there's this God up there and he's still crazy about you, no matter how much garbage comes outta your mouth." what would he do? Call me a faggot like he was doing to everyone else? What would Jesus do in this situation (cliche phrase, yes, but it bears some thought)? What does it really mean when we're told to love our enemies? Jesus seemed to practice a little of the FDA and the LCA while he was being mocked on his way to the cross... He didn't say much at all, but he did pray for their forgiveness. I think if I tried to do a little LCA, I'd still be muttering cuss words under my breath. I guess it's something I gotta work on. But I think tonight was good food for thought... How do we love the people who are ridiculously hard to love? Hopefully I won't have to have another encounter like tonight's anytime soon, but I'm sure something like this will come again. I'll start working on my LCA.

2 comments:

iamkatinthehat said...

Oh deng, not gonna lie. I was JUST thinking about this this morning. Well not the whole thing, but about forgiveness and loving people that are hard to love. I got a telephone call from someone I extremely dislike first thing in the morning and it just about almost ruined my day. But you're totally right. Loving people who are hard to love..or even people you don't think deserve your love is ridiculously difficult. That's why God is so great though isn't it? He's able to do stuff and help us do stuff that is basically impossible for us to do.

Anonymous said...

First a lil something something that i think u're going to be interested in.

http://www.9marks.org/CC_Content_Page/0,,PTID314526|CHID616736|CIID,00.html

second, your blogs are starting to remind me of this column in our school newspaper. The girl's name is Lynn La. She's hilarious. You're not Lynn Loo La status yet, but I think you can get yourself there if you keep writing.

Anyways, i'm not sure if i've told you this before, but freshman year of high school i totally had a racist experience. I was on the street car going home after church one day when some dude in a wheelchair came in. i always sit in the front so i got up. He stayed near the door, so i decided to sit back down. then he motioned me to move so i got back up. So i was looking at my cool new WOW 2002 cd. and then i looked up and the guy had this sign that basically called all asians devil people and that God hates asians and so on. I wanted to go up to him and ask him if he was jealous of my beautiful working legs or the fact that i have a home to go back to every night. of course i didnt do anything cause im a pansy, but i think about tat experience every now and then and i wonder what Jesus would do. Would he totally school that guy in a battle of wits? Would he come up to me, hug me and tell me that He loves me? Would he heal the guy's legs and tell him not to tell anyone? Would He refuse to allow Him into the Kingdom of Heaven?

Anyways, it all comes back to me i feel. Because at the end of the day, i'm no better than that guy. I'm am quite the sinner, yet Jesus still died for my sins. If Christ can show me love like that, the least I can do is to share that love back. This is really hypocritical come from a jerk like me. but think of it this way, if you go out and do your homeless ministry thing and a homeless dude cusses you, you wouldn't shun that guy now would you? From my experience, people would actually pray for that guy to open up his heart to Jesus and so forth. Iono, this is getting kinda long.

Good luck with the homeless ministry thing. drop me a line when u can.

love ya

-donad