There's a big rumpus going on in North Carolina about people painting their houses "wild" colors that make their neighbors uncomfortable and fearful for their property values. You can see the video at http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/3036498/.Those folks should come on down to New Mexico where the colors both inside and out will knock their socks off. My dining room here is a nice orange--the same color it was when we bought it. I would never have thought to have painted a room that color but I love living with it. Visitors from the conservative East love it too! Outside, my house is brick--not a lot I can do there. I have to push the button that makes my garage door go up so I can figure out which house is mine, and that makes my "wild" interior colors even more important to me.
That lady in the North Carolina video who said "this is how it starts...and it's going to get out of control" (about someone painting their house anything but beige), was really, really scary. It's a little enough thing, allowing your neighbors freedom to make their house look individually theirs. Perhaps she felt enabled by the current government administration that has chosen to ignore the rights of others and, indeed, the Constitution of our country in so many ways. Perhaps she felt that she could pressure her neighbors into following her own beliefs.
We've just lived through a big controversy here in this little eastern New Mexican town where one group of people was trying to impose their beliefs on another group of people and a lot of feelings were hurt in the process. There were a lot of names being called, Bibles being quoted, and generalizations being made. Many young people, appalled by the foolishness, said they couldn't wait to see this town in their rear view mirror and didn't plan to come back again. It was an unpleasant time for all and has fundamentally changed the way I feel about this town, which means that I am guilty of generalizing, too.
I really don't like it when people want other people to be just like them. I don't think that's who we are.
2 comments:
Clair ~ I was with you all the way in this entry - let everyone paint their houses (interiors at least) any darn color they like... I'm for it. But then when I got to the part where the "current administration" that has "chosen to ignore the Constitution of our country" was brought into the conversation, I knew I could read no further. I have seen George W. Bush blamed for a whole lot of stuff over the past 7 years, but never for keeping people from painting their houses the colors they like.
Yep, that was kind of a leap, even for me.
Let's just agree to agree on painting colors and agree to disagree on politics. We have too much fun discussing other things!
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