Day # 8 - Let us offer eachother the sign of peace - yeah right!

It was Michael Franti of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy that said "Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury" (I think) but that is what I am going to rant about tonight. As usual for the past few nights I am late in posting this. It was one BUSY day today and, as usual, it is beginning to seem I am getting the square root of bugger all done. I try and get stuff done but then the time just runs away with me and I am left high and dry trying to get everything "else" finished. I woke quite early and began to make preparations for the day. Thursday is when I write a small column for a local paper. It is just notes on community news - something that my Mother did for ages but since the decline in her health I have taken over. I don't know if it has got some local folks' noses out of joint but something happened tonight that really hurt me.

A neighbour of ours who has been good friends with my Mother for a while - well maybe she has just been pretending - told me that she didn't want to talk to me and was not interested in me. Now whilst I could not care less - I actually couldn't care less - what bothered me was what it is that I am supposed to have done to earn her ire and disapproval. This lady is a devout Catholic - you know; "love thy neighbour as thyself" etc. but yet will not speak with me. Now, I don't actually want to speak with her - I find her to be a gossip and has a very narrow view of the world with opinions on everything - but I did telephone out of courtesy to let her know how her (supposed) friend - MY MOTHER, was doing regarding her recovery from her latest stroke. She wouldn't hear a single word and hung up on me. After telling me that "She did not want to talk to me" and "that she was not interested in me" - I consider her lack of interest in ME to be a PLUS to be completely honest.

Maybe this little scenario can explain it - I refused to accept her son's offer of a great opportunity - AMWAY! Nah, that  just can't be it. Anyone that gets into that MLM or pyramid shit needs to be sectioned. What could it be I wonder? Well, maybe this is it. About two years back or less both my parents were recovering from strokes. There was no respite care available so I arranged - with some help from a friend - to install them in one of the most luxurious hotels in Ireland for ten days so that they could chill out and enjoy some relaxation. Being the gossip that she is, this lady kept asking where my folks were. I explained that I was keeping it on the downsie and that if my Mother wanted to tell her she would find out in due course. After all it was nobody's business except ours and I was respecting my Mother's wishes of privacy. Anyway, after my Mother got back, along with my late Father, this lady wasted no time in trying to extract the information regarding their whereabouts. Like she was entitled to know.  My Mother politely obliged and all seemed well - on the surface. I became aware after a short time that the lady was being very cool and somewhat curt towards me. I had no idea why and pretty soon my curiosity got the better of me and I elected to ask what the problem was. She said it was because I was "telling her lies". WTF? Lies? I wasn't telling her anything. This wasn't the way that she saw it. I tried to explain that I was just following orders from my boss (Mum) and that I wasn't going to disobey them. The lady (I am so tempted to put quotes on that word) took enormous exception to this.

Now, I am not going to waste too much more time on this absurdity but suffice to say that it struck me as somewhat hypocritical of her to start accusing me of lying when I was doing what any dutiful son would - respecting my parents' wishes. They hadn't been on holiday in nearly twenty years and a few days without the usual stuff - and especially that they were recovering from potentially life threatening events - would be good for them. I would have liked to have flown them to the Maldives for two weeks but the hotel was all I could manage. I also considered it expedient, in terms of the relevant distance from the hospital, that they would be proximate should either of them need to get medical attention suddenly. It made nothing but sense to me. Not to the lady - she was affronted because she felt entitled to know. and wasn't getting what she felt entitled to. That is a big problem amongst some folks these days. Now, whilst she may have felt that way, I was doing only as I was asked and to be honest - a break is a break - it's about getting away from all the regular shite that one would normally have to put up with - INCLUDING her ladyship.

I am sorry that she was so affronted but what was I to do? I am not in the business of lying and I certainly never seek to offend women yet I was "guilty" of both "crimes". I wish that the lady would be true to her faith and forgive me - love her neighbour as herself - bear not false witness against thy neighbour -  as her faith dictates. Perhaps though, something granted her leave - in her own head -  her self righteousness - in her own head, to behave as she has. She MUST be right because she "believes" that I am wrong - her faith tells her as much and consequently her argument is unanswerable. Her position, unassailable. Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury. I'm quite tempted to go to mass when she does and wait for when the priest says; "Let Us Offer Eachother The Sign of Peace" - yeah, right. I am sure that that would go down like a lead zeppelin though. Poor lady. I hope that she is ok. But then I expect she HAS to be - she believes it, so it must be so. It must be I that have to be the evil one. Sad really. I wonder if she really believes in the power of love and forgiveness but reserves hatred and resentment for the chosen ones that seek to be as individual as she does and yet objects to that same individuality when it is convenient to do so. Truly it is saddening. I'll try not to think of it too much and get a decent nights' sleep.