Dr Seuss, the Sunday Paper, and Other Self-Reflections

Recently, someone I considered a pretty good friend told me that he didn't understand me. It's been a wake up call--I've been in disbelief about the statement because I've always considered myself a straightforward person. Someone who is easy to read, maybe deceptively simple, unwaiveringly honest, transparent, and free from subterfuge and games. Is contemporary society really so complicated and insincere that someone genuine becomes baffling? I admit I have some major faults. I can be tactless and even critical at times. At times, I approach most things, including emotions and relationships, as if they were just one more interesting discussion topic, which has caused a few people to accuse me of being cold sometimes, or rigid in my views of fluid feelings. But all in all, I've never considered myself a complicated person.

But maybe I am more hard to read than I realized. Last night I was out with a few friends, one of whom said I was the most "academic non-academic I know." I denied it and said, "I'm a bookish theorist, which can make it seem like I'm an academic, but it's an entirely different thing." Complicated?

This morning, Esposo and I had some errands to run before Himal came home from a visit to his grandparents' house. Since it was a Sunday morning, we decided to go out for espresso first. As we sat down (I with my cortado, which the barrista told me his favorite drink to make because no one--but me--ever orders it), as Esposo and everyone else snapped open their Sunday papers, I opened my latest colorful Dr Seuss picture book and immersed myself in The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Complicated?! But it seems so simple, and it makes perfect sense to me....

When I saw Esposo reading the headline story on education in America, and we started an intense discusion of my fairly radical views on education...then I remembered the views I expressed on Disney movies at work the other day (how I've never liked Disney, even from a very young age, and I hate how Disney manipulates the viewers' emotions), I stopped.

"Esposo, am I a difficult person to understand? I'm not, am I? I'm the easiest person in the world to understand!"
"Actually...the normal person is not going to understand you."
"What?! That's impossible. I'm completely transparent."
"You may be transparent, but you have too much depth. The normal person cannot see to the bottom of so much depth. The normal person is not going to understand how deeply you feel about things, or understand your position on some issues."

I tell you. My world has been upset.