Tolerance. It is a virtue.
I was sitting across from my English protégé Rebecca Lawrence the other day, discussing the great actors of her home country. Naturally, I mentioned Star Trek superstar Sir Patrick Stewart. Much to my shock and horror, she responded that she has never heard of him. What’s even more appalling, she doesn’t watch Star Trek.
Sometimes it’s a challenge to live in a world with fellow sentient beings, whose outlook and experiences differ so greatly from my own. Lawrence is an OK person (or so she seems), but for her not even being familiar with Star Trek references — it’s blasphemy!
I suppose it’s a similar frustration members of my own family might feel with me. While certain Haydus find some degree of solace in the popular world religion commonly referred to as Christianity, I am not so much. Although I am perfectly fine with multiple family views on this topic, I’m not always so certain my fellow DNA sharers are similarly inclined in this regards when referring to me.
But that’s just religion. I’m talking about Star Trek here. Religions rise and fall, but the Starship Enterprise will live forever. How does one not appreciate the greatest sci-fi franchise ever? Sometimes, I don’t think Lawrence is even a geek at all.
According to Jean-Paul Sartre, Hell is other people. How true. I am constantly finding myself annoyed by a world completely unconcerned with sharing my opinions on everything.
For example, why do some people not worship the almighty Canadian Broadcasting Corporation? Don’t get me wrong, I love our local Golden West Radio channels too. However, I still consider 540 on the amplitude modulation dial to be the best source for Saskatchewan entertainment through transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light.
Yet, when I get in the company vehicle, the stereo is rarely set to CBC. How are these coworkers so different than me?
I suppose all one can do is embrace tolerance.
What an interesting concept this tolerance thing is. While I might disagree with something one says, does or believes, I recognize that, in a free society, I must tolerate that person nonetheless. I suppose that’s a good thing, because if I lived in a society filled with anti-Star Trek disbelievers, I might be the one forced to boldly go where no one has gone before . . . underground.
Fortunately, the one right we do not have in western culture is the right not to be offended. It’s such a wonderful thing too. Regardless of popular opinion on a subject, one is free to express his or her opposing views. Dissent is not considered a potential threat to our society, but rather the very fabric with which society is held together.
It’s something we perhaps take for granted too often. How boring would it be if everyone always agreed with you all the time? I couldn’t imagine a world without playful bickering and friendly quiet resentment. So much of our personalities, out senses of humour, grow out of a constant need to navigate the views of others with our own.
Conflict breeds compassion, or so some guru once said. Without never-ending tension between competing egos, there would be no need for people to grow as individuals and thrive through daily difficult social interactions.
Besides, while our Times-Herald British import might not be anything of a Star Trek fanatic, she does appreciate public radio, which is something we have in common. She even convinced me to download some BBC podcasts.
Maybe Rebecca is a bit of a geek after all.
