Tolerance

I am going to come right out and tell you that I do not like the word tolerance. I became especially aware of my dislike when I started hearing so much of it in diversity trainings.

Think about it for a minute people. What things in life do you tolerate? Some things that come to mind for me are ants, sometimes mice, cigarette smoke and someone loudly on their mobile in public for a few. Okay, all of these things are lip flippin' irritations to me - but sometimes I am in a position where I have to tolerate them. You probably have your own list of stuff that you would really rather not experience, yes? I don't want to be bothered with them and I want them to go away a.s.a.p. I have no intention of changing my perspective on them and will do my best to remove myself or remove whatever it is that I am tolerating at the time.

That's where good ol' human beings come in. The thought of someone tolerating me - be it due to my gender, ethnicity, faith or whatever is reprehensible to me! Puleeze! Do Not, I repeat, Do Not tolerate me! Get out of my way and I will get out of yours. Do any of us truly want to be tolerated? Maybe we can reach an understanding, maybe we can negotiate and agree where we can and agree to disagree where we can't. I have an open mind/spirit to most human beings but not all. There are acts that are so vile or heinous that people commit which cause me to know that I cannot expend one iota of energy 'understanding'. Nope, that is what Jesus is for. Otherwise, let's be decent folks, okay.

We are all different and that to me is a wonderful thing. It is not painful or unpleasant for me to get to know who you are and where you are coming from. If we reach a point that no more need be said then so be it. I didn't tolerate you though my sister or brother, I got to experience another human being sharing with me who they are and maybe they told me a little bit about what they need in the world to get along. Maybe I have some of that to offer and maybe I don't now but will develop some skills in that area. No matter. We experienced each other.