Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Hey! you want to know what’s wrong with being a clark? Well, not so much a description of the negative aspects of the experience of living in the personal reality of the Outsider, as I mean, the things that clarks think of doing that don’t really help.
We expect to learn to be happy, (with our lives/with Life/for no other reason than it’s better than being un-happy). And, by ‘learn’, I mean discover, uncover or recover facts and information, technique and procedure that we count on resulting in our feeling the way that real people appear to feel… sometimes. That second verb in the previous sentence, that’s what prompted this post. Actually what really prompted this post was what I was doing before being prompted.
Here on a faux holiday, (Happy New Year .1!!!!) (don’t even ask me about the short time I spent in front of the TV observing the Rose Bowl parade)… Phyllis is a roger, so it’s understandable that she would watch the parade. I am, of course, a clark and so I wouldn’t watch a parade if eternal salvation and a publishing deal for Almira hung in the balance. I would, as implied, observe a parade. That’s kinda what clarks do, observe and watch and such. You know, trying to discover shit. Anyway, I was observing the parade and, well, words fail me. Sure, there were floats from various civic groups and even a couple of movie franchises, but mostly the parade appeared to consist of 3D commercials for products and services. ‘Farmers whoever Insurance’ had a float, Air China had a float and the ‘announcers’ totally waxed poetic about how much the fine folks at Farmers really cared about us, going so far as telling a story about some family dog that almost got killed by (accidentally) starting a fire that burned his family’s house to the ground, while all the his humans were off in Florida on vacation… “But!” our announcer proclaimed, “they still were covered! That’s how much Farmers cares.” No, seriously, that is what they said on TV, only with professionally replicated emotion. Fine, cheesy, but fine.
But then, out of nowhere, (it might have been following the Petaluma Marching Band ‘with members from 6 countries!’), someone said, “..and coming down the boulevard next, Lisa, is a beautiful float sponsored by the Lutheran Church and it’s in honor of Martin Luther and the Reformation.”
No. Way. (to her credit Phyllis was laughing too hard to get all of the religious history that had to have been crammed on the teleprompter for Lisa Gibbons and some guy with sincere eyes and a semi-mature crop of hair plugs, to read. But it happened and it still was not the weird part. The weird part was the next float. It was sponsored by Western Asset Management Corporation. The crowds waved back at the people riding the float. Apparently the term ‘asset management’, as applied to a large corporation is not instantly recognizable as identifying a company that takes foreclosed properties and arranges to put the now empty homes on the open market.
I stared at the TV.
But that’s not what prompted this post.
What prompted this post was that I spent time searching through 1600 or so Doctrine Posts looking for one to reprint. I actually spent time going through the archives reading the January 3rd posts for each of the previous years, all in the hopes of finding something that would pass as a readable post tomorrow January 3rd …2017
what a fricken clark I am!
About clarkscottroger
I wouldn’t even observe a parade. I think I’m a Scott.
lol…
I made myself go to parades for the children. Always for the children. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve seen one parade, you’ve seen them all.
I haven’t been to one in many years. There wasn’t quite the same amount of advertising and ridiculous sponsors at the Indy 500 parade of yor. Don’t know if it’s changed. But seriously, a Lutheran float in honor of the Reformation?!?!? Ha! Glad I don’t watch parades.
I did hear it took 80,000 volunteer hours to put all those flowers on the floats. Little bit o trivia for ya. :)
Happy New Year, Clark!
Happy New Year, Christine
80,000 volunteer hours… to build giraffes out of gardenias… ayiiee!
parades created by and for (the amusement) of our rogerian brethren. the orderliness and ‘conformity in motion’ the quantifiable universe in 3 hours
I am also the consummate observer, ever analyzing what I see. Why are they doing that? And most assuredly… wouldn’t it be better if…? I am quick to find flaws, to judge, to know a better way. Either I have lost the child-like ability to just accept what I see and appreciate it for what it is… a pretty creation of flowers rolling down the street, or I realize it to be yet another mass-marketing ploy to slip things past our subconscious with little notice. I also remember a time when the Macy’s parade didn’t feature a pop singer on every float and the Rose Parade really was about the flowery creations themselves, adorned with beautiful women doing the “princess wave”. I am weary of ball stadiums named for their corporate sponsors, and endless efforts to indoctrinate us into conformist belief. At times I find it preferable to shut the tv off.. in fact most of the time I find it preferable to leave it off! Unfortunately, the Papa Bear doesn’t share my observant angst, and enjoys watching tv as he relaxes in the evenings and on weekends.
I totally agree and have made the effort to simply not pay attention to the ‘real world’ in particular news and current events. It’s amazing how, after only a short time cutting off bleating voices, more energy I find I have for the things that matter to me.
I also avoid the “news” (which could be more accurately labelled by less positive terms) and sensationalized current events. I am happy in my little world where people care about each other, good things do happen, and life goes on despite the odds. Most news is old news before long anyway, and watching that crap at bedtime is the stuff of nightmares!
The clark that never stops observing, thinking, doing…for the attainment of knowledge. Nice post, Señor Clark.
thank you Señora Cynthia ;]
Doesn’t that just bug the shit out of you? lol The searching for something past, somewhere else, the insistence you can find it quickly until so much time has been frittered away you don’t even realize the potential new and creative ideas you might have had but for the insistence of looking “behind”.
fortunately (for us) the here and now never goes anywhere, (it’s us who have run off searching for something that it’s true and actual form) is right here in front of us.
And thank goodness you are such a freaking Clark because this was a thoroughly enjoyable post
thank you,z!