I Don't Get It

Welcome to a brand new feature to this space that I'm calling "I Don't Get It." I Don't Get It is dedicated to all news, laws, music, products, fads, cultural conditions, people, or anything else that I can't, for the life of me, understand no matter how hard I try. As you can imagine my list is incredibly long, and growing longer all the time, so it's a pretty good bet that this feature will go on for quite a while.

Okay, let's start with people who drive cars while using their electronic devices. I don't get it. Whether hands free or not, don't people understand that diverting one's attention from the business of driving a car is dangerous? I can tell that I'm behind some idiot who is texting or using some sort of electronic gadget when his car is going exceptionally slow or weaving from side to side. And if the driver's head is down, well then that's a pretty good indication that the genius is dialing up a number or choosing music from a playlist or doing something else other than paying attention to the road.

I don't get adult men who wear flip-flops in public places other than the beach or at a swimming pool. You see them at shopping malls, in restaurants, movies, all over. Three things: number one, walking around outside with open shoes is a great way to get your feet dirty. Number two; with your feet exposed you increase your chances of stubbing your toes or hurting your feet in other ways. And Number three, men's feet are ugly and the rest of us don't want to have to look at them.

I don't get our culture's current embrace of marijuana smoking. Much of this is coming from the liberal side of society including the news media, the entertainment industry, and many so-called progressive thinkers. Our new-relaxed attitude and state laws legalizing this dope is spreading like weeds, if you pardon the expression.

Why is smoke okay if it comes from marijuana but not okay if it comes from tobacco? I realize the chemicals are different in the two, but isn't inhaling smoke deep into the lungs a bad thing in any case? And when is it ever a great idea for people to get "high" whether it's from booze or from pot? The question to me isn't whether smoking pot is any worse than drinking alcohol; it is do we really need another legalized way for people to become intoxicated? How does it benefit our society to give young people another route to escape reality?

I don't get why saying "ALL lives matter" is offensive to some people. How can that idea be wrong? Of course it's not, and yet in some circles using that phrase is taken as an insult or something. Here's a recent case in point: Fox News' Shepard Smith has recently come under fire from viewers for objecting to former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's use of the phrase "all lives matter" during an interview last Sunday.

While discussing the three police officers who were fatally shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday, Jindal told Smith, "Look . . . it is time for folks across party lines, across ideological lines to condemn this violence, to condemn this insanity. We've got to come together. We've got to say that all lives matter, doesn't matter what color you are, black, white, brown, red, it doesn't matter. All lives matter. We've got to protect and value our belief --"

Smith then interrupted Jindal saying the "phrase you just used is one that is seen by many as derogatory. I just wonder why it is that you used that phrase when there's a certain segment of the population that believes it's a real dig on them," Smith said. Jindal replied, "It's not meant to be. The point is we've got to move beyond race,"

Jindal continued, "We shouldn't be divided, we do need to be united. These are police officers, they don't care whether you're black or white, they will run towards danger to protect you. That's what they swear . . . that's their duty, that's what they do for us. These are heroes." Jindal added that "We're all sons and daughters of God, created in his image" and called for fasting and prayer for the nation. Later in the interview, when Jindal reiterated his belief that "all lives matter" -- regardless of color -- Smith interjected: "I don't understand why -- governor why do you say that? I mean, you know that's a very, very divisive phrase that a lot of people hear and become really upset about, and I just wonder why you keep using it," Smith said.

So Shepard Smith takes what most logical thinking people would consider a noble and uniting idea and twists it into some sort of racial insult. Talk about bomb throwers. Why is this guy still on the air? I don't get it.

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JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. He's been a JWR contributor since 1999.