Monday, April 4, 2011

I Blame Fred


Damn you, Fred Rogers
for telling me I was special
You really had me going there for a while
and the whole time
you were telling everybody in the country
that they were special, too
while the Asian kids were kicking our asses
in math and science
because they knew that they were not special
and they had to work hard
because there were thousands of others
ready to take their place should they fuck up

Now the neighborhood is in shambles
and we are left standing in the unemployment line
wearing our button-up sweaters

30 comments:

  1. I love it when you stay firmly planted on the ground.I also like it when you go spiraling off.But so many poets are deliberately obscure and opaque.I think it may have a touch to do with ego.But then,I am a nonfiction person!

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  2. oh, nice bit of social commentary...i do think we are special, but we have fallen so far...

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  3. But Charlie, you are special. (And yes, I love Mr. Rogers!) Great poem.

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  4. good point made in a memorable way - much stronger for not being in the slightest bit strident.

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  5. LOL! I'm going to put on my loafers now, Charlie.

    Hey, wait a minute... wasn't Charlie the name of Mr. Roger's trolly car?

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  6. Ok, Charlie...the funniest dang thing I've read in quite awhile! Vb

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  7. I watched Mr. Rogers with my daughter. I'm glad she isn't standing in the unemployment line.

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  8. sad, powerful message,

    I watched the show when my kids are young,
    entertaining but may not suit the reality.

    Happy Rally.

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  9. He may have been a sap but he was a kind man with a soft voice and a way to charm the children; he was back to back with Sesame Street where everything was not always rosy. There were always problems to be solved and new things to be learned. You did after all learn to read and write. 60 to 80% of the world didn't. Blame who you will, but I doubt your college rankings were Mr. Rogers fault

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  10. I'm sorry Charlie. I didn't mean to sound harsh and critical but it came out that way. I know you wrote it lightly and I should have responded in kind. I have had a lot on my mind lately and I guess I just flashed back on the good times my children had watching those shows when they were small. I apologize and promise to be more supportive in future.

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  11. An eye-opening look at society. Well done

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  12. If only he had told all the kids that a good student was special, not to mention cool. Could have changed a lot. Still, we should have known better than to trust anyone who would wear a sweater like that. ;-)

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  13. ahaha! real moments in here but somebody forgets that we are all special. Peace :)

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  14. wohoho! i love people who voices it out! my thursday~ http://fiveloaf.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/let-it-be-it/

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  15. So true. Hard times for all of us, my future truely scares me... Strong, well put message.

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  16. Strong message, sad even, well done!

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  17. ..please visit poets who are here, but you did not reach initially, thanks, we call it return favors, part of the rule,
    bless your Friday.

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  18. very current here in the UK and applicable i'm sure worldwide. Great social observation well done

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  19. There is a point in what you say, but you know the fact that you or anybody else are in the unemployment line it doesn't mean you're not special anymore or you haven't ever been! It means that the folks who designed this whole system have done the math wrong! That was the best I've read tonight! Absolutely enjoyed it!

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  20. wow! this was a great piece of writing! so true sadly.

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  21. There's no denying to the fact that we are all special but I do agree with you. You painted a very vivid image in the last part of the poem...I could "see" people standing in a line wearing button-up sweaters. Great read!!

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  22. hmmm interesting...what we're told does not ultimately define us it seems as the Asians sure did amount to lots more than what they were told to believe, I guess. Enjoy the rally!

    http://lynnaima.wordpress.com/

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  23. I am alien to Fred Rogers whoever he is...as I am Asian?

    Nevertheless the message is well said! It is part of humanity, everything that happens, happen for a reason! But some are sad and discouraging like that of your verses!

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  24. There's a lot to be said for ass-kicking!!lol

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  25. hmmm. but even when i wear the sweater that my grandmother made for my grandfather - that he passed down to his daughter, the seventh of nine - who gently handed his 'elderly green' doesn't-need-patches-YET, and buttons with 'empereur napoleon' - he doesn't believe that poverty is about work.

    also, old minnesotans with fathers who worked on the railroad like to call different 'special.'

    so it hit me.

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