At least he has a fun name to say

Nothing like a dictator to incite the American public.

Our Iranian friend, President Ahmadinejad, made his appearance today at Columbia University. There seem to be people on both sides of the fence, with most Americans protesting his invitation to speak at the university.

I'm a bit torn on the subject. On the one hand, what he has done - and what he does - is despicable. On the other hand, we should allow ourselves to hear what he has to say. Freedom of speech has nothing to do with it, per se. It's more of the opportunity to hear differing perspectives and to open our minds to what is out in the world.

I won't go into all the details, but back when I was at the Old Gold and Black at Wake (the student newspaper), an advertising insert went into the paper. It turned out to be a pamphlet called "The Revisionist" which said, in a nutshell, that the Holocaust was a figment of the Jewish imagination. Some students on campus were outraged (most didn't care either way, unfortunately) and censored the insert.

But here was the perfect opportunity to talk about that. To talk about revisionism and what it means in history. To open our eyes to beliefs that exist beyond our limited view of the world and to understand what they are and why we should disagree. Should we give ignorance, give evil a chance to be studied and talked about? Yes. Simply because ignorance and evil exist and without knowing the foundation of why it exists or what the underlying beliefs are, then we can never attack it at the core and disband it forever.

I think Ahmadinejad should have been given the opportunity to speak. I want to know what he's all about and to understand that foundation of his evil regime. Because then we can tear it apart, bit by bit, and educate others on why it is wrong. And only by that education can we perhaps prevent another dictator like him from doing the same thing.

Knowledge is such a powerful instrument. But to use it to our greatest advantage means that sometimes we have to hear what we don't want to hear, open the wounds and allow ourselves to be pained in order to stem the infusion of hate and outwit the spread of ignorance.

I lead a boring life

Every year, my firm does an off-site, where we spend three days talking about the firm and having fun. And every year there's this tradition where they do "fun" (note the quotation marks) with the new hires from that year. One of them being the game "Three Truths and a Lie". This is the inane game some evil person made up, where you state three truths and a lie about yourself and everyone tries to guess the lie.

I say an evil person made it up because I can't think of one damn interesting thing about me. I lead a very boring life. I haven't done anything spectacular. No drama. No crazy adventure in Tibet. No skydiving over the hills of Kentucky. No chase from the KGB out of Russia. Nothing. Just a little piano. Some travel. And a random meeting with Tammy Faye.

At this same off-site, everyone tells a funny travel story (since we travel a lot). And they award a prize to the best/funniest travel story. Again, not a damn thing interesting has happened while I traveled. No crazy dash for the airplane. No being tagged as a security threat. No parachuting off of a plunging plane.

I got nothing.

Just shut up and deal with it

I was on a flight this afternoon (I was a bit nervous about flying on the day-anniversay of September 11th, but everything turned out fine, obviously) from Indianapolis to Atlanta. Once we pushed off from the gate and made our way to the runway, the pilot came on to tell us that there was a weather system over Atlanta and we would have to wait until it passed over.

I don't have a problem with this. Whenever possible, I like to avoid flying into potentially hazardous weather. I have a hard enough time as it is, dealing with a little turbulence in the air. The last thing I want is to hit some crazy air pocket and dive nose-first into the ground. (OK, so maybe I'm being a bit over-dramatic).

At this time, the pilot said we could use our cell phones while we waited the 40-minutes or so to get clearance. As if on cue, everyone's cell phones popped open and people started dialing. They dialed their loved ones. They dialed their friends. They dialed anyone that would listen to them complain. Because that's exactly what everyone proceeded to do for the next 40 minutes.

"I'm sitting here on the tarmac and of course we haven't lifted off yet..."
"It's going to be 40 minutes before we leave..."
"With the day I've had, this just tops it off...."

I just did my crossword puzzle, trying to think of an 8-letter word for "a paycheck deduction, for some". (The answer is State Tax, in case you're wondering).

You know what? We can't control the weather. We're just sitting here for a few minutes. And they are even allowing you to use your cell phone. Why do you have to use it to complain?

Especially on the 6-year anniversary of one of the biggest tragedies our nation has face. On an anniversary of a day when people lost their lives and their loved ones in the blink of an eye. All we have to deal with is sitting on a plane for an extra 40 minutes.

So shut up. And deal.