AGAINST

It's everywhere.  It's a Movement that is increasingly permeating all facets of our society.  Few aspects of the American cultural, economic, social and political landscape have been untouched by the Movement.  Consider it as an unstoppable tsunami of negativity.  We refer, of course, to what many are now coining as the Against Movement.


That A.M. has effectively penetrated the deeper levels of daily life we need only point to a particular grandson whose initials, coincidentally, include one of the letters of the Movement.  Until recently this child has displayed largely a loveable and congenial, if not happy, demeanor.  No longer.  Like the spring pollen that knows no barrier as it encroaches upon clean floors and furniture, dashboards and disc drives, dusting with its Annoying resemblance to the Green that we normally treasure at this time of the year,... but I digress.

This young lad Appears to be turning into a poster child for A.M.  From the moment after waking and continuing throughout an Active day his Attitude is often - and fussingly - "no".  Whether it concerns the exchange of pajamas for shirt & pants, the insertion of his hearing aids, playing outside or inside, reading this book or that, or using his right foot or left foot first to get into the bath - whatever the situation he is inclined to be Against the customary, the necessary, or grandparently options.

We must act against this growing tendency of his to be against.  Though a harsh measure, we will be limiting his outdoor time, for example, particularly on short walks in the neighborhood of 1406 - at least until May 8.

You may not agree with the tactic, but those of us who feel compelled to stand against  resist the cultural drift must be willing to do whatever it takes to raise our grandchildren to care For the world and For one's individual responsibilities.  Of course, on a lesser note one less person's shoes tracking pollen into the house is a small gesture for... ah, I am digressing again.

The above illustration is obviously personal though many are affected similarly.  However, the decisions by certain local university employees student-athletes to forgo the completion of their college degrees for the lure of potentially big and immediate salaries is another troubling illustration of society's decline into the swampland of the A.M.  Though once they demonstrated with us Against Wall Street and the outrageously excessive salaries of corporate executives, they have sacrificed principle and turned Against and away from that higher calling.

What is the world coming to?  Who[m] can we trust?  And speaking of trust, yet another example of the A.M. is the recent announcement by prominent citizens# to organize for their particular rights.  Calling themselves by the winsome acronym WHABKBOMNsDTtMUSE!**  (The "!" is an important part both of the acronym, curiously, and the message.)  Purple - so as not to be construed as a covert movement of the Republicans, Democrats, Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians, Communists,  Monarchists, or GLBT, for example, and so as to send the message that the Movement includes people from all persuasions, preferences, political diatribes, passions, picayune notions and pocketbooks - placards will be appearing soon, according to anonymous sources close to the Source, that will feature the word MIDDLE.  Also, blogs will be resurrected, Facebook entries updated and letter writing campaigns will form a backbone of the Movement.^  In solidarity with the Global Green Movement on March 31 WHABKBOMNsDTtMUSE! members and friends will form two lines from Des Moines and Akron, each half facing Chicago (appropriately in what all agree is the Midwest), while intoning "middle" thirty times (in the middle of each minute, from fifteen seconds after to fifteen seconds before).  Scientists are predicting that the tremors of sound emitted will force an updraft of current that is likely to stem the fall of pollen in the region until... but A forecast of showers may Alter the experiment.

This Movement is yet one more indication that the world is round, as history continues its own full circle rotation.  In the words of A never forgotten cry:  Remember the Alamo!

** WeHaveAlwaysBeenKnownByOurMiddleNamessoDon'tTrytoMakeUsSomeoneElse!
# Charles A. Poole, James A. Stark, and Gary S. Hawkins to name only several...
^ This just in: The coalition is likely to grow as those who have no middle name and similarly mistreated by the Public are soon to ally their numbers with WHABKBOMNsDTtMUSE!

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The above was posted on behalf of - clearly not against - the spirit of April 1.