COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN

If a writer isn’t complaining, what are the other options?

After a quick look since I came up with nothing, it’s praise.

Praising.

But we’re not used to praising. That needs to change.

Most of the time praise is used it sounds like PTL, Praise The Lord.

That’s big praise. Let’s look at the little praises first.

Praise your wife, your husband, your kids, grandkids. Praise the dog.

Who’s a good girl?

Baby boomers have a lot to praise, but what do we get instead?

Complain, complaint, complaining. Thanks, Karen.

Call it bitching, pissing and moaning, a bad attitude.

Let’s offer praise to those who do it right.

 

I had a nice talk about yelling and screaming. This was my part:

“If you want my advice, and this is coming from someone who has been yelled and screamed at by professionals from coaches to drill sergeants to my wife and kids; if you want my advice, don’t do it unless you know how, know the limits, and have a goal for the yelling and screaming. Otherwise it’s just being a little bitch.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with being a little bitch. Getting called a little bitch is whole other thing.

 

How To Complain Effectively

First, identify a problem with an unsatisfactory solution.

You want a problem with a bad solution because you don’t want to be the first to solve a problem.

Why? Because then bloggers would complain about you.

The other option is seeing a problem no one else sees, and complaining about that.

For instance, let’s say you’re a politician running for office in a state on the southern border.

A quick review shows California, Arizona, and Texas. Three states on one border.

Part of your campaign is solving the border problem with illegal immigrants.

By some miracle you come up with an algorithm that includes humane treatment, citizenship review, and alternate locations for those turned away.

You figured out funding and a timeline and it was perfect.

To make sure it was all you thought, you showed it to others, who showed it to others, until it made its way to Congress.

 

. . . the Biden administration proposed significant new funding for immigration enforcement along the southern border.

When congressional Republicans proposed adding major changes to asylum standards and other provisions to crack down on the flow of undocumented migrants, for the first time in 20 years, congressional Democrats and a Democratic president agreed to support enforcement legislation without adding legalization provisions.

However, instead of seizing this likely once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, House Republicans and former President Trump argued that the bill was not the hardliner wish list they preferred and successfully convinced most Senate Republicans to block the bill. 

 

If someone needs to complain, it shouldn’t be about something they shot down.

Do that and the best you can hope to be called is a whiner.

Or ‘Little Bitch.’

 

Praise For The Common Man

Anyone who’s blogged as long as me knows one thing: be authentic.

If you strive for authenticity, if you write authentically, you learn to see it in others, read it in others.

My latest brush with authentic writing comes from Patrick DeWitt.

In praise of Patrick DeWitt I bought two more of his books.

I’m reading French Exit now and loving it.

The characters complain a lot, but do it in a way I can relate to, and isn’t that the secret to progress?

My greatest exposure to the complain culture was coaching youth sports for a decade.

The big complaint? Playing time, what else.

Since I was a coach of my kids’ teams the complaint I didn’t get was favoritism.

If you’ve never addressed a roomful of parents at the beginning of soccer season then you missed a roomful of hopes and dreams.

 

Hopes and dreams were in the room during the Presidential Debate.

The common man, me, saw one man struggle on stage which I can relate to since I’m struggler.

I struggle getting blog posts out at an acceptable standard and no one’s looking.

It’s a thrilling struggle.

The other man on stage engaged in traditional shit talk, name calling, and general debasement.

One man struggled to recall the accomplishments he’s brought forward; the other sounded the klaxon of doom.

One man said his success was the success of the nation and citizens; the other said success was only possible with him.

With verbal abuse and bullying and blame, we saw one man make an appeal by repeating himself on hot button issues.

According to him we’re living in hell and he has just the air conditioner for us.

 

The common man likes seeing himself in the people they vote for.

I was a night-school state college graduate because I didn’t give up on education and wanted to finish what I’d started.

A four year degree from age 18-39.

I quit three times and started back four times. Don’t call me Rocky.

While I don’t have visions of grandeur out of proportion, I do know I’d freeze up on stage next to a bullying bullshitter spewing old lies and new.

How would your mouth not hang open and your eyes not glaze listening to a convicted sexual abuser, not rapist, go into denial about so much?

He isn’t a convicted felon on thirty-four counts because he didn’t get it on with a porn star and therefore had no reason to pay her off. Just a big misunderstanding, don’t you know?

When a guy with poor judgment of the common man wants to lead, what do we do?

First we look at the cost.

We may have a guy who says we’ll have more money in our pocket based on tax cuts and deregulation, but at what cost?

Or we may have a guy aiming to tax billionaires where they aren’t taxed, a guy who embraces science, a guy who understands the constitution without keeping a copy in his shirt pocket.

One guy is far removed from the reality of American life, but he wants a cuddle to feel wanted.

The other wants to do the job he’s elected to do.

Instead of hawking fear and dread, instead of calling his opponent a Manchurian Candidate, Joe Biden wants to go back to work, not hold another rally.

The common man says it’s an easy choice to make, not a character flaw.