I’m sure the ‘crackpot’ in Pepe’s restaurant incident thinks he’s the 'hero’

There’s a reason why I have problems with anybody who feels compelled to complain about “political correctness” and what they want to describe as the censoring of anybody who dares speak their mind.
 

How many are bothered by story's slant?

Usually, it turns out that the individual is some sort of jerk who’s upset that the bulk of society (the real majority, not the so-called silent one) is lambasting them for saying something stupid. For treating their ridiculous thoughts as absurdly as they deserve.

AND FOR REFUSING to give them the “last word” on the issue; which is what they really want – the ability to talk trash and have no one call them out on their inanity. Or more appropriately, to be rude in public and get away with it!

That sentiment popped into my mind when I learned of the incident Monday at a Pepe’s restaurant in suburban Hickory Hills where a customer felt compelled to make derogatory remarks to teenage girls who also happened to be eating there.

The girls were Muslim and were wearing headscarves (the gesture of modesty that is part of their religious faith), and it seems the customer was offended by their presence at the same “Mexican” restaurant he chose to dine at.

When the girls tried confronting him about his comments, the customer’s response was to tell them to “leave the country.” When one of the girls called the customer “disgusting,” he responded by becoming physically aggressive, although the girls managed to leave before anyone got hurt.

THE DAILY SOUTHTOWN newspaper reported Thursday that the incident was reported to police by the restaurant’s management and by one of the girls, and that police are studying various videos to try to figure out who the customer was.

Although the newspaper also reported that restaurant management knew the customer as a semi-regular patron of the Hickory Hills restaurant, and plan to inform him he’s no longer welcome to eat there.

Looking at this incident, it is kind of reassuring. Someone who is bothered by the presence of the teenage girls has some sort of hang-ups of their own to deal with. I doubt he would have been as emboldened to speak out if there had been any male presence with them.

But I also suspect that, in his mind, the customer thinks he’s the victim. Just saying what he wants to believe is true and being publicly lambasted for it – since the story also got television coverage on Wednesday and is one of those incidents that will gain national notoriety.

HE PROBABLY WILL go through life thinking he’s the one being picked on just because he spoke out because, in this Age of Trump that we’re now in, his views are supposed to predominate.

Of course, that’s a simple-minded way of viewing the incident, and that’s usually the problem with people who want to get all worked up over political correctness becoming too predominant. They want to think their usually-warped views are entitled to legitimacy.

Even though by the most literal interpretation of Freedom of Expression, the girls in this incident were just as entitled to speak out and put the man in his place as he was to make stupid comments about their presence.

Free speech doesn’t mean people are forced to agree with you, or even give you the last word. We all have a Right to be Wrong, and everybody has a right to speak out against the crackpots of our society.

SO WHOEVER THIS customer was (personally, I could care less because I doubt he and I would have anything worthwhile to talk about), he may well be wondering how his behavior got onto the front page of a newspaper Thursday and he he’s not welcome anymore at a restaurant.

But do we really want to be coming to the defense of anybody who thinks they can lash out against others who just happened to be getting a meal at the same restaurant. There are many times when I eat someplace where I am bothered by the behavior of others. But so long as they don’t directly bother me, what can I say.

There is one part of this incident I find amusing – it seems that Pepe’s management has issued its own apology to the teenaged customers; even though it seems they were unaware of what happened until after it was over. It was because of customers who felt compelled to use their cellphones to record the incident, then post it on various websites, that we know of this.

Pepe’s is sorry that some of their customers can be jerks, and they’d really like it if we don’t hold that fact against them. Even though personally, I can’t recall the last time I ate in one of their restaurants – just because I know of other places that are better and I suspect are “too authentic” for people like this customer to appreciate.

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Is the ultimate ‘D-List’ comedian the perfect basher for a D-List president?

I have no doubt there are some people determined to see comedian Kathy Griffin’s professional prospects wither away into nothingness. Just as I’m sure they’re still holding a grudge against those mouthy Dixie Chicks.

What will replace Griffin's lost CNN gig?

Remember that outcry? When one member of the country music trio let it be known she was opposed to the U.S. military efforts in the Middle East?

HOW DARE THAT woman think to speak out against then-President George W. Bush! How dare she say anything that wasn’t complete deference to their own ideals (even though many people back then were equally critical of Bush)?

When I remember the degree to which certain people were determined to sabotage the Dixie Chicks, I see the similarities to the way some are bound to react to Griffin – the so-called star of the D-List celebrities who managed to offend everybody with a gag image depicting her with a bloodied, severed head that – with its funky hairdo was clearly meant to be reminiscent of President Donald J. Trump.

Yes, I thought her gag was lame, tacky and somewhat gross. It pushed the boundaries of good taste.

But let’s be honest. The very behavior of Donald Trump as both a presidential candidate and as a government official has been equally tacky and offensive. Some might argue if there’s anybody who deserves to be treated in such a callous manner, it is Trump. Just as how Trump-themed piñatas are at hit on so many levels at Mexican celebrations.

THE IDEOLOGUES AMONGST us, however, are determined to express such outrage that, in their minds, Griffin fades away into insignificance. She’s finished for having the unmitigated gall speak out in this Age of Trump we’re now in.

Griffin's critics the same people bashing Wonder Woman?

The comparison to the Dixie Chicks is relevant because within country music circles, the ladies remain irrelevant. To the point where a recent New York Times report indicates they don’t consider themselves part of the country scene – their attempts at making records are now regarded as pop music.

Which makes me wonder what kind of career change Griffin will have to make to allow her to remain relevant as an entertainer? While some amongst us will want to forever lambast her, there are others who will be willing to give her sense of humor a second chance.

Star-spangled shorts make her American?

If anything, she may get a boost by gaining the perception of being politically relevant – the comedian for those people who don’t mind offending the sensibilities of Donald J. Trump and his ilk!

AND AS FOR those people who will want to look down on Griffin, they’re probably the same people who these days are upset with the new Wonder Woman movie – which they say depicts the Amazon princess with incredible strength in ways that aren’t quite “American-enough” for their sensibilities.

I haven’t seen the film (and don’t exactly feel compelled to rush out to the theater to do so), so I don’t know what their objections really are? Maybe they just don’t like the idea of Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress, wearing the red, white and blue outfit that Lynda Carter made so popular on 1970s-era television.

Or maybe they’re the people who, back when Carter’s Wonder Woman was fighting off Nazis, they were secretly rooting for the men in the swastika armbands? Perhaps they find the arrogance of Trump to be reminiscent?

Please Kathy, don't give us a similar image to silence your critics

My point being that some individuals amongst us just aren’t satisfied with anything. They’re going to be whiny and demanding enough that they will always find something to complain about.

WHEN IT COMES to the whole affair involving the alumnus of Oak Park/River Forest High School who made being on the “D List” not quite so low a place to be, there is one aspect that I must admit terrifies me.

It is that I still remember the Entertainment Weekly magazine cover the Dixie Chicks did in the weeks following their own controversy – the one of the three of them nude, with their bodies covered with tattoos depicting the many slurs (“Dixie Sluts,” “Saddam’s Angels” and “Traitors,” to name a few) being thrown their way.

Please Kathy, keep your clothes on. We don’t need the sight of you trying to give us a similar image to illustrate the harassment you’re undergoing these days.

Even though, on a certain level, forcing your critics to endure the sight might very well be the perfect way to shut them up big time!

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How free are we to say on social media how absurd we think we all are?

It seems that President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has made heavy use of a personal Twitter account to spread word of his thoughts (which I doubt consist of anything more than 140 characters at a time), is selective of who is permitted to read him.

Recent news reports tell of people who cannot read anything posted by the account of @realDonaldTrump because he has chosen to ban then.

THIS DOES NOT seem to be an uncommon notion. I have a Facebook friend who likes to use his account to post political missives (usually along the lines of how misunderstood Trump is) who recently declared that people can’t comment on his page unless they “friend” him and how he reserves the right to delete anything he considers irrelevant to his issues.

Personally, I think that amounts to people putting way too much time and effort into their social media accounts. Or perhaps they really believe they should be taken all that seriously. Although I also understand that my friend probably has many idiots who have nothing better to do than post obscenity-laced diatribes on his site telling him how wrong he is!

I have always had a rather loose attitude toward people responding to me when I write something – largely because I have always realized that people have the right to be wrong.

I feel pity for those who don’t realize the innate sensibilities of the stances I take when I write various commentaries. Either that, or I figure I already had my say on an issue by writing the initial commentary.

WHEN IT COMES to responses published on this site, the only things I delete are those from people who insist on using profanity. I can handle the fact that 100 percent of the populace does not agree with me. I just don’t need to contribute to the spread of obscene language.

Which means I kind of feel sorry for those people who feel a need to control the level of debate they are subjected to while taking actions that are meant to provoke a reaction. What’s the fun in writing thoughtful commentary if all you’re seeking is people who agree with you?

If anything, I’m curious to see what becomes of the Twitter missives sent out by Trump – which, by the way, was the focus of a Saturday Night Live sketch this past weekend – once he gets access to the presidential account.

As in the one now used by Barack Obama and his aides to send out messages to his supporters. Will knowing that his thoughts will now be archived for posterity cause Trump to tone down his level of nastiness?

OR IS HE going to resist using the official presidential Twitter account and try to use his own personal one; on the grounds that he wants more control over the process.

Which would be very similar to the line of logic that Hillary Clinton used as secretary of state in insisting on having a personal Internet server to handle the e-mail messages she sent instead of merely using the official federal government amenities.

Ironic if Trump wound insist on committing an act very similar in intent to the one that he repeatedly claimed during the campaign that she deserved incarceration for.

In my own case, I have Facebook (www.facebook.com/gregory.tejeda) and Twitter (@tejeda_gregory) accounts – although I don’t really do as much as many people do with either. I see them as serving a self-promotional purpose – usually to make people aware of the thoughts that are being published at this weblog. Which is why I let people say what they want – I’m amazed they bothered to post at all.

IN FACT, THE Twitter account has only been in existence for not quite two months, and I have fewer than 20 people “following” me. Largely because I see the medium as so limiting that it’s not worth much of my time.

Which makes me wonder about what kind of public official have we, the people, truly elected. A twit who Tweets? And one who thinks he can restrict with the whim of a couple of computer keystrokes who is allowed to read his thoughts. Most of which are insipid enough that I haven’t bothered to want to be among the “millions” of people who follow his account.

I’d like to think I have better things to do with my time and read him. I wish more people felt the same way, and not just about Trump.

“Social” media, by-and-large, is for use by people whose social skills are so lacking that I doubt we’d ever want to encounter them in person.

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