The Art of Distraction

“Distraction – a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else. Synonyms: Diversion, Interruption, Disturbance, Interference, Hindrance.”

I’m pretty sure we all learned what distractions were as kids. Sometimes there were good distractions. I think back to hanging out at the Legion Pool in Camilla. I was a 16 year old boy surrounded by girls in bathing suits. If my friends and I were talking, I probably missed half of the conversation because I was “distracted.” They could have been telling me that a spaceship was coming over the horizon and I would have probably just nodded and said, “yep.” I remember sports also took my mind off of school work or bad grades when I needed to recharge. I could turn on Sportscenter and forget all about that F that I may have gotten in Mrs. Williams History class. I don’t know if this one should be in the good category but it was good for me.

Of course, there can be bad distractions too. Texting and driving is a biggie these days. It’s even illegal in most places. That same distraction listed in the good section above is now a no-no as well. If I’m at the beach with Alicia and we are chatting and my eyes drift to the scantily clad beach goer next to us, my nodding and “yep” is likely going to be the dead giveaway to my transgression. I’ve been distracted by the TV and tripped over a toy in the floor. I was distracted once as a teen driver and backed right into my mom’s parked car in our driveway. I spent an entire 9 weeks distracted by Lewis Grizzard books in Senor Bryant’s Spanish class. No Bueno.  

All of those distractions are just normal life course events. They are everywhere. We have to train ourselves to block out distractions.  Sports teams are told not to listen to the media or read the newspaper because it could be a distraction. Some people put on headphones on the bus or the subway to block out the distractions. Part of the problem with distractions is that they feed our innate need to be involved in everything that’s going on. Without those headphones, you may want to hear what your neighbors are talking about on the bus. You never know, it might be juicy content. When a ball player hears the criticism that the coaches asked them to avoid, they feel the need to inject their opinion or defense into the matter in an effort to defend themselves or their team. It doesn’t matter that it is some lame sportscaster who gets paid to offer outrageous opinions. What matters is that this opinion has gotten under the skin of the athlete. And when an athlete loses 100% focus on their training or game, they are at a disadvantage. In the end, all it’s done is brought attention to the sportscaster, which is welcomed by them, and taken the athlete out of their game.  

Now is the time I should make clear that I am not a conspiracy theorist. I believe JFK was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald from the Book Depository. I believe that terrorists flew planes into the Trade Center and caused it to topple. I believe that there may be life forms in space but I don’t think we’ve been hiding them here for 100 years from the rest of the public. However, I also believe that everything is not always as it appears to us. Even with the few examples above, I believe there are things that we don’t, and never will, know. There are also things I think we probably shouldn’t know if it is a matter of national security. Conspiracy theorists don’t have an open mind. They would probably get a lot more traction if there were any give and take in their arguments. But no, they are usually so dead set on the conspiracy, that logic can’t be considered. So consider, in a tiny nutshell, my position on these things is that I don’t think I am lied to every time the news reports something major but I do believe we shouldn’t be totally dismissive of inconsistencies either. I think there is room for a little of both and I’d bet that most of the population is in my category on that. Maybe I’ll write more about that one day but that’s not the topic today.

Let me also take a moment to say that I am neither Pro-Clinton nor Pro-Trump. They both have a tremendous amount of deficiencies and I think we are in trouble with either. Further, anyone who knows me will confirm that I have an open mind and heart. I am not close minded when it comes to race, sexual orientation, gender or anything else that comes to mind. I do not like Country Music and I think the people that do should be forced to live in a state all their own, preferably Texas, but that’s where I draw the line on bigotry.  

So with those comments in place, let’s continue our discussion on distraction. I do believe, without a doubt but without concrete proof, that we are distracted on a daily basis by the news, social media and television from the bigger things going on that should have our attention. A prime example is to look at trending topics on Twitter at any point in time. While it’s true, that we all have the right and need for distractions, I am really talking about the things that get us all ginned up. Today, you have such gems as #TrentDilfer, #AGTFinale and #BlackRiflesMatter trending. They all have their own merits as topics and they all affect different groups of people in different societal circles.  But they are all overshadowing the bigger picture.Let’s take the #TrentDilfer hashtag. For those of you who don’t follow football, Dilfer is a former quarterback who is now a talking head on Monday Night Football for ESPN. There has long been a debate over whether or not he was a good quarterback. He has a Super Bowl Ring.  Dan Marino doesn’t but that doesn’t make him better than Marino. He is somewhere in the “game manager” category to be honest. Does he know about football? Sure. Is he one of the best ever? Not close. That aside, he now gets paid to express an opinion, HIS opinion. You may also be aware that a pro football player is currently expressing HIS opinion of the American Flag/National Anthem. And Dilfer shared his thoughts last night about said player. It wasn’t popular to the masses. It wasn’t all that popular with me either but because I disagree with his sentiments, not that I have a problem with him actually saying it. To be specific, Dilfer said the following:

“This is a backup quarterback whose job it is to be quiet and sit in the shadows. Yet, he chose a time when all of a sudden he became the center of attention. And it has disrupted that organization.”Colin Kaepernick has chosen to sit or kneel during the National Anthem in protest of what he sees as oppression against his race. That’s not for me to judge and I personally am not offended whether he stands or not. He is doing what he feels is the right thing for him. Further, as an old friend recently said, “I don’t pay you for your opinion.  I pay you to be a gladiator in an arena” ~ Jason Lee.  In reality, it should really have zero effect on people’s lives what this individual does during the national anthem.  And in a free enterprise society, which is what we are, you have the right to protest him for what he is doing by not going to any SF 49er’s games and not buying his jersey. It’s really kind of an open shut case. Do I agree with it? No. I’m not running out to add any CK memorabilia to my sports collection anytime soon. Does that make me racist or close minded? I guess that’s for you to judge. I feel like I have just as much right to disagree with him as he does to do what he’s doing. I think it’s disrespectful to our country and the men and women who protect it. To each their own.

The issue I have with Dilfer’s statement is that CK is not doing what he is doing on behalf of backup quarterbacks everywhere. His role on the team has nothing to do with what he is doing, if he is to be taken at face value. Again, I disagree with what he is doing but the capacity in which he is doing it matters not to me. By Dilfer’s logic, CK should be quiet if there is mass sexual harassment happening in the organization because, well, that’s his job as a back-up quarterback, to be quiet. See, my point is that it’s ok to disagree with Kaepernick for what he is doing. It’s also ok to agree with him if you want. Doesn’t mean that I have to and it doesn’t mean that I am racist if I don’t.  I don’t think it’s ok to forbid him to do it either. Let the free market speak for whether or not it should affect his livelihood. By that same token, I think it’s ok to agree or disagree with Dilfer’s comments in substance. I think he has the right to say anything he’s willing to say so long as it doesn’t cross the line of what his employer has deemed appropriate or innapropriate. I just personally disagree with both of them.  

Here’s where it gets muddy. If you go to social media (and I’m going to tie all this up in the end, I promise), here is what you get on each side.  For the pro- Kaepernick, it’s his right to do what he is doing because this is America and he is entitled to his beliefs.  Dilfer is an idiot and should be fired for being so insensitive.  For the anti-Kaepernick, he’s anti-American and should be outright released by the 49er’s.  Dilfer hit the nail on the head.  Here’s the rub.  Either they are both out of line or neither are.  Either their employers should hold them to a certain standard or they should allow them to be individuals.  Either it’s their right or it isn’t.  It’s that simple.  Again, I don’t have to agree or like either one of them.  I just don’t have to be so damn offended by either of them either.  I have the right to be indifferent.

So there is a big fat distraction right in front of us.  One football player (sure, others have joined) has divided our entire nation with one act of Heroism or Marxism, depending on the kind of glasses you are wearing.  It’s all anybody can talk about and it’s just what the men in black suits want us to focus on.  While this has taken over social media and the water cooler, if they exist anymore, 1984 becomes more and more like 2016.

Here’s a small sample:

• Our way of life is being threatened every day.
• Our religious liberties are being taken away.
• We are being disarmed.
• Many of our people are unemployed.
• Many people have no healthcare.
• North Korea just tested another nuclear weapon.
• The US just gave Isreal $38B while we have homeless veterans and starving children.
• One of our presidential candidates is a reality tv show star that is a good real estate developer.  He continues to say “disaster” over and over and over without offering reasonable it rational ways to fix it.
• Another of our presidential candidates wouldn’t know the truth if it was a pants suit.  She is also having what appears to be major health issues and may even be using a body double – if you are one of those conspiracy theorists.  Have you seen what 4 years of presidency has done to health in the past?
• We are still pushing for a cease fire in the Syrian craziness that seems to be never ending.
• People are plotting to kill us (Americans) at this very moment.
• There is a push to impeach the IRS chief.  The whole thing may be abolished one day.
• Innocent Americans are being killed in our streets.
• Innocent police officers are being targeted by the very citizens they are trying to protect.
• Rules and restrictions are being shoved down our throats daily that continue to limit our ability to live freely.

Not one of those items are trending on Twitter.  You may not have even known some of those things.  I had to look some of it up myself.  The point is that there are much bigger issues than whether or not a football player stands for the national anthem and what a former quarterback thinks of it.  I totally get that it’s a big issue for certain groups.  But the whole reason he’s doing it isn’t even being discussed.  And personally, I don’t think what he’s doing has any tangible affect on why he’s doing it.  I just don’t make the connection.  But again, I’m indifferent.  

In conclusion, we just have to understand that we are all different and we see the world through our own unique set of eyes.  But in the end, I think we all want pretty much the same thing. We want to live our lives, raise our children, financially support our family and feel safe when we go outside.  But we are more divided now than we were 15 years ago.  We are moving backwards instead of forward.  And we aren’t doing ourselves any favors making our way through this world focused on the tearing each other down.  Eventually, we are going to lose our focus and we are going to back into that car in the driveway.

J-Dub