Deconstructing Kari

That’s what I have been trying my best to do - to just mind my own business.  Seems to get harder and harder to do these days.  When I see the people around me making terrible decisions, screwing things up in a major way, without really understanding the mistakes they are making, it is hard to sit by and keep my mouth shut.  There is a Louisiana saying that you should not put your hands in someone else’s crawfish pile or you might get smacked.  That’s true, but you are supposed to speak up when that same person is about to rub cayenne pepper in their eyes with crawfish-covered hands.  That’s fully acceptable etiquette.  These people around me are walking around blinded by cayenne pepper and I am supposed to stay quiet and not offer them something to wipe their eyes.  That makes no sense to me.

I am not saying that I am any wiser than the next person.  I am not saying that I have not made mistakes.  I make them all the time and I try to learn from those mistakes.  Lucky for me, my friends and family don’t often respect that law about keeping their hands out of my crawfish pile.  They butt in, push me to see the reality of life and often times keep me from running head-first into a brick wall.  Truth be told, many times I want to tell them to back off - to go judge someone else - to mind their own beeswax.  Truth be told, they are often more right than wrong.  Truth be told, I am happy that they butt their noses into my business, and offer advice - albeit unsolicited sometimes - and keep me on the straight and narrow.  I do the same for them.  In a way, we have become each others’ conscious.  I can count on every one of them - through thick and thin - they will be there.

The best thing about these friends - whom I consider my family - is that they are not just here to tell me when I am screwing up.  They are not only around to celebrate when things are going right.  They are also here to help me pick up the pieces when things do fall apart.  Without them, my family, I might surely be in a dark and miserable place.

I guess they have helped me into this pickle.  My Louisiana friends understand me - they get me - they take me for better or worse.  They understand when I need to speak up when they are acting the ass.  They probably expect it.  Just as I do of them.  We understand that sometimes the people that love you have to judge your actions, offer you advice on how to get out of a jam and keep you from making a bigger mistake in the name of pride and anger.  Because of them, it is hard for me to sit by and watch others - outside of my Louisiana clique - do something stupid, hurt someone (or many) in the name of stubborn pride and foolish anger.  I guess I am hoping they can offer me some advice on how to handle this situation.  Maybe I should still keep my nose out of these other people’s business, perhaps my LA buddies will have the answer on how to keep my mouth shut.  Heaven knows I need the help right now.