The Sneetches

"These Sneetches have stars upon thars, while those have none upon thars."

It's a line from a Dr. Seuss book, appropriately titled, "The Sneetches". I first saw the video as a junior in high school, and have since seen it numerous times, passing along Seussical wisdom to younger generations.

The first time I saw it, I sat in front of Vibor Ceric, an exchance student from Croatia. He returned home to a war-ravaged country and I haven't heard from him since. He walked to school wearing the weirdest combination of clothes, and laughing, and no one knew what to make of him because of his accent.

Thanks to Mrs. Reece, an amazingly gifted teacher, who showed us the video near the beginning of the semester, and we got the message loud and clear. Vibor became a quick friend, and we started the class on numerous occasions singing a duet of James Brown's "I Feel Good" (I had the lyrics, Vibor had the "da na na na na na na").

Why are we so quick to point out superficial differences, instead of our incredible similarities? If we could just remember that we are all human, all created in God's good image, many conflicts could potentially be avoided.

There's a line of clothing that interests me, from which I'd like to purchase a few t-shirts and a pair of tennis shoes. It's called "No Sweat" (www.nosweatapparel.com), and is 100% union-made, sweatshop free clothing. They've got shirts that say "Human" and "Musicians Against Sweatshops...Pick Better Clothes" and lots of cool stuff. If you're in the mood to spend money on me, send me a gift certificate to No Sweat Apparel. Thanks.

All that to say this, there is an arrogance that is contagious, as if we did something to be born American or white or male or middle-class.

So, at my first inaugural speech, I will read the Sneetches, and then challenge all people to live by its profound wisdom.