Shunning? I Ain't Got the Time.

  Shun - Middle English shonen, shunnen, from Old English scunian

Shunning -  Targets of shunning can include persons who have been labeled as apostates, whistleblowers, dissidents, strikebreakers, or anyone the group perceives as a threat or source of conflict. Social rejection has been established to cause psychological damage and has been categorized as torture or punishment. Mental rejection is a more individual action, where a person subconsciously or willfully ignores an idea, or a set of information related to a particular viewpoint. Some groups are made up of people who shun the same ideas

Ever hear this?

Gee, I'm open-minded, but I don't want to hear anything you have to say on the matter.  Are you nuts?  How can you believe that in 2018?

Are you shunned?

Have you shunned anyone?

The late, great John McPolin shunned me from McNally's Saloon, not because I was a Cub fan ( I am not), but because he did not want my Dad, his mortal-friend and arch-beer buddy, to start showing up at McNally's instead of his headquarters at TR's.  " Pat, do me a favor and stay on the other side of 111th for beers, this is the only sanctuary I have away from that miserable old SOB. "

I abided.  That was not real shunning.  Every race , gender and sexual preference shuns.  You think the Amish shun?  The Yoders and Millers got nothing on the Murphys.

It seems that everyone is shunning someone else.   I live in a lovely neighborhood, full of loving people, but even here in this urban Arcadia of Morgan Park some people will no longer speak to you if you did not vote for Trump, or you refuse to put a COEXIST bumper sticker* on your SUV.

Who is welcome in your house?

Who is banished?

Do you fly the flag?

Why don't you fly the flag?

Don't want to - the wind blew off the last six and part of my garage.

I am seeing fewer and fewer political yard signs and bumper stickers, even though the Illinois primary election is only thirteen days from today.

I have a Jeanne Ives sign in my yard, where I have placed Democratic Party signage for more than twenty years.  No big deal.  No one is outraged.   I voted for Jeanne Ives; so what?

I have Jeanne Ives bumper sticker; no has keyed my car.

What I do not understand is all of the verbal and physical shunning going on.

Are you shunned for hoisting the W flag?

Are you a Sox Fan and feel left out of things?

The Hawks suck too.

We are neighbors.  I will cut your grass when you are too sick to do so.  I will snow-blow your walks and drive-way.  I will always wave to you and give you the big howdy.

Do I need to wear pink ribbons, or have blue and black bunting on my trees to know what I am all about?  Hell, no.

I go to Mass.  I go to work.  I speak my mind.  I have a very good time, every waking moment.

I don't have time for shunning.

Oh,  I'll block your ass on Facebook if you act like a jerk, but I'll give you a warm and genuine greeting up at the gas station.

I do not have time to shun anyone.



* Unitarians did not invent this logo - "Piotr Mlodozeniec, a Polish graphic designer, came up with the image in 2001, for a traveling exhibit run by the Museum on the Seam. The museum is a private institution in Jerusalem that describes itself as a “socio-political contemporary art museum.” In its original form, the design only incorporated three symbols—a Muslim crescent for the “C”, a Jewish Star of David for the “X”, and the Christian cross for the “T”.

Gee, why did he leave out cannibals and headhunters?