Thursday, December 22, 2005
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Smart Armenians who have made it in the odar world are as a rule not as clannish as the rest of us. I was reminded of this fact last week when I introduced myself to a young doctor as a fellow countryman and I could not help observing that the expression on her face changed as if she had stepped on a pile of cow dung. And I imagined the following exchange with her mate later that evening:
Something wrong?
Nothing I can’t handle.
What happened?
Met a member of the tribe today.
What did he say?
Nothing much.
What did you say?
Ditto.
So what’s the problem?
I just don’t like the idea of running into them, that’s all; and they have a way of popping up when you least expect them.
Have you thought of changing your name?
More than once.
What’s stopping you?
My folks.
They are against it?
We haven’t discussed it but my guess is my dad won’t like it.
Daddy’s little girl doesn’t want to hurt the old man?
Well, if it wasn’t for him this little girl wouldn’t be where she is. Don’t you think he deserves a little consideration?
Then I guess you’ll have to grin and bear it.
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I am told whenever she was introduced to a fellow Armenian, Krikor Zohrab’s daughter in New York (may the Good Lord have mercy on her soul) behaved as though she was about to be attacked by a rattlesnake.
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I am also told Taniel Varoujan’s daughter lives all by herself in the middle of nowhere and as far away from her fellow Armenians as the State of New York will allow it.
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Friday, December 23, 2005
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Understanding is not a single faculty but many. It is an illusion to think that just because you understand one thing well, you are also equipped to understand many other things. To say that just because you understand the market place you also understand history, or politics, or literature amounts to saying that just because you understand Swahili you also understand Japanese, Hungarian, and Urdu.
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There are even people who understand nothing and think they understand everything. I know such people exist because I was one of them. The older I grow the more I realize what a damn fool I have been most of my life.
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If history is an endless catalogue of disasters, blunders, crimes, and miscalculations it may be because it is shaped by individuals who are not in the habit of questioning their perception of reality or understanding; and the only reason they enjoy popular support is that they simplify complex issues in order to make them more comprehensible to the majority.
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Between a simple explanation and a complex one, the simple explanation will invariably be more popular, especially among yokels and fanatics.
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Turks massacred us because they are evil, bloodthirsty, Asiatic barbarians. There is no other explanation. Anyone who says otherwise is a denialist. The irony here is that it is the very same Armenians who dehumanize Turks who expect them to behave like decent human beings by pleading guilty as charged.
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