Before we continue our adventure together through the various small towns of Indiana, I would like to address a tolerance issue which simply must be overcome, not only to crumble the barriers of diversity that exist among all of us, but also to create something to make fun of one another about when we may be getting on one another's last nerve.
I call it "The Oregon Syndrome."
One day a friend and I, while taking an increasingly brisk walk due to the low temperature, heard two girls arguing about whether Oregon was pronounced "O-reh-GOHN" or "O-reh-GIHN." After they had passed I turned to my friend, whom we will call Alex because that is his name, and said, "Just for future reference, it's 'O-reh-GOHN.'"
Alex gave me the disappointed look that one might receive after shooting Bambi's mom and said, "No. It's 'O-reh-GIHN."
We disputed the matter for a while but ultimately decided that we each, personally, were right while the other, personally, had the intellectual depth of refried beans.
Weeks passed and I was having a casual conversation with a completely different friend whom we will refer to as Nate. I mentioned Oregon in passing as if it were a regular topic of conversation.
"O-reh-GOHN?" Nate asked, giggling like a schoolgirl as if it were the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard, including, but not limited to, scat singing and anything George W. Bush has ever said in a personal interview.
The next day I recalled these instances and explained the situation at hand to fine human being Rosemary Keenan, whom we will not refer to as Alex or Nate because then the story would become even more confusing.
As it turns out, Rosemary has also been ridiculed and scolded for pronouncing it "O-reh-GOHN." We had a lengthy discussion and concluded that an "O-reh-GIHN" is something one plays at a church or something on which doctors perform major surgery.
So I thought to myself, "The difference between Alex and Nate and Rosemary and me is that they are male and we are female. Is the pronunciation divided? Or could the difference be due to the fact that Alex and Nate are Hoosiers, whereas Rosemary and I are from Pennsylvania and Michigan, respectively?"
Aha! It's the Hoosiers who are wrong, not me!
But I'm afraid the realm of ignorance goes far beyond the pronunciation of Oregon. I have also come across those so-called "members of society" who say "care-uh-mel" instead of "car-mul," "see-rup" instead of "sih-rup" and "warsh" instead of being sane.
I am not at all suggesting that one pronunciation is better than the rest (O-reh-GOHN). I am simply reminding you, as an open-minded, equal rights-oriented public, that we must respect those who speak differently than we do, even though we have an inkling that a large portion of their childhoods were spent chewing on walls coated with lead-based paint.
Now that we've put all of that silliness behind us, we can propel ourselves forward on an endless journey of discovery without our differences hindering the benefits of togetherness. I can ensure that our happiness as a group will never cease to thrive as long as we can agree on one thing:
It's O-reh-GOHN.
Write to Aleshia at aahaselden@bsu.edu
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