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Hate

John W. Pinkerton

oldjwpinkerton@gmail.com



While sitting on my front porch at a ridiculously early hour of the morning drinking my coffee and wondering if any interesting thoughts would come to my old mind, one did.


I realized that I could not recall ever hating someone.  “Wait a minute,” I thought, “that can't be right.”


I began to search my database for an exception to this extraordinary thought.  Nothing.


Hold on, let's check the definition of “hate”---“to feel intense or passionate dislike for someone---to loathe, detest, dislike greatly, abhor, abominate, despise, execrate, feel aversion toward, feel revulsion toward, feel hostile toward, be repelled by, and be revolted by.”


Whoa, I guess I have hated.  Where did I go wrong in my thought that I never recalled hating anyone?


Well, I thought about it for some time as the sun began to rise, and then I came up with a thought.  I've always associated “hate” with a desire that bad things will befall the subject of my hate.  I must admit that I sometimes find myself snickering when bad things happen to some of the folks I “hate,” but this is not something I actively seek or wish-upon-a star for.  I don't wish bad things to happen even to folks I loathe.


I look at people I “hate” as problems to be resolved---not as people to be destroyed.


Now don't get me wrong---I'm not a peace loving hippy nor a fellow who's likely to ask, “Why can't we all get along?”  I know that peace is just one of many options and an unlikely one and all of us getting along ain't gonna happen.


Now, being a complex fellow (another way of saying I don't have all of my stuff together), I must make exceptions to my denial that I've never hated anyone---some folks are just too heinous to tolerate, and I hope the wrath of God smites them dead…or worse.   Let's face it, some folks are evil…yeap, I said it: “evil.”  They’re rare but they do exist.


I think a clue to my lack of “hatred” for my fellow man came years ago when I realized that once the threat from someone I “hated” had been vanquished, I had no feelings about the person at all…neither love nor hate…only indifference.    

enough