Equality

As I've grown older, I have excelled in the field of clumsy. I think I was in my mid thirties before I got my first stitches. The last five years I've had two major surgeries due to injury and I'm in the process of recovering from falling off a 6 foot ladder onto my my head and neck. I submit that if you think you are equal to me in clumsy, you are probably not. I'm most likely much better at it than you. So yes, as Dave said, equal does not mean the same. You have the opportunity to be equally clumsy as me, but I'm just better at it than most. IN conclusion, Dave and Mike are both right...

So that was my problem, I used the wrong dictionary.

e·qual

/'ekw?l/

adjective

adjective: equal

1.
being the same in quantity, size, degree, or value.
"add equal amounts of water and flour"

synonyms: identical, uniform, alike, like, the same, equivalent; More
matching, even, comparable, similar, corresponding

"lines of equal length"

•equivalent to, identical to, amounting to;
proportionate to;

commensurate with, on a par with

"fares equal to a month's wages"



antonyms: different, more than, less than

•(of people) having the same status, rights, or opportunities.

•uniform in application or effect; without discrimination on any grounds.
"a dedicated campaigner for equal rights"

synonyms: unbiased, impartial, nonpartisan, fair, just, equitable; More
unprejudiced, nondiscriminatory, egalitarian;

neutral, objective, disinterested


"equal treatment before the law"



antonyms: discriminatory

•evenly or fairly balanced.
"it was hardly an equal contest"


synonyms: evenly matched, even, balanced, level; More
on a par, on an equal footing;

informalfifty-fifty, neck and neck

"an equal contest"

antonyms: uneven





2.
having the ability or resources to meet (a challenge).
"the players proved equal to the task"


synonyms: capable of, fit for, up to, good enough for, strong enough for; More
suitable for, suited to, appropriate for

"trust me, I am equal to the task"

noun
noun: equal; plural noun: equals

1.
a person or thing considered to be the same as another in status or quality.
"we all treat each other as equals"

synonyms: equivalent, peer, fellow, coequal, like; More
counterpart, match, parallel

"they did not treat him as their equal"

verb

verb: equal; 3rd person present: equals; past tense: equalled; past participle: equalled; gerund or present participle: equalling; past tense: equaled; past participle: equaled; gerund or present participle: equaling

1.
be the same as in number or amount.
"four plus six divided by two equals five"


synonyms: be equal to, be equivalent to, be the same as; More





Do we treat everyone the same? No. No one does.

Here's a priceless one from my great state of New Jersey. One of the state universities is named after Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also a rich white man who owned slaves. So, in the infinite wisdom of do-gooders, the statue of Richard Stockton has been removed from campus. However, the name of the university will not change. In a world of illogical thinking this may be the most illogical (for now). I am sure someone/some group will lower the bar further.


http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2017/08/richard_stockton_bust_...

This reminds me of Mt McKinley. The mountain and the park were named Mt McKinley.....McKinley was a US president from Ohio (I think). The natives call the mountain Denali. Every year the senators from AK propose to changed the name of the mountain and the park Denali. After all, McKinley had never even been to Alaska and have never seen the part of the mountain. They suggested Ohio find something in their own state and name it after McKinley. A number of years ago the reach a compromise and renamed the National Park, Denali National Park. But the mountain remained Mt McKinley.

So the natives of Alaska continue to call the mountain Denali while the white man calls the mountain McKinley and the park Denali.

Thanks for the update. We went to Alaska on vacation in about 2002 or so and that was the story they'd told us. Fat lot of good it did changing if the average person (me) doesn't know it's been changed. :-)

Great line from Crocodile Dundee......"I figure arguing over who owns the land is like two fleas on a dogs back arguing over who owns the dog."

That's really funny. I like the name Denali. It is more fitting to be named an Indian name than after a POTUS. We liked the name Denali so much we bought a Yukon XL Denali.

On a totally unrelated topic....but memory trigged by your post.

In moved from living with my mom in FL to living with my dad in Louisiana in the 5th grade. I was called to the front of the class by the teacher for making some wise-guy comment. She gave me what-for and then asked if I understood and I said, "Yeah". And WHACK she hit me with a paddle! I said, "YES!" And WHACK she hit me again and said, "Yes, what?" I said, "Yes I understand!" And WHACK she hit me again. "I was cracking up as she was not hitting me hard and said, "tell me what I am supposed to say". She said, "You will answer me 'yes ma'am and no ma'am. Is that understood?" With a big grin I said, "Yes ma'am!"

I had a similar thing happen when I moved from Michigan to Alabama for seventh grade. Mine happen without the paddle, but after a while I changed my answer to "no".

The funnier part of my first day was when a teacher held up a wooden paddle and said we'd get 3 "licks" if we kept talking. I had no idea what the wooden paddle was for, and I also had no idea that "licks" referred to being hit. I asked the teacher what he meant, and he thought I was being a smart . I went and told my parents that this crazy school you sent me to is allowed to beat the kids. My dad was not OK with it.

In the 5th grade, every morning a bunch of us guys would get together on the playground and play football. And we played tackle football. This was against the rules. So when they called us into school they would hold us boys back and as we came in Mr Garret (our math teacher) gave each one of us a "lick" with the paddle. We had just been playing tackle football with no pads or helmets and you think 1 lick with a paddle is going to stop us? Not a chance. We played on.....not sure how they got us to stop playing.

Edited by Rogillio 2017-09-06 1:15 PM

Each individual is special, just like everyone else.