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WOLLITZ: Meme hits home that we don’t all agree
Perhaps you are among those who read the news or scan social media and sometimes wonder whether our society can be any more divided.
I can tell you I do. Sometimes I wonder why in the world folks feel so hard-pressed to let others know what they think of this or that — especially on things that really don’t matter much.
A fishing-themed meme made the rounds recently on social media. Meant to be a joke, the meme insinuated that those who fish for a certain species of fish are more manly than those who fish for another species.
Sure, it was a gag. Many laughed, including me.
But the meme reminded me how easily we can find reasons to disagree. Then, later that day, the Super Bowl broadcast really drove home that point.
Bud Light’s spoofing of Miller and Coors for using corn syrup in their light beers seemed like clever fun. My first reaction was that it was a funny way to differentiate Bud Light from its archrival brews. But America’s corn farmers weren’t amused and all manner of outrage made headlines and tore through Twitter this week.
The way I see it, fish are fish and sugar is sugar. If you want to fish for bass or walleyes or whatever, I’m fine with that. If you want to make your beer with malted barley, rice or corn syrup, I’m OK with that, too.
Our world is pretty complicated, however, and many people don’t shrug away sarcastic jabs quite so easily. I’ve come to learn some anglers really do think they are fishing a cut above the crowd because they specialize in bass.
Some anglers think you really are a barbarian if your idea of fishing is to put a piece of meat on a hook and hang it under a bobber.
They would tell you fishing is an art form that only qualifies its practitioner as an angler if he or she ties on a dry fly, delivers it to the water on a wisp of gossamer and floats it flawlessly over the head of a trout with an appetite only for the insects native to its stream.
In a world where people relish showing how they are special, even we anglers are not immune from being just a little too smug about why we do what we do.
I enjoy fishing for bass. Sometimes I wonder whether I enjoy it maybe more than I should. It is entirely possible I miss some mighty fine opportunities to catch fish more willing to cooperate because I’m so focused on those doggone bass.
The funny fishing meme got me to thinking about the prejudices we carry though our days — even (or maybe especially) on the water. The Bud Light Super Bowl commercial only underscored the notion that one person’s sugar is another person’s poison.
Rarely is right or wrong as clear as we think it is. Are you a better person if you fish for a fancy trout or a mighty musky instead of a bottom-feeding catfish or a humble rock bass?
Yesterday I noticed another fishing meme on Facebook. It was a picture of a bluegill with a caption that read: “The gateway drug of the fishing world.”
Now that makes sense. Who among anglers didn’t start fishing with a tiny hook baited with meat hanging under a bobber over a bevy of bluegills?
Sometimes I wonder why we make things so complicated.