[HANASHIR:2797] Re: guitar travail and homosexuality

[Joel Siegel <siegeljd...>]

Re baggage: I think some of Rich's points are well taken.  My problem comes when
I prepare to check my guitar in (in its hard-shell case, mind you, which has
taken more than its share of knocks from its trips through baggage handling, no
matter how "careful" the handlers are) and the airline forces me to sign a
waiver form, which means that they will be responsible for loss but not for
damage.  (IIRC, airlines are routinely responsible for damage to "normal"
lugggage.)  You don't sign the waiver, they don't take your instrument.  So if
you're traveling on a gig, it becomes pointless to travel. Hobson's choice, you
know?  Of course you could always buy a second seat for your instrument (and
hope one of you  doesn't get bumped on an overbooked flight..... ("My guitar?
Oh, it got bumped.  But it's getting a free flight and got to stay in a hotel
overnight...).)

So not only is my guitar not "more important" than others' "normal" luggage,
it's in fact a second-class citizen.  If it disappears en route, I get
compensated.  If it arrives in fifty pieces, tough luck... go buy a new guitar.

My former strategy of carrying to the gate and doing a "claim at gate" worked
very nicely, held nobody up, and saved the guitar most of the risk of travel in
the cargo hold.  The new "security" procedures make this a non-option.

I'd be quite content if they would offer me an insurance option where, for a
reasonable fee, I could check a box, pay a few bucks, and insure against damage
as well as loss when I sign that little "waiver."  But buying a second seat
seems a bit extreme.

Ironically enough, now that my "day job" isn't music, I could probably afford
one of those anvil cases Rich mentions.  When I was doing music nearly full time
(and flying to a lot more gigs), I couldn't have.  Or at least it would have
made a *much* larger hole in the budget.


Re homosexuality:
I looked hard in my inbox for Adrian's post that Rich referred to, and couldn't
find it.  I certainly hope Rich is wrong and that Adrian didn't equate
homosexuality with infidelity/criminal behavior, etc.  I agree with Rich that
that would have no place on this list.

The problem for those of us Jews who are queer or queer-friendly, however (btw
"queer" is quite an accepted term at least out here on the Left Coast, and
covers gay/lesbian/bi/trans/etc. in one neat little slightly-in-your-face
package), is that *Torah* had a habit of doing exactly that.  The text is
extremely problematic.  Of course it came from a culture that regarded slavery
as OK (with certain restrictions) as well as polygamy, capital punishment for
talking back to your parents, genocide [Va'etchanan, D'varim 6:1-2; Ekev,
D'varim 7:22-24], taking of women as booty [Shofetim, D'varim 20:14], possession
of conquered women (as long as you marry them) [Ki Tetze, D'varim 21:13] and
various other "moral" stances that I certainly don't consider "moral."

So what to do?  There are lots of responses.  Personally I read Torah as a text
that sometimes has great things to teach, and thank God that I live now and not
then.  (That is, of course, until I walk home from work, as I did the other day,
and pass a group of people outside San Francisco City Hall carrying "God Hates
Fags" signs.  This was the day that there was a large commitment ceremony for
same-sex couples... seems that Bible-thumpers don't like gay folks to have
stable long-term relationships.  I guess they prefer infidelity.)


Joel


Rglauber (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> I was hoping that this topic would fade away, as I find myself getting a bit
> frustrated by the pervasive attitude of the list members on this issue.
> Granted, this is a pet peeve of mine, but what the hell, let me share it with
> the rest of you....
>
> I travel quite a bit with my guitar.  I like to carry it on if possible.  If
> not, I check it in, loosen the strings and hope for the best.  I've had
> absolutely no problem after many many such check ins.  The thing that's
> bugging me is what I perceive to be a strain of self-importance, entitlement
> because we are so "special" and deserving of some kind of unique treatment.
>
> I prefer to look at it as an airline trying to do an extremely difficult job
> of getting tons of baggage and people from place to place every day.  My
> sense tells me that when a baggage handler sees a guitar with a "fragile"
> sticker on it, he/she handles it with care.  I don't think they just throw
> them around.  Hey, people love their golf clubs and their fishing rods and
> their surfboards and whatever else.  As a passenger, I don't want to see them
> carried on, and I don't want to wait behind someone who is giving the agent a
> hard time because they're not allowed to carry it on.
>
> I'd probably have a different attitude if I ever got one smashed up, but
> aside from Steve's experience, I haven't heard of that occurring.  Plus, if
> your guitar is that important and precious to you, then spring for an anvil
> case and stop worrying about it.  (Anvil cases are the indestructible ones
> that the steadily touring musicians usually use)
>
> Finally, I must comment on Adrian's most recent pre-shabbat musing, in which
> he talked about some of the more difficult passages in torah, and offered
> some fairly controversial commentary.  Sorry I can't quote it verbatim, but I
> inadvertantly deleted it.  But in a nutshell, it had to do with some of the
> biblical strictures around homosexuality and other transgressions (stoning to
> death, that sort of thing)  Adrian's point was that as much as it's tempting
> to reject the more difficult biblical passages, we have to "respect" our
> torah and look more deeply at these questions.
>
> What I can't accept is when he talks about homosexuality, and includes it
> with infidelity and I believe some type of criminal bahavior.  (sorry for the
> lack of a direct quote)  Homosexuality and infidelity do not equate.  Period.
>  It's an insult to gay people, and I don't believe that it has any place on
> this list.  If that is "disrespecting" torah, then let me disrespect it
> fully.  I'd rather do that than disrespect a person.
>
> Rich G
>

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