Come In With Patience, Come In With An Open Mind

Garth Brooks proves that "Friends In Low Places" can be a good thing

Diversity is the answer.

• Garth Brooks

It’s not a difficult concept- people are people. I’m grateful to my parents for teaching me that because it’s probably the one lesson that’s stuck with me more than anything else they tried to teach me. Everything else has flowed from that simple lesson.

People are people. Three simple words. It means that no one is better or worse than I am. No one sits any lower or higher than me; humanity isn’t a pyramid; it’s a horizon, with everyone on the same level.

From the simple concept, I’ve developed what’s become the driving philosophy of my life:

DON’T BE A DICK.

It’s a motto I try to live up to 24/7/365, and it’s not always as easy as you might think. Life has its frustrations and times when it seems like everyone and everything is aligned against you. But, as my wife frequently reminds me, if you assume good intentions of others, the odds are pretty good that things will work out.

If you assume good intentions and try not to be a dick, you’ll invariably find that people will react to you positively. We can never know the issues with which another person may be struggling or what internal battles they may be fighting. How often do we react to outside stimuli based on something that’s happened to us and has no relation to what we’re angry about? Maybe we snapped at our partner because of something at work that still has us on edge but no connection to the person in front of us.

When that happens, I have to realize that I’ve violated my own rule. I’ve been a dick to the person I love. That doesn’t feel good, so I apologize and promise to do better. That promise is as much to myself as to the person I’m apologizing to.

That promise not to be a dick extends outside my marriage and friends to the people I come into contact with daily. When I was a Boy Scout, we had a rule when we left a campsite- leave it better than we found it. I try to do the same thing with people I encounter daily. I may only interact with someone for a few seconds or minutes, but why not make that short period as pleasant as possible? Why not leave that person with a smile on their face? Why not make them laugh if possible?

This is one of the reasons I admire Garth Brooks. Country music- both artists and fans- hasn’t been renowned for being the most open and accepting of people from different walks of life. Brooks, however, has always been honest and welcoming to the point of being very Progressive in his values, sometimes to the detriment of his career.

Brooks loves diversity and believes that acceptance and inclusion are the answers to the problems we currently face and will face down the road. And he’s OK with the knowledge that some folks aren’t going to accept that point of view, but as he makes clear, everyone is welcome at his bar.

Garth Brooks is a genuinely good, kind, and gentle person. Some on the Far Right struggle to accept that a country music star from Oklahoma, of all places, is so accepting of diversity. They expect someone from a deep-red state to be one of them, to be anti-LGBTQ, and they’re genuinely distressed that he isn’t.

As might be expected given the intensely White Conservative Christian heterosexual nature of many country music fans, the response to Brooks’ acceptance of diversity has been very negative in some quarters. To his credit, Brooks accepts that and has said he’s OK with people reacting as they will. But he also makes it very clear that he feels strongly about diversity and acceptance and isn’t about to change.

The blowback became worse when he announced that he’d serve Bud Light at his Nashville bar, but he also said that as a bar owner, he serves what his customers want. If they want Bud Light, he’ll serve it. If they don’t, he’ll sell them what they want. It’s simple supply and demand.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to be subject to moral beacons like Matt Gaetz attempting to school Garth Brooks on morality:

Brooks wasn’t telling anyone who is and isn’t an asshole. That would be Rep. Gaetz making that assumption. All Brooks did was tell us that he believes in diversity and acceptance. I hardly think that’s telling anyone they’re an asshole.

‘Course, if the shoe fits- and I’m looking at you, Rep. Holier-Than-Thou Gaetz- perhaps you might think twice before accusing others. This may not be the time or place, but I remember someone being investigated for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

He who lives in a gas tank should not throw stones, eh?

Anyway, Brooks has generally been a fair bit too Liberal for much of the country music world:

His song, “We Shall Be Free,” wasn’t exactly met with open arms in 1992, long before the country music world was open to people like Chely Wright, who came out as a lesbian…and immediately saw her career circle the drain.

Many radio stations refused to play “We Shall Be Free” because the message behind it was too Liberal for them.

Today those lyrics don’t seem so radical, but in 1992 they didn’t sit well with the fans and hierarchy of country music. Because of that, “We Shall Be Free” was highly controversial.

Thirty years later, though, fans would be clamoring for the song at a live show at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH:

So Garth Brooks is still pissing people off, and given the overwhelmingly Conservative nature of country music fans, he probably always will be. The good news is that your average country fan today is far more accepting of diversity than in 1992. So, progress….

Brooks supported religious diversity, gay rights, and same-sex marriage when it was highly unpopular among country music fans. He hasn’t changed over those three decades; thankfully, the country music world has. There’s still a long way to go, but the video above is proof of the progress that’s been made.

Baby steps, yeah?

Garth Brooks hasn’t changed. The world around him has, and that’s a good thing. He’s always believed diversity, acceptance, and tolerance to be good things. Everyone’s welcome at his bar; it doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe, or who and how you love. All he asks is that you be a good person.

Be a good person, as in…DON’T BE A DICK.

It’s not a tough ask, nor is it a difficult challenge. Just treat people the way you’d like them to treat you.

That’s it, and that’s all.