I Am Just Who I Am

(and I'm too much of an OCD* to change)

My Dear Friends (Mes Cher Amis),

This is a copy of a post I put on Facebook that 's worth repeating.

I have gotten a little flak about some jokes and photos that I have posted. I know I can’t please everyone all of the time, but I certainly don’t wish to intentionally expose anyone to anything they find objectionable or offensive. Saying that, I think I need to step back a bit and explain the environment I intend to create here. Please get this LIKEd and SHAREd so we can make sure all our friends get this message.

You may remember some time ago I mentioned our common human need for, and love of . . . laughter. Although jokes are not the only reason I started this page, it has indeed been an integral part of what gets us to visit regularly and what may ultimately make a difference in the future success or failure of this endeavor. I do pledge to all of you that I will only post things that I think are acceptable among our group of educated teens and reasonable adults. It is my understanding that Facebook has a minimum age requirement in order to have an account, and therefore, I have a reasonable expectation that all who have access to “The Easy Cajun” do indeed meet those age requirements. It is my belief that teens of today are much more sophisticated than we were at that age and will therefore not be harmed by anything allowed on this page.

I am who I am. I will not allow any vulgarity on this page. If you must resort to vulgarity in order to express yourself, then this is not the place for you. We will make fun of ourselves and we will make fun of each other, but I will not allow any blatant sexism, racism, or demeaning comments aimed at any ethnic or religious group. There will be humor here that pokes fun at our adult lives here in the good old U.S. of A. Although I won’t allow any gross bathroom humor or overtly sexual material, I am not a prude. We will perhaps, at times, laugh about Boudreaux squatting in the woods or Clotile chasing Thibodeaux for more than a piece of hot boudin. I welcome your comments on any and all material and certainly understand that some things may not be perceived and accepted by everyone in the same way.

I am who I am. Although I am certainly a bit right of center, this page is not intended for politics. I’m a strong supporter of our military men and women, and I believe it to be a good thing when we express our pride as Americans and our sense of patriotism. I believe in the rights of all people to practice and follow their faith within the boundaries of our laws and our culture . . . and without interference from the government. I believe in equal rights for all and will not allow any hint of intolerance to be posted here. This is a place where we will all agree to have fun. The disagreements among us as free citizens can be aired in many other freely available forums.

I am who I am. When referring to people of my background, I expect them to be addressed as “Cajun” and no other term. I’m not offended at all by the other term we use when among friends and family, but I have decided it will be avoided on this page. We have enough problems with lingering misconceptions of who and what we Cajun people are really all about, so we don’t need to further feed those fallacies with terms that some perceive as demeaning. This page is for people worldly enough to know that we are fond of self-deprecating humor. In many of these jokes, we could substitute other groups for “Cajun” and get just as much of a laugh from them. Anyone who sees this page as some sort of affirmation that Cajuns are of a lower ranking caste . . . are themselves candidates for removal from this island. In other words, they really just aren’t educated nor well-traveled enough to get it.

I hope this post is not too strong of a “downer” my friends. But I need to make sure we all are in agreement as to the direction “The Easy Cajun” community should take. When I reach retirement age, I want to continue to reach out to people and to keep interacting with the modern world. I may write a cookbook. I may market some cooking related products. I may write about my own experiences growing up in a “pure bleed” Cajun environment. I may try to make some more videos. I have been encouraged to do all of the above and “The Easy Cajun” Facebook page is a good place to test the waters of just what makes us all smile and what it is we all want to collectively say to the rest of the world about our progress as a loving and highly successful culture.

I may back off a little and take a bit of a break from time to time, but I’m not going away. I sincerely appreciate all of your kind words in the past and the many messages of encouragement. I haven’t changed much in several decades and I guess I’m not going to change much in the future . . . cher.

I am just who I am . . .

 The Easy Cajun

                                                                                                                         * Old Cajun Dude