Saturday, November 22, 2008

November Morn.

Weekends are the hardest.

Basically, I get two genuine weekends off a month; Saturday and Sunday, and usually with a Monday thrown in. The other two weekends are filled, mostly at this time of year, with people who are in a rush to get from point A to point B, are sometimes ill prepared for the journey, and are sometimes rude to the point where you think there should be some federal law about craniums and 2X4s, and their brief connection. Repeat as needed.

This week, I have four days off; yes, I KNOW, I KNOW, it's a blessing; but people, if you knew what I did to deserve those days off, you would have suggested a whole week. Besides, I racked up so much overtime in the last two weeks, the boss begged me to even it out by not working for awhile. Twist my arm.

So, I did all the domestic chores yesterday. AND actually attended two meetings, listened to a conference call from my home office, gave various fluids to a doctor who frowned on my use of tobacco, so I frowned on his choice of ties, and took my wife out for a belated Anniversary dinner.

So, when faced with this shiny paper before me, blank and full of hope of being filled like I am blank and full of hope of being filled......there's a brief moment of panic: "What the HELL am I going to write about?"

Oh.

Well, that's kind of like cheating, isn't it?

I need some kind of philosophy in here; some kind of moral message.

Something distinctive.

How about this?

There is a section of the training that I do for the masses of employees here in ND that includes quotes from historical and contemporary leaders. The assignment is usually to find a quote that speaks to you, and speak upon it. And there are a lot of quotes.

Gates.
Eisenhower.
Anjelou.
Mother Teresa.

And there's one from Eugene Debs. And this came up in the meeting yesterday.

Eugene Debs was one of the founding fathers in the labor movement in this country. He was also a socialist. He attended meetings of the Communist Party in this country before it was outlawed. And somebody brought up whether or not this was somebody we should be having quoted in our government classes.

I have never been so disappointed in all my life.
We have learned nothing. AT ALL.

For those who simply bypass and condemn the works of a person because they do not believe in the author's politics or personal choices are excising important thought from the library of human events. And we can't, at this time in our history, afford to pick and choose.

Wisdom is wisdom, whether it comes from Debs (Communist), Marx (Socialist), Nixon (Crazy Man), Wilde (Homosexual) or Francis (Talking Mule).

See you tomorrow.

2 comments:

Anil P said...

I agree, wisdom is wisdom, irrespective of whence it comes.

Gertrude said...

I believe we have the outcome we have in the current election in part because Obama is excellent with his mouth.
Its one of the reasons I love the man most.
Who cares that its speech writers feeding him the lines... the man can deliver them.
And with the last 8 years of what we've had... the cast of the damned on our world stage everyday...
We deserve a Laurence Olivier!
I miss Bill. When the man uses his mouth it’s organic! And no matter what he was being feed... he had his own spin.
Don't ask don't tell however outdated now was born of his own experiences.
As to the words... they are such powerful things... yes. But when spoken by someone with natural talent they are not just heard but received especially when you can provoke the power of the past when using them.
One last thing...
I should have made this a post response. Sorry.
I have a problem with Red quoting Blue and vice versa and using those words to further their cause. Like when Palin quoted Truman's philosophies in her speech. She has no business doing that! Her policies don’t even resemble his in any way.
However... I am a huge fan of quotes.
So hit me with the 2 by 4 Clemo.
I am a complete hypocrite.
But be sure to hit me in context.
Does this make sense at all?
More coffee… now.