Tag Philosophy

Walls O’ Wisdom

Michael 4 Comments

Friends of ours have a plaque hanging above the entrance to their house’s center hallway.  One has to pass it on the way to almost any room in the house.  Every seat in their favorite gathering spot has a clear view of it.  It holds the wisdom of centuries, the hope of generations, and the fear of all who read it.  “What if the hokey pokey is what it’s all about?”

Years ago we took philosophy classes in college to ask the unanswerable, to earn motives, to seek fulfillment, to learn the wisdom of the ages.  Today we just need a good craft show and a vendor with access to the Internet.  All the hard work has been done.  The answers are there.  Along with some questions that we never even thought to ask.

And so we thought of it one day last week.  It came while He of We was standing at the kitchen sink at She of We’s.  There sits a piece of ceramic tile.  Painted on it the thought we all have many times a day but won’t, or can’t verbalize.  “I can only compensate so much for your stupidity.”  Admit it.  You too have wanted to tell your boss just that very thing.  You can’t, or won’t.  You head home knowing something isn’t right.  You can feel it but you aren’t sure what it is that is making you “not right.”  If you were She of We when you get home, you’d know as soon as you stood before your sink what it is that you are feeling.  That one little phrase puts you back on top and sets all right for the rest of the evening.

What are some of the other great wisdoms our walls share with us?  A quick scan at our offices, dens, kitchens, hallways, foyers, even bathrooms provides us with so much enlightenment that we will forever be at inner peace. 

                Half of the people in the world have below average intelligence.

                Behind every great man is an enormous amount of caffeine.

                Don’t believe everything I think.

                If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.

                Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

And so it goes.  Maybe they aren’t the world’s greatest pearls of wisdom but they make us smile.  Sometimes they even make us think.  Now wasn’t that the goal of freshman philosophy.  Not to answer questions, or define our motives, or to become fulfilled.  It was to make us think.  Maybe after all the years that have gone by we still need that reminder that not only don’t we have all the answers, we still aren’t sure what the questions are.  Maybe it’s time to slow down and think.  To recognize that success doesn’t equal fulfillment.

We like our walls of wisdom.  So yes, we still need to be reminded that we shouldn’t work so hard at making a living that we forget to make a life.  But we also need to be reminded that nobody gets in to see the wizard, and that somewhere, the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Your Turn to Keep Score

Michael 3 Comments

This morning there was a story on the morning TV news about a shooting that killed a teenager, put his aunt in the hospital, and superficially wounded his grandmother.  Truly tragic and something that happens far too frequently.   Later in the afternoon She of We called to He of We and asked if he heard the story about the shooting last night.  Who got shot?  In the morning paper the teen had still been killed but now the grandmother was in the hospital and the aunt was treated and released.

One of the first printed reports of Friday’s cruise ship accident off the Italian coast said the ship was “three quarters underwater and sinking fast.”  Four sentences later a statement attributed to Coast Guard officials said “the liner was listing at 20 degrees but was not in danger of sinking.”

Death always surpasses imprecisions on the accuracy meter, and our sympathies to those who lost loved ones in urban violence and vacations gone very badly.  This is not a rant about who spelled what wrong or which homonym was misused today.

But we have to admit our first question to ourselves was, what is more important, getting it right, or getting a headline?  While we were batting that one about we think we may have come across the bigger problem.  It’s not an issue with incorrect reporting.  It’s not an issue with inaccurate editing.  It’s much more pervasive.  It goes back to “everyone’s a hero.”

Let us explain.  How long has it been since the fashion became that little leagues no longer keep score?  That everybody bats every inning?  That every youth gymnastic tournament participant goes home with a trophy? How long has it been since we started instilling in our young people that there are no losers?  Long enough that those children are now young adults writing for our newspapers and web-sites and anchor people.  Long enough that they are also our young firemen, and nurses, and building inspectors.  Long enough that they will soon be our doctors and lawyers.  Long enough that someday they will be running for Congress, President, and your local school board.

Are you young enough, and were you naïve enough to allow your children to believe that there is no winning or losing?  If so, what did you tell your son at his first major league baseball game when the home team lost and the beer soaked fan in the row behind you expressed his displeasure?  What did you tell your daughter when she watched the Olympics for the first time and asked why the gymnasts were crying?  Petty issues?  Perhaps.  But life isn’t all winning.  Once a child is old enough to stand he’s old enough to fall down.  Doesn’t he deserve the courtesy of being told he might?

What do you tell yourself when a group of teens knocks on a door and shoots a child of 16 and a firefighter at the scene is quoted “There’s been a lot of stupid stuff going on?”  How do you reconcile the captain going down with the ship in the movie but going to safe harbor in a life boat in real life?  Once a child is old enough to stand he’s old enough to be pushed over.  Doesn’t he deserve the guidance of being told how to avoid it?

What do you tell the world when the world extrapolates one with no winners or losers to one with no right or wrong?  Have we created that world of harmony for our now young adults by taking the pressure of winning off them when they were our young children?  Or have we created a world of discord for our now young adults – a world where they are unprepared for conflict, discipline, and getting things right because they never had to as young children?  We can’t be outraged at a teen who takes losing so badly that he has to shoot others when we never taught him how to be a gracious winner.   

If you didn’t keep score then, you can’t be an umpire now.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?