​Blog 502 – 12.22.2016

You Said That Already

I have loved all my in-laws and outlaws as one of my father-in-laws puts it. He is a quite gifted talker and as many of us are he is given to repeating his favorite stories again and again. His patient and loving wife developed the habit of raising a finger or two to indicate that she and others might have heard a particular story several times. And not the “I love you” finger either for she is way too sweet to use such a gesture. She merely tries to warn him that others might know the particular story well enough to tell it themselves. It has become quite a joke in the family and I have to admit that I have seen the flashing five fingers on both hands of family members more than once myself in the middle of one of my favorite jokes or tales. But I am of the opinion that a good joke or story only gets better with the telling and re-telling. A good comedian or story teller watches his audience’s reactions, feeds on them really, and knows when to retire material and when to bring out the good stuff, the tried and true stuff.

If you follow my writing you will perhaps think of saying to yourself if not to me, “You said that already.” Sometime repetition is for effect, sometimes for emphasis, and sometimes lest we forget. If anything is worth saying or writing it is worth saying or writing more than once. And remember what the good teachers used to say, “Anything I say more than once is probably going to be on the test.”

I consider myself a teacher of sorts. I even put it on my new card not just to remind you but myself that that too is one of my functions. We are all teachers and it is true that we only learn what we teach. I remember when my mom first taught me to tie my shoes. I had to share that with someone else and it was really in the sharing that it truly became mine. Giving Is getting. And being is way more important than having. I have said all these things before and I will say them again and again till they seems less strange and more familiar.

We have been programmed to do a lot of things without thinking. And that is not always a bad thing but often it is. Giving without thinking is one of those. How can you be a cheerful giver if you are not even thinking. And we should know where and how much of what we give is actually going to a worthy cause. We would not knowingly sponsor terrorism or promote some scam artist’s scheme to manipulate us. But if we give without thinking we might but doing one or both of those things. But I have said that before. Are you listening?

“Would you like to round up to support the local food bank.” No, I save my change. That is my cash back program but here is a dollar for your cause. A dollar every fifth time you hear that pitch would at least start you thinking. We are programmed to drop money in a kettle when we hear a bell ring. I think the Salvation Army uses a larger percentage of cash donations than most for helping the less fortunate but did you know those bell ringers get paid by the hour to stand there and ring that bell so that we like trained animals will responded as we have been programmed without thinking. And trust me, Zuzu, an angel does not get his wings every time a bell rings but your savings account would grow a bit faster if you dropped those coins in a jar. Just saying, and put those fingers down.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White