Serendipity?

Arrested for driving 103 mph,
Grandma explains she was teaching
Grandson not to drive like that.

Am I bothered by Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck? Well, yes and no. I am personally not bothered by them because I have never listened to them. I don’t believe I have ever seen or heard Sean Hannity at all, ever. I have heard the other three very briefly a couple of times because I have accidentally tuned in the wrong station or heard them in a store or somewhere. Here in our town Rush, for example, is played in the Court House by those who work in the licensing department. If you have to get a license you can’t avoid at least a brief exposure. Sometimes he is also playing in the Health Food store. What does bother me about these lying cretins is twofold: the fact that they exist at all, and, more importantly, they somehow have audiences, whose existence allows them to continue (and make absolutely obscene sums of money for chronic lying and hatemongering). I am led to believe there is another world out there of which I am virtually ignorant. That is, I cannot believe there are actually people who listen to these incredibly awful jerks and, not only do they apparently listen, they proudly announce themselves to be “dittoheads.” I should be familiar with at least some of these people because there are lots of them here where I live. But I do not fraternize with them and, in fact, I barely ever come into direct contact with them (I tend to pretty faithfully keep to myself).

I was extremely sociable as a child and I rarely remember even playing by myself. Over the years I have changed dramatically to the point where I actually shun social contacts except with a very few individuals. This has, at least for me, advantages, as I do not have to be exposed to other people’s idiocy (I have enough of my own). There are, I suppose, disadvantages as well. I seem to have missed out on some things that I have been led to believe are quite popular, for example, tabloids. In my entire lifetime I have never once seen anyone buy one of the many tabloid newspapers that are prominently displayed at the checkout counters in our local stores. I believed for a long time this was because no one was stupid enough to buy one of these rags, but one day a cashier told me how wrong I was. I guess it must have just been accidental. Until two years ago I had never seen a single person ever buy or consume a Dr. Pepper. But one of my friends had a friend of his visit from Mexico and he drank Dr. Pepper. I was quite amazed as I had never seen it before. Obviously my self-imposed exile from ordinary society has denied me some of the usual experiences of others. Has it been worth it? I believe so. Much of my lack of experience with ordinary things must simply be accidental (or perhaps I am not aware of being deaf, dumb, and blind). I have lived here on this county road for almost 20 years. During that time I have never seen anyone throw a bottle, can, or box from a car or pickup, yet our county road is constantly littered with such garbage. Am I just oblivious to what goes on around me, or what? I believe it is supposed to be illegal to have dogs in the back of your pickup if they are not safely restrained. People here have dogs in their pickups all the time; I have never seen one restrained in any way. I have seen calves’ brains on menus a few times in my life, but on only one occasion did I see somehow actually order them. A man seated next to me at the counter was illiterate and asked me to read him the menu. When I came to brains he became quite excited and insisted that was what he was going to order. I have never seen anyone either buy or eat tripe, although our meat counter features it most of the time. Our market never features brains, but I learned accidentally that if you want them they will produce them from the back of somewhere or other. I learned this only because for a while we had some brain tanners as neighbors.

I don’t know exactly why this is bothering me. I think it is because so much goes on in the world that I never witness or experience. Of course I know that one cannot expect to experience everything during their lifetime, but many of these experiences I might have had, I haven’t. I have never made a hole-in-one, and what is worse, I have never seen one made. I have never been seated next to an attractive woman in a bus, train or plane. I have never won a lottery or known anyone who did. Although I have owned many, many automobiles, I have never owned a Chevrolet, and I am pretty sure I have only known one person who did. I could go on but what is the point? I do not understand why these things have not happened to me, nor do I understand very well things that have happened to me. Is life merely serendipitous?

It is so wonderful to have a President one does not have to be ashamed of! Obama and his wife have obviously been great hits in Europe and have done a great deal already to restore American credibility and popularity around the globe. It is virtually impossible to contrast Obama’s trip with any of George W. Bush’s, they are so different as to be almost beyond belief. I have no doubt that Obama’s popularity will wane, especially as he is forced to make decisions that will always be unpopular at least to some. But I do believe he is the right man at the right moment and we desperately need him.

LKBIQ:
Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.
William Arthur Wood

TILT:
Palouse worms can be 3 feet long and dig burrows up to 15 feet deep.