Consideration of Americans over Pancakes
The other day I decided to take my daughter to breakfast one morning before getting started with the day’s errands. We were still recovering from a car accident we had a month and half ago and had places to visit for treatment so I was still not back to work yet. We decided the local IHOP sounded like as good a place as any to get a bite to eat since we both like pancakes and they are reasonably fast and affordable. We exited the car, but just then my daughter received a phone call from one of her friends, who she had not talked with in an awhile. My daughter elected to hang back and speak outside in private while I entered the restaurant. The hostess asked me how many and after telling her someone else would be joining me she proceeded to head towards the dining room, menus in hand looking for a place for two. Just as I was being seated the guy two tables over let out a loud belch.
Wow. My first thought was, really dude, this isn’t the beer hall or the German deli. Burping is a compliment to the host for enjoying really rich tasting food in some places in Europe, but I was pretty sure IHOP wasn’t one of those places. A few minutes passed and my thoughts were interrupted by the volume of the conversation and colorful language from my eruptive neighbor and his guest. My curious nosy, investigator self couldn’t miss that this young twenty something and his breakfast companion were pouring over paper work, laptops and doing some sort of strategizing. The volume of their conversation was much louder than normal. In fact I think they believed themselves to be in their own private little conference room instead of the middle of the IHOP dining room. Perhaps they were the next Jobs or Gates planning the latest release of some new high tech gizmo or gadget that will make our lives simpler by not requiring we see, hear, or interact with our fellow human beings. In any case I was getting hungry, and my breakfast neighbor’s loud and crude conversation was starting to disturb my calm, especially without my first cup of coffee yet.
RING, RING….RING RING…. RING RING….My heart began pounding and my temples starting playing the rumba as I searched the room for the fire or threat that I was certain was coming as no human being could have originated this sound…. what a cell phone ring tone like the old fashion ones, that loud?? Really?? My breakfast neighbor must be stone deaf I thought. Anyway my blood pressure was just starting to reach popping point when Mister Burp began his telephone conversation in a really loud voice. HELLO THIS IS JIM. OH HI WE ARE JUST ABOUT READY TO MEET FOR THE PROPOSAL, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN DO OR BRING TO THE MEETING, OH OKAY BLAH BLAH BLAH.. I motioned for the hostess. I am normally reasonable and believe that people have a right to have a conversation, however I am a firm believer that said conversations should be private not for other humans to be forced to hear while savoring syrupy sweet boysenberry pancakes. I demanded that I please be re-seated since my breakfast neighbor did not seem to mind he was disturbing me and quarter of the restaurant with his business meeting. It was as if I and my fellow restaurant patrons were invisible.
I am of the generation that did not originally have telephones we carried with us everywhere when we grew up. When we needed to make a call or get a call we excused ourselves and our company and left the dining room and made the call, in private. Courteous behavior dictated that a gentleman does not talk about personal matters in public let alone the middle of a restaurant or bathroom stall for that matter. You’re not one of those are you? Times have certainly changed and not necessarily for the better in my opinion.
After being seated my daughter came to the table with red eyes as though she had been just crying. I did not know what was wrong, and then she told me her best friend had called to tell her that her mother was just diagnosed with stage four cancer and the prognosis was not good, in fact terminal was the word that was used. A stabbing sensation came over me as my wife and I have known the mother for years as a casual acquaintance and had no idea she was even ill. Breakfast was turning out to be a real bummer at this point. Our waitress apologized as the hostess had relayed the message about Mr. Burp and my dissatisfaction of the seating arrangements but when she noticed my daughter crying and my stoic but visibly shaken countenance she continued to apologize. Only then did I explain what had just transpired and the waitress, after some further apologizing and sincere empathy took our order. Within a few minutes another waitress stopped by our table and leaned down towards my daughter and me and said it was going to be okay. Our waitress must have conveyed our story to the other wait staff. This other waitress then explained that things happen for a reason and proceeded to tell us how one of her close family members had been diagnosed with cancer recently and that miraculously she was healed and has made a full recovery.
Part of me said to myself sure but how far advanced was your family member’s condition, was it stage four? The circumstances were most certainly different; but another part of me heard this woman, at the very moment my daughter and I were feeling terrible, and recognized what she really was doing. She was taking time out of her life to provide a brief moment of comfort to total strangers. What a concept. In the span of just ten minutes or so I experienced an insensitive rude narcissist and a compassionate and caring fellow human being serving more than just a plate of pancakes. I then commented to my daughter that our current suffering from the car accident did not sound so bad compared to what her friend and family was going through. She agreed. I think young people today need to remember to lift their heads up once in a while and step back from the “life simplifying devices” and recognize there is a real world out there with real people and real problems in it. Serving humanity is our purpose not pretending it does not exist.
Four myths about the Free Market System
Four myths about the Free Market System
Here is a great article regarding the four common complaints about the free market economy.
Interview with Edward Snowden
Despite what you might think of him you need to know how little regard the US government has for your privacy and the Constitution.
Excellence is a…
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or
excellence, but we rather have those because we have
acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
John Kennedy on 2nd Amendment
By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia’, the ’security’ of the nation, and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms’, our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.
John F. Kennedy, April 1960
America is suffering from a case of multiple personality disorder
I had a discussion the other day with someone who identified themselves as Libertarian and was promoting the idea of legalizing marijuana nationwide. While I identify with many Libertarian viewpoints I draw a line when it comes to their views on social issues and I took issue with my friend’s points. When you get down to it both Libertarians as well as those from the left of the political center embrace the idea that man is inherently good and that if only the right set of laws were put in place or the elimination of laws as in the case of Libertarians man would be happy place and be able to live in harmony or paradise on Earth. Conservatives by contrast and particularly Christian ones do not believe in the inherent goodness of man. Instead they recognize that man is corruptible from the moment of birth. I identify more I think with this belief and accept as our founders did that with great freedom comes great responsibility. Men are not angels and so laws are needed in some cases to govern human beings whose very nature is corruptible.
The libertarian mantra that everyone should be able to do whatever they want whenever they want to, and believe whatever they want to, so long as it does not hurt others is often being preached these days. We see them more and more in social networking circles and increasingly in the political arena. Like their left wing political rivals they believe that truth is subjective and changing, and morality can best be described as relative. This idea is gaining traction now too as more public schools are teaching young people to accept everyone and every culture and giving equal merit to all beliefs all the while ridiculing the Bible’s interpretation of creation and man’s purpose on Earth.
The conflict as I see it or some would say the “cultural war” is the fact that America’s heritage is not based on moral relativity; multi-culturalism; multi-lingualism; worship of the State, or hedonism. American culture, laws and customs have their roots in the Judeo-Christian experience and the belief in one true God; the acceptance of absolute truth and the natural laws of men. John Adams said “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”. I agree. It was expected from the outset that citizenship should be taken seriously. It was hoped that citizens would be honest in their dealing with one another; sober; informed and able to exercise sound judgment and fiscal and social responsibility. These things were deemed necessary in order to maintain self-governance. However, fast forward to today’s society and what you have is a population of people addicted to their own passions and pleasures, ignoring their responsibilities and increasingly reliant upon government to provide for them. An increasing number of Americans reject or ignore their heritage and common language English; and millions of immigrants now are permitted to enter the country without ever being required to assimilate to the American culture but are willing to take from American sustenance. It is not sustainable, to use the language of the political left. Rome and many other empires of antiquity were destroyed in this way.
America does not have a state religion but if it did it most certainly would be Christian, as in poll after poll a majority of Americans still identify themselves as Christian. The numbers depending upon the polls hover around 75%. What can be said of a population that stands for and is tolerant of everything? Are they not by default then really standing for nothing? Furthermore what can be said of American society that claims to be Christian but increasingly is silent to pop culture’s embrace of moral relativity and secular humanism?
Increasingly the country is divided because of these issues and I believe is losing its national identity and suffering from what can be described as a multiple personality disorder. It remains to be seen what dominant if any personality emerges over time, but so far I’m not liking what I’m seeing
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PaladinHouse.com 