Cannons to the left of me, Cannons to the right of me . . . And I'm drifting somewhere between 1.) Can't we all get along?" and 2.) Anyone who actually wants the job should on no account be allowed to have it.
I grew up in what turns out to have been a pretty harsh family environment where strong sentiments prevailed. After all, we were "protecting the world from Communism." You couldn't let your guard down, not even at home. These strong sentiments came out like, "You're not just wrong . . . You're forever wrong." The result is that 60 years later I have an older brother who responds to my cheerful holiday notes by return email saying "Received. D" And actually signing "D" for himself is way more personal than before when he used to sign "G.F.D. III, Maj. U.S.M.C. (ret)" Yes, that is how he used to sign personal mail. Now, I have heard he is friendly to others, but this is one intolerant dude. He's still fighting the Viet Nam war. S**t, he's still fighting the Civil War. When my son was very young I suddenly realized that when I wanted to correct him he could easily be close to tears. Now here I was with a small child I dearly loved and I hadn't even noticed that I was crushing his tiny self esteem. So I made a mantra and I repeated it over and over whenever I was ready to scold him. I said it to him like I was trying to get him to learn it, but the truth is that I was saying it over to myself each time so I would remember it. It was a simple thought: "We have to be able to talk about it and still like each other -- even when we disagree." Right there I gave this small permission to disagree with me and I tried to not let him(or me) forget it. And it was rare, really rare, that we ever had a major problem. And for that I feel truly blessed. The point is that we do disagree, sometimes strongly disagree, but we don't hate. We don't try to crush the other. And I get the nicest notes back from him during holidays. F D wrote: Sorry, John, but I find the double standards exhibited daily in the press and on this list absolutely appalling. The stratalist-OT has become nothing but an angry mob that has dispensed with all form of civility over politics. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "StrataList-OT" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/StrataList-OT?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
