The Way I See It - Observing the Holidays
The Way I See It
By Doug Dickerson
Staff Writer
December 20, 2006
You can observe a lot just by watching
-Yogi Berra
If you are like me, the past few weeks have been busy with many festivities of the holiday season. From parties, musicals, and shopping, to all other sorts of functions and obligations, life can be all too busy during the season of “peace on earth, good will towards men.”
As my editorial deadline approached, I began to panic because things had been so hectic that I didn’t have a clue as to what to write about. Nothing to write about? Perish the thought! Someone once said, “A writer works alone and must, therefore, suffer the company of a fool.” Well, there you go!
However, inspiration began to flow as I considered the above-mentioned words of Yogi Berra. Observing others is a favorite pastime of mine. Just the other day, I was at a red light when I looked up in my rear view mirror to watch a lady apply lipstick, eye liner, and fix her hair all in about a two-minute span. I couldn’t help but wonder, if she could do that sitting still at a red light, what could she do while driving?
I was in Wal Mart the other day. As I walked down an aisle, I overheard a man say to his wife, “I don’t know what to buy, I am a man.” I wanted to slap him! However, that “peace on earth, good will towards men” thing all but snuffed out an otherwise tempting moment. Nothing gets my goat more than a man unjustly playing into the stereotypes that men are helpless at Christmas because we don’t know what to buy. Obviously, he does not have a teenage daughter to tag along with him while shopping to serve as a purchasing consultant to avoid such mistakes. We do know what to buy when pointed in the right direction.
My wife and I had just finished a little shopping at the mall the other night, when driving out of the parking lot, my wife, with a sparkle in her eye, looked at me and said, “I am glad you like to go shopping with me.” Stunned, I looked at her and asked, “What makes you think I like going shopping with you?” The excursion began with dinner at Jason’s Deli. The chicken wrap advertised at the counter looked good enough for a “last supper” for the condemned who was about to unleash money faster than the woman painting her lips at the red light. Thankfully, the damage shopping wasn’t so bad, and later I commented to my wife again, about how good the chicken wrap was. With a devious smile, she told me that the wrap was indeed a spinach wrap. Yuk! I hate spinach, and the thought that she knowingly let me eat a spinach wrap was about more than I could stand. In hindsight, I wish I had slapped that man in Wal Mart after all.
Will Durant, in his book The Story of Civilization, said, “Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting, and doing things historians usually record – while, on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry, whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happens on the banks.”
Yes, life is busy; especially during the Christmas season. So often, it seems, we are in the stream going nowhere fast and at times in streams not of our choosing. Instead of observing, we are reacting; instead of building up, we are tearing down. The stream can be a violent place even in Wal Mart or while eating spinach.
In the closing days of this Christmas season, let’s get back on the bank. Perhaps we can return to building our lives on the banks of what makes us strong – faith, family, love, the voice of a child, laughter, music, and the true meaning of the season. Merry Christmas!
©Summerville Journal-Scene 2006
By Doug Dickerson
Staff Writer
December 20, 2006
You can observe a lot just by watching
-Yogi Berra
If you are like me, the past few weeks have been busy with many festivities of the holiday season. From parties, musicals, and shopping, to all other sorts of functions and obligations, life can be all too busy during the season of “peace on earth, good will towards men.”
As my editorial deadline approached, I began to panic because things had been so hectic that I didn’t have a clue as to what to write about. Nothing to write about? Perish the thought! Someone once said, “A writer works alone and must, therefore, suffer the company of a fool.” Well, there you go!
However, inspiration began to flow as I considered the above-mentioned words of Yogi Berra. Observing others is a favorite pastime of mine. Just the other day, I was at a red light when I looked up in my rear view mirror to watch a lady apply lipstick, eye liner, and fix her hair all in about a two-minute span. I couldn’t help but wonder, if she could do that sitting still at a red light, what could she do while driving?
I was in Wal Mart the other day. As I walked down an aisle, I overheard a man say to his wife, “I don’t know what to buy, I am a man.” I wanted to slap him! However, that “peace on earth, good will towards men” thing all but snuffed out an otherwise tempting moment. Nothing gets my goat more than a man unjustly playing into the stereotypes that men are helpless at Christmas because we don’t know what to buy. Obviously, he does not have a teenage daughter to tag along with him while shopping to serve as a purchasing consultant to avoid such mistakes. We do know what to buy when pointed in the right direction.
My wife and I had just finished a little shopping at the mall the other night, when driving out of the parking lot, my wife, with a sparkle in her eye, looked at me and said, “I am glad you like to go shopping with me.” Stunned, I looked at her and asked, “What makes you think I like going shopping with you?” The excursion began with dinner at Jason’s Deli. The chicken wrap advertised at the counter looked good enough for a “last supper” for the condemned who was about to unleash money faster than the woman painting her lips at the red light. Thankfully, the damage shopping wasn’t so bad, and later I commented to my wife again, about how good the chicken wrap was. With a devious smile, she told me that the wrap was indeed a spinach wrap. Yuk! I hate spinach, and the thought that she knowingly let me eat a spinach wrap was about more than I could stand. In hindsight, I wish I had slapped that man in Wal Mart after all.
Will Durant, in his book The Story of Civilization, said, “Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting, and doing things historians usually record – while, on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry, whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happens on the banks.”
Yes, life is busy; especially during the Christmas season. So often, it seems, we are in the stream going nowhere fast and at times in streams not of our choosing. Instead of observing, we are reacting; instead of building up, we are tearing down. The stream can be a violent place even in Wal Mart or while eating spinach.
In the closing days of this Christmas season, let’s get back on the bank. Perhaps we can return to building our lives on the banks of what makes us strong – faith, family, love, the voice of a child, laughter, music, and the true meaning of the season. Merry Christmas!
©Summerville Journal-Scene 2006
posted by Doug Dickerson | 11:12 AM
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