See Real Life Before You Rust

Roman aristocrat at Coliseum

Because of a recent Sunday School lesson I was thinking about aging and getting aged and, as odd as it seems to me, thinking about me getting old. I suppose, given the choices, I had rather get old than the alternative. I know I need to live for a longer time as I have two great-grand sons to see get raised correctly. It is very possible I shall have to give advice and you know I hardly ever do that. Oh, and there will probably be more babies as I have four more granddaughters and three grandsons who haven’t had any of their own babies yet. Yes, you are correct, I shall probably have to live to 101 just to see everybody gets off to the correct start. ...and furthermore, may I repeat, I hardly ever give advice but am always available when needed.

Most of you will remember that I have traveled on occasion and have met some wonderful people in other wonderful places. Whilst riding a city bus in L’viv, Ukraine I noticed the front-right side of the bus was empty. I asked our guide why she wouldn’t sit there as she was standing. The lettering on the wall of the bus said that those seats were served for “senior citizens” and one could be fined severely if a senior need that seat and you were in it.  Now that is what I call a civilized country. That’s not all.

In almost every place we visit out of the USA we notice we are almost catered to by others who see to it that we get on the bus, elevator or through a door or whatever. It seems to be part of other country’s DNA to assist the older members of the population and not run them over because they are slow and in the way. Other places/people do this aid without being condescending and that makes it nice. It is hard to get used to or accept when you are not always treated this way.

Part of our problem, I would have to think, is that the people of the USA are in a hurry. It seems that we rush through everything and that also means we rush through life. Yes, it starts very early. Our little kids are in a hurry to get to school, then they have eyes for little else but to get to drive, then to graduate high school and then get a “better” job or graduate college. Why the hurry? What about all the good things that could be happening while you were rushing through the healthiest part of your life.                                                                                                                 

Typical beach scene in Mexico

 

Not every kid in every country is like this. Many zillions of European, New Zealand and Aussie kids put on a back pack and go trekking across the world. They work at what they can, when they can and then travel on. There are youth hostels all over the world that cater to these backpackers and they are a delight to stay in. These kids meet other people, form temporary friendships, sometimes travel together and then move on. Some of them have already entered the world of work and they decided not to participate just yet. They exchange information that is valuable to fellow travelers and also exchange warnings.

Scene in Italy

 After doing a months long trip or more, they have a better idea of what the real world, the whole world is all about and they can better adjust to it. I would have to say that most foreign kids are not as xenophobic as many, if not most, American kids are. Think about kids from a small town and think how many of them have ever gone out to see the “real world” or real life. Young people from a small village in Germany may travel all across Europe without giving it a thought. It is hard to think of a youth from Smallville, USA who would travel backpack border to border by him/herself.

typical scene - Cuba

This is what I want my grand and great-grand kids to do. They should get out and see the world as it is, not just as the travel magazines and tour guides tell them it is. Get out and meet real people in real people circumstance. Meet people from small villages and not just city landmarks. Since I am going to have to live until I am 110 just to get them raised, I may even go with them. (Just to make sure they are all right, you understand.)

Cozemel

Blue Mnts, Australia

Travel Is More Than A Trip

                                    Travel Is More Than A Trip
In his book, “Quiet Mind,  One-Minute Retreats from a Busy World,” David Kundtz wonders “when traveling stopped being fun and became...what? Challenging!” Wellsir, to me traveling has always been fun AND challenging. Yessir, you who are ahead of me know that the greed of the airlines has made traveling harder as they are less focused on their customers needs as on their stock holders profits. No, no, do not get me wrong. I do believe that airlines should make a profit as they need to do so to get me from here to there. After saying that, however, I do not like being treated as if I were a steer loading into a cattle car. Actually, I think Darrell and Rupe treated their cattle with more care than some airlines treats their passengers.

Oh well, I suppose I could always hitch hike and take my chances on “Freddie” or “Chuckie” driving by. But no, I shall take the airlines and do my best to make the trip worthwhile. That is the key, I believe, to make something good of whatever happens. Recently a five member family needed to get back to the USA to start work again in two days after they arrived home. After being bumped, changed, ignored and several other completely asinine things that happened, they arrived at 2:00AM and went to work the next morning. Their 12 hour trip took 52 hours.

Now you are asking yourself two questions since I am not there to answer. (1) Was it worth it? and (2) Would they go to Europe again? The answer to both questions is an unqualified “YES.” Traveling away from home gives one the best way to appreciate home and his own country. Even if the airline people were horribly inefficient and uncoordinated, these people got to see sights only available in person at the site. These children now know that if there are problems they can be overcome.

You probably know from past records that I love to travel. Herself often says that we cannot go back to the same places as there are too many things and places to see to repeat. ...and yes, we have “sorta” violated that as we have been to Australia several times. Australia is large enough to see and do different things each time although visiting family was a priority.  Oh, to the uninitiated, we have been to all 50 US states and most of those we have visited several times so we have followed Will Rogers’ rule.

Americans are usually in too big of a hurry when traveling. We have not invented Star Trek’s “Beam me up, Scotty” yet so we have to travel at the speed of flight instead of the speed of light. To many American travelers I have seen and talked to, a two hour wait is the equivalent of being placed in a penitentiary cell. The fact that they will soon be traveling at close to 600 miles in only one hour and will get to their destination in the time it took their fathers to get to the next city. OK, I won’t even mention that they can go to Europe and visit several major capitals and be home in less time than it took their great-grandfathers to just get to Europe. I won’t even mention that.

Before leaving for any trip one should mentally prepare him/herself. When going to a foreign country one could learn a few phrases as most of those foreigners would appreciate you at least trying to speak their language. ...and furthermore, when a foreigner does not understand you it does not help him understand if you keep yelling a little louder each time. Bless their hearts. They have spent an entire lifetime speaking their native language and many Americans expect them to instantly be fluent in English. (Don’t tell anyone I said this but many rural Americans are not all that great at English).

Any trip is more enjoyable if one can learn to relax and expect the unexpected. Herself and I were going to Aussieland and had a dreaded five hour layover in Dallas. Wrong! We had a five hour layover in Tulsa and only arrived a few minutes before our once a day flight leaving Dallas. Yep, we were about to get nervous as time kept moving on but we didn’t. The delay was in Dallas but some people were harsh to the Tulsa workers. Hey, relax, dude, you are alive, well and, except for your overhanging belly, doing pretty well. Some people force themselves to not see past the moment. While we sat in Tulsa we thought about seeing Sydney again riding the train again and seeing actual live kangaroos eating on the lawn.

Travel maybe is a challenge and maybe is annoying at times but it is also one of life’s greatest pleasures. Get up, go somewhere and enjoy life. Vaya Con Dios.
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Blogspot has "improved" its blog server so now it has taken me almost all day and many attempts to get anything posted. I had one post completed earlier today and it disappeared before I got to review it. So I shall do a simple one and get started again after a year's absence from blogging. Read & I hope ENJOY!

1. Someone Call The Sheriff
2.  Well, DUHH!
3. Reader's Comments
4. Yes, you can
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Reader's Forum
Two interesting responses from last week
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As mankind progressed he found it necessary to set forth some rules to live by or there would be constant chaos. If one reads all the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, or reads even any ancient text not related to a specific religion, one would find a great deal of killing, bloodshed, barbarism and not very nice people. Recently I have read about ancient Ireland and the books brought history up to the modern era and murder, cheating and power makes right was the order of the day. Most countries follow a similar pattern, yes, including your own.
But as mankind did progress and get past the spear and sword defense, we began to try to sort out things before we killed someone. Now if that someone happened to be a king and your tribe disagreed with him, it was perfectly acceptable to get a huge gang and go about the countryside killing anyone you even thought might disagree with you. If they were ugly you could kill them just on general principles. No use having ugly people around to propagate ugly children. King, of course, set laws down for the people and this started other people to grumbling about the severity of the king’s justice.
Then someone in the western world invented writing and laws began to be made known to the masses rather than handed down by word of mouth (no pun intended). It didn’t matter to the Western world that the Eastern world had written things for centuries and had codified laws since before time began. The western kings had not let it happen so it didn’t count. And all this time you thought it was just our modern Congress-people who refused to believe that there was actually a civilization before they became elected.
But we here in the U S of A believe in laws and we believe in strict adherence to those laws. Yessir, especially here in Oklahoma. We believe in that people should put their faith in the laws of the land, just as Jesus said we should, and practice being faithful to those laws. However, some laws are just a little bit harder to follow than others. Some of those laws have been brought to my attention and as a public service I shall remind everybody, Okie or not, of these laws and will, of course, expect full compliance.
This first one will be easier to follow than some of them, Did you know that in the State of Oklahoma: “It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.” For most people that particular law would be easy but, I suppose, it would depend on how long one had been in that bar. Also, just maybe what was being served to customers would enter in.
Now this one may be unconstitutional, I suppose it would depend on who is interpreting the US Constitution: “Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.”
 Now I fully agree with this one: “Oklahoma will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another’s hamburger.” Can you imagine the chaos and riots going on at Wendy’s or McDonalds if it wasn’t for that law. Two more very good and well crafted laws are in effect right now and should be brought to everyone’s attention. I fully agree with this one and shout AMEN! “It is against the law to read a comic book while operating a motor vehicle.” If you had had my mother you would know this law was not even needed: “It is illegal to wear your boots to bed.” Not wanting to commit suicide I never tried that.
Some of our cities and towns also have some relevant laws. For instance in Tulsa: “Elephants are not to be taken into the downtown area.” While in Wynona, OK, “Clothes may not be washed in bird baths and mules may not drink out of bird baths.” So you better take good care of your bird baths in Wynona.
I did a term as substitute principal in Schulter, OK. I am not sure I would have had the presence of mind to have called the sheriff if I had seen any of these lawbreakers. In Schulter: “Women may not gamble in the nude, in lingerie, or while wearing a towel.” Holy Cow! I wonder what the ante would be in that game. Maybe it is just as well I did not know.                                                        
Think for a minute where Oklahoma is geographically located in the continental U S. We are about 600 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and approximately 1500 miles from the Atlantic and/or the Pacific Ocean(s). There is a law in Oklahoma that says: “Whaling is illegal.” Dang, and I just bought a new harpoon.
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2. Well, DUHH!

Thus society is weakened every time a law is passed that large numbers of reasonable, responsible citizens think is stupid. Such laws invite good citizens to choose knowingly to break the law, confident that they are doing nothing morally wrong.
Charles Murray
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This just came in and seemed to fit.

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Church sign
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3. Reader's Comments
    Questions? Ask them, Ill try to answer.
     Comments? State them, it is your turn to speak.
     Click here:  andfurthermore@cox.net and please put COMMENTS in the subject line

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4. Yes, you can
   Tell others about this blog and let's get a conversation going. .
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                                    READERS' FORUM
## See, you need to read this column to keep up. But THANKX for writing and the kind words. This writer is speaking of the previous rant about how some cheat our children.

            **I'm sorry I missed that one but the readers forum did nicely. I concur Chelsea. Right on!!

##I have re-read last week's column twice and had it played back to listen to. I think I can figure out but am not exactly sure how what I said fits this response. Evidently I didn't say what I thought I wanted to say well enough to make clear. That may be why I have not gotten a book published.
        **

##I have re-read last week's column twice and had it played back to listen to. I think I can figure out but am not exactly sure how what I said fits this response. Evidently I didn't say what I thought I wanted to say well enough to make clear. That may be why I have not gotten a book published.
        **The rich get richer and the poor get poorer seems to me was an old song but now except for those on drugs and welfare?  Personally, I resent having to work to support those who don’t.  a young friend of ours makes 1,200$ / wk and pays $400 in taxes & other stuff. 

## This is an interesting take on last week's. I should point out the writer is older than me which makes him also a depression era kid. We disagree on the "systematically created" but, as always, he does a great job expressing himself. Maybe I should et him to help me get a book published.
         

     ** I was born and grew up in the bottom 80%, but was never taken in by the faulty idea that my role was to help make things nice and comfortable for the top 20% or 1%, or that I was a victim of a system that created victims..  By the time I was grown, my father, by dedication and persistence, had reached the door of the top 20.  With the same dedication and persistence, I took it from there to a bit of a higher level of the economic scale and my children and grand children have done (are doing) the same.

 

Accepting the idea that victims are systematically created is to accept the role of a victim, rather than taking on the responsibility for making your own way in the economic scale.  Education, dedication, persistence, and acceptance of the idea that we are each responsible for our own achievements, or lack of thereof, is what is needed.  Without them, people will find that they have unknowingly chosen to be victims who are dependent on the government and those higher in the economic scale.  A large part of those on welfare are there of their own choosing. 

 

I agree that there are situations where disabilities or a few other circumstances can cause people to experience impossible barriers, but those are of a great minority and were not the subject of your thesis.   Additionally, there will always be those who are born in a state of luxury, but they are so few that they will not be the cause of misery for the vast majority.

        ### Don't forget to check the blog as this will not be the only thing in it.  I have two new hives of bees and, so far, they are just as busy as... nevermind .. they are doing well. Maybe some fall honey ?? so check the other site also. {  http://wwwandfurthermoreblogspotcom.blogspot.com/  }

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