14-03-2019, 07:32 PM
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Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
WJHAT AILS THEE JOCKFamous first words
Thomas Carlyle never spoke at all until he was two. Then one day he heard his brother crying and asked,
“What ails thee, Jock?”
I can’t remember my first words, probably they were something like,
“Are we there yet.?”. On second thoughts, that can’t be the case because we didn’t have a car until I was about 11 years of age, the same year I was given an encyclopaedia of natural history edited by the splendidly named Professor Bertha Morris Parker. I still have it, and 60 years later still read it from time to time.
I can remember one of my first sentences (very apt word sentence.) dating from my first day at school
“Thank you Miss Chalk,, it’s very nice here but I don’t think I will be coming back again.”
Why a four year old boy who thought his name was “Shaddup” until he arrived at school was so keen to stay at home is hard to explain.(The more astute reader will draw their own conclusion)
I was quite introverted as a child and read books voraciously, mostly non fiction from the library and peculiarly, from a cupboard in the parish hall of the local Baptist church where we ate our foul school dinners. Mostly national geographic magazines, illustrated London news and a wonderful collection of books about the Norse gods, folk tales and legends of yesteryear..
I could read and write by the time I went to school, thanks to my namesake, my father’s brother a seaman who spent his times ashore with us and who spent endless hours coaching me. I would have been even more advanced if he hadn’t come home from the pub and be sick on the lino once too often. After that he went to live with his sister and her 4 boys..
Talking of boys, my uncle gave me & my brother & sister a half a crown (12 ½ p) every trip. This half a crown was very quickly wasted on sweets from Mr Michael‘s, a Greek Cypriot who ran the local general store.
“ Give me 6 bars of “Six Boys” chocolate bars please Mr Michael”.
“Don’t sell ‘em” He seemed to be having a private joke with Mrs Michael.
“ Yes you do, “ I pointed to the display of bars under the glass counter.
“ They’re Five Boys, you asked for Six Boys”. I didn’t think it was funny & they were still laughing as I abandoned my trip and put the money into my savings book at the post office.
I didn’t go into the next door sweet shop because the proprietor short-changed me when I first visited his shop.
When I joined the boys brigade &we had a parade in the Baptist Church I wasn’t surprised to see this same individual over seeing the cash offerings & looking very pleased with himself.
I was put off Churches until my 30s.
14-03-2019, 09:17 PM
14263
Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
OPINION VS. JUDGMENTBy Richard Ray:
For years, when challenged, I have argued the differences in my having strong opinions as distinctively distinguishable from being judgmental. Admittedly, I have some educational training in arguing semantics, but I acknowledge that the distinction is thin at best.
Merriam-Webster’s definitions highlight how similar the words are, but for me conceptually they still hold important differences.
Judgmental: tending to judge people too quickly and critically; characterized by a tendency to judge too harshly.
Judgment: the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.
Opinionated: unduly adhering to one’s own opinion or to perceived notions
Opinion: a belief, judgment or way of thinking about something: what someone thinks about a particular thing.
Those are Merriam-Webster’s simple definitions, here are my own distinctions. I am full of opinions. Prior to Diary Of A Mad Mind I was intensely private and with no social media presence at all, my vast opinions were primarily restricted to friends and close associates. Now, I have opened up my opinions to the world and while political correctness is often overrated, I am aware of the powerful effects that words can have.
My opinions are plentiful on a vast array of subjects. I do not toe any particular party or cultural lines. My opinions, no matter how strong, are also not usually set in stone. I constantly try to evolve as a man and that growth sometimes means a change of viewpoint. Opinions are a belief, but as your understanding or knowledge changes or increases on any matter, so should your beliefs or opinions.
The fundamental core of who I am as a man has not changed much since I was twelve years old. Yet, my knowledge has (hopefully) exponentially grown so on a subject by subject basis there have been more factors that contribute to shaping my opinions and beliefs.
It is that malleability of my mind in accepting new information and its ability to re-formulate opinions that is the reason I make sure to never be judgmental in offering or sharing thoughts.
I would like to think that I have always been progressive enough to make the distinctions, but the sad truth is I realize I was not. The epiphany came one day many years ago. Prior to them being nearly commonplace now, breast augmentation used to incite talk, opinions and judgment. It may still exist today, but it is clearly more common today within society then it was say twenty years ago. I was one of those with strong opinions about breast implants. I usually did not infer a judgment upon the woman as a person, but I was definitely filled with thoughts as to my dislike for them atheistically. I remember even saying something along the likes of “I do not understand why any woman would ever get them.”
Then one day I spoke to a woman who shared her story of receiving implants after reconstructive surgery related to breast cancer. Her story made me realize why I could never show judgment to anyone, because the reality is that you never really know anyone’s story. The conversation totally re-shaped my opinion of breast augmentation. Her experience caused me to rethink the shallowness of simply looking at the atheistic superficiality of the procedure and only take into consideration that women make the decision for so many reasons that as a man are simply none of my concern.
We all look from the outside and at times develop strong opinions. However, we must make sure that those opinions fall well short of passing judgment. Opinions are essentially generalities and the reality is that nearly every situation has a specific backstory and until you know everything about someone’s particular story, opinions need to be maintained judgment free.
14-03-2019, 10:14 PM
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Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
Originally Posted by Jem
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My thoughts exactly Gummy, since he hit the big 70 he’s telling’ em with that extra bit of flair, good on ya RJ!
My hands are OK but I got two quare things on the back of me back, the ‘big’ one is about 6mm in size and is light brown in colour, it is situated smack in the centre of me back. The smaller one is about half the size and of a similar shade and about two inches from the big one.
Why mention this you may well ask, well they were not there last week, they just ‘sprung up’ out of the blue, I’m not bothered about them, no itch or irritation of any kind and I wouldn’t have noticed them at all had I not been in the ‘tub’ with the wife last Monday night, but I’ll say no more about that, yiz can mind your own business.
That’s what happens when you reach 70, bits fall off and other bits appear, so check everything out carefully when you step out of the tub and take stock of your bits.
I knew an old fella of 95, he told me that on one Saturday night he stepped out of his tub and dried himself down vigorously, when he went to put on his trousers he found four assorted toes and part of an ear on the bathroom floor.
14-03-2019, 10:32 PM
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Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
Originally Posted by gumbud
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if you lived in OZ OR expose your back to sunlamps regularly I'd be advising you to see a skin specialist quickly!
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