Out and About – Week of December 7th

Monday was December 7, 2015. Seventy-four years ago, Pearl Harbor was viciously attacked. This event launched us into World War II. Last summer we visited the memorial at Pearl Harbor. A most humbling experience and one I’ll never forget. A lot has happened over the last seventy-four years. Hopefully we’ve learned a lot about how to get along better with each other. I don’t know why, but every year at this time, I reflect back to that day that will live on in infamy. I also try harder to understand other’s beliefs and desires more completely. I feel that we should all try to do that in some way or another. It’s not that hard to do, if we try.
Along that same line, I’m really getting a little tired of trying so hard to be politically correct. I believe in saying “Merry Christmas”, and it’s fine with me if somebody else prefers to say, “Happy Holidays”. As a child, we said the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag every morning in school. I don’t know if students today are permitted to do that or not. Rather than go on and on, I’ll only say that a lot of men and women have sacrificed their lives so that we can have the freedom to pretty much do and say as we please, as long as our rights don’t interfere with another person’s rights. Everyone should loosen up a little and not take everything so seriously. Learn how to laugh a little more and get along better with each other.
I consider myself a pretty good listener. Part of being a good listener means looking at someone when they’re talking to you. I have a fault that I was unaware of until a friend of mine brought it up. He said that I look at him as he’s talking, but I’m easily distracted and look at other things happening in the room. My wife has also brought this to my attention. She has often said that she’ll finish talking to me when I have the time to concentrate on what she’s saying. This is extremely rude of me to act in this manner. I’ll try very hard to correct my actions. Are you a good listener?
While on the topic of listening, I’d like to touch on the subject of being a good conversationalist. The next time you venture Out and About to your favorite eatery, you might want to take notice on how many people actually talk to each other while they’re dining. The other day, I noticed a couple having coffee together. They each had a cell phone and spent at least twenty minutes using the device. I’d like to think they were texting each other, but I seriously doubt that was the case. If you were to see a family of four, which would include a mother, father, and two children, dining together, the chances are the children would be busy texting their friends while the parents were busy doing something important on their devices. As a child, I remember eating at home with my family and asking permission to be excused from the table after I had finished eating. It’s too bad that families don’t eat at home together much anymore. It would be a shame if we were to lose the art of conversation.
See you Out and About!

Submitted by Norm Stutesman