Leisurely Scribbles (part 5) (Part 1)

Hobbies & Pastimes Hobbies & Pastimes: Chat / Discussions
14262

WJHAT AILS THEE JOCK

Famous 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.

14263

OPINION VS. JUDGMENT

By 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.

14264

Strange, I remember little, early on, but, certain noises and odours resonate, I suppose that is a useful trait, if you want to smell a rat.

14265

if you lived in OZ OR expose your back to sunlamps regularly I’d be advising you to see a skin specialist quickly!

14266

Can’t see Jem being in a Tanning Salon Gummy, but, fact is stranger than fiction, is it not?

14267

Excuse me, my back is only ever exposed to the one I love, it makes her heart flutter :049::049::049: :slight_smile:

14268

correct mention tanning salon to Jem and he thinks he’s being offered kinky art!

14269

maybe she’s been using her eye pencil on ya back silly arse!

14270

It matters not, someone must shoulder the responsibility.

14271

The Wife wants £50.00 per minute to massage my feet, that’s more than a Brexit Negotiator.:lol::lol:

14272

Oh they were his alright Spitty, he was a single man all his life, he liked to dress up in women’s clothes and paint his toes, there was traces on red nail varnish on the toenails and the gold wire of an earring was still in the detached ear lobe.
Speaking of parts of the human body, did you know that if a portion of one’s body falls off or is detached from the main body in any way, and it cannot be reattached by surgery, it has to be taken to the nearest police station? Norra lorra people know that. It is illegal to hoard body parts…even your own, basically it applies to any part or digit longer than a quarter of an inch long, well so a fella from county Clare was telling me. :slight_smile:
Gall stones and kidney stones are obviously an exception, one is allowed keep them if one wishes, but nobody has the gall to ask for them back. :slight_smile:

14273

:lol: Well at least she won’t be working on your feet for three years and still have gotten nowhere, what have ya got anyway, canal boats with socks on? :lol:

14274

Thank you for the clarification.

14275

I just think she wants a free lunch.:slight_smile:

14276

IGNORANCE VS.LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

By Richard Ray:

Ignorance is a word that is bandied about often. A definition of ‘ignorance” is lack of knowledge or information, but while I am not Merriam-Webster, I do think there is a distinct difference between ignorance and lack of knowledge.

I am formally educated. I went to a great high school. I was privileged to attend one of the world’s best and most recognized University’s. I went to law school and subsequently passed the bar, yet, what I do not know far surpasses anything I would claim to have knowledge of by such a huge margin it would be laughable if not the norm.

An education, even coupled with a wealth of great life experiences still leaves most of us on the deficit side of knowledgeable. It is okay not to know everything. There are so many layers and sides to so many issues that there is no real expectation that we should be knowledgeable about all (but that isn’t an excuse to know nothing).

Ignorance, however, is the pervasive and persistent continuation of lack of knowledge and information when you have the ability and resources to change that course.

Ignorance is a refusal to learn. Ignorance is a refusal to try and understand viewpoints other than your own. It is one thing to simply not know something and, it is entirely plausible that you do not understand what knowledge or information you are lacking. However, when it has been brought to your attention, refusal to look into something or otherwise further educate yourself, then transfers from a lack of knowledge to ignorance.

I am sure this falls within semantics, but lack of knowledge or information is a state of being. It may occur naturally. Ignorance is a proactive occurrence and one that takes place by choice. Technology may come with down sides, but one of the absolute positives is that information is literally at our fingertips.

So much of what I learned in school had little to do with the subject matter itself and more to do with the ability to learn. Pre-Google, I had to actually research matters, fact check and site sources to substantiate my thesis or arguments. I had to go to libraries and find books or microfilm. The process was time consuming and in no way do I miss it.

That type of research in order to learn basic information on subjects is totally unnecessary today. If anything, the real task is in trying to disseminate amidst all of the information that comes up at the touch of an icon. Too much information may be a challenge, but it cannot serve as an excuse for putting in the time to educate oneself.

The time excuse also holds little weight. I understand time is a valuable commodity in all of our lives, but taking time to better and educate yourself has to fall within the priority section of our lives. I am super busy, yet I learn something everyday, because it is so obvious that there are so many subjects I NEED to better understand.

The challenge of where do you choose to get your information is a fair one. The Internet lets the most unqualified of opinions create platforms and content totally unedited and unchecked. It is your responsibility to vet the credibility of your sources. Some have long track records, others, like the site you are presently reading, do not. It may take a little time, but you will be able to decipher trusted sources of information over time. For those of you that don’t read the news because you believe that the liberal media has biased agendas…that would fall under “ignorance”. Everything written is done so with a bias or agenda. Those words do not mean that the source of information is prohibitively unfair or untruthful. The bottom line is how do you know until you consistently read and educate yourself on a subject enough to know what is or is not true, and most importantly to be able to formulate an educated opinion on subjects that you are now actually familiar with.

We all lack knowledge to a degree. Those of us who continue, by choice, to stay uneducated and uninformed are the problem. That is ignorance… a proactive choice that should never be made especially with the wealth of resources available to us all.

Great stuff, I only wish I could have written it myself.

14277

I think, after reading that, that I may be ignorant, but, I have manners, and, bring a feel good factor to other folks , which, must be good, and have observed folks who possess the ability to store facts, which, in isolation is worthless.:wink:

14278

well my donga fell off last week - can I keep that??

14279

Aww you all need more to think about.
Life is full of challenges, the best are my remaining relatives.
Have I told you about my Uncle P?

14280

I better say Goodnight Possums.

John Boy where are you?
Hugs sent. X

14281

goodmorn dear sweet pea - or is that a maryellen sweet pea? xx