Presents, presents, presents. It’s hard to buy presents because everybody seems to have everything. And yet Santa works overtime every year to bring everyone an abundance of presents that they don’t need. Our family is no different and Calvin is very excited about his presents. When I was a kid, I was lucky to get one present every Christmas. Nowadays presents are counted by the dozen. I shouldn't complain however. We are blessed with a contented kid. His list is not long and the first item on his list for the past four years has been the same "Everybody should be happy". I guess he's got his wish in a way. Looking back at the year, I can only say that I have been happy. And I think the wife has been happy too - at least as happy as one can be when married to an idiot like me.
I was part of a conversation last week that prompted some introspection. Somebody was telling somebody else that he does not suffer fools and is quick to and I quote ‘put them in their place’. What struck me was that this person had a certain pride in being this way. And the other person responded with admiration thereby reinforcing the behavior. In retrospect, I know a lot of people who feel this way and I might have been guilty of harboring similar thoughts myself on occasion. Is it OK then to steamroll someone just because he or she is not as intelligent as you? How different is this from the bully in school who steals candy from his weaker classmates? Or even the thief who steals your wallet just because he has a gun and is thereby stronger than you. Yet, to ‘not suffer fools’ is not just acceptable in our society, it’s a quality that is admired! There is something wrong here.
I have been asked many times about the picture on my previous blog that says “For a good time call Ambrose” so I will put down the story here. On my last visit to Corvallis, we all went out one blustery evening for a night on the town. We started at Squirrels, moved on to Block 15 and a few pubs later ended up at Aqua in downtown Corvallis. The restaurant is sufficiently snotty to have a girl at the entrance with a reservations book. We tried to talk our way past her but she would have none of it. She finally said that she would check inside if there was a table that we could get. She swayed her way inside and I took the opportunity to make a new entry in her book that read “For a good time call E.N” and I put my buddy’s telephone number next to it. I was obviously not as surreptitious about it as I thought I was because by buddy apparently saw me do it. He had the last laugh because as we left, he wrote the same message on the specials lunch menu board at the entrance – the only difference of course was that he wrote my name and number instead of his. And he is much better that I at being secretive because the first I got to know of it was when I got an email from him the next day with a picture of the board. The restaurateurs also have a sense of humor because it was still there two days later. A friend who went there for dinner called asking me if I know that my name and number were on public display. I didn’t get any other calls though – the people of Corvallis do not like to have a good time or they don’t prefer to do it with someone called Ambrose.
Have Merry Christmas.
