Busy head this morning…that’s not always a good sign.
The headline in this morning’s Charlotte newspaper said “Coronavirus Claims Two More In Mecklenburg.” Two people out of a total county population of 1.1 million. If the paper reported daily deaths from heart disease and diabetes on the front page, would the number be more than two, and would it get the same level of attention? Nah.
And we have a “president” who says “hey, don’t look at me” when criticized, while a country is looking to him for leadership. It’s time to move on from that bozo.
Our local liquor store manager/philosopher publishes a weekly newsletter, and in yesterday’s newsletter he recounted an amusing story from a recent visit to the grocery store:
“Okay so I am the grocery store and I need some celery for Keith’s world famous chicken soup. It is all about the egg noodles folks. There is a woman that is touching every single head of lettuce for reasons that only she knows. I lean forward and swiftly grab my celery and she turns to me and says “do you mind keeping your distance? Just give me some space buddy.” I just smiled at her and continued my shopping because what kind of conversation are we going to have? Like why is the worried person touching every single lettuce without gloves? I didn’t see that going well so I just moved right along. I figured she had a long life and day ahead of her.”
What kind of conversation are we going to have? That’s something we could all think about before we try to make any witty comebacks. Reminds me of a recent encounter that Kathy & I had with the owner of a nearby fitness center. We used to walk through the parking lot there because it added a few hundred steps to our route and was generally pretty quiet, especially while the center is closed. One day last week, the owner – who all our neighbors don’t like anyway – came out and said that he couldn’t have us walking through his parking lot due to “insurance reasons.” He said a bunch of other impolite things but generally made it clear that he didn’t like the folks in our neighborhood because – he’s convinced – someone reported him when he didn’t close immediately the day after the order came out. We said we would pass the word to our neighborhood, and we did. But that was another case where there wasn’t anything I was going to say that would make him my friend. Not that I would want that anyway!
That’s actually a very good question to ask. I will need to dwell on that and even journal on it. I’m pretty sure there are going to be some difficult people to encounter whether we had the virus or not. Be what I can be, live the life I need to live and not see myself as the center of the universe, in any small way.
Yours is an interesting thought also. Kathy & I often talk about a feeling we get when we’re at sea where we recognize what a small speck we are on the vast ocean. I think it gives us a sense of perspective when it comes to knowing our place in the universe. Of course when our universe consists of just Kathy and our house, we start feeling like pretty big fish!
This crisis hasn’t really changed people as much as it has maybe brought out more of what and who they were before. Jerks are still jerks, just louder. Heroes are still heroes, just more heroic. Etc.
Your local liquor store manager is a wise man indeed.
At all times, not just times like these, when I find myself affected by people and events, I remind myself of Adiashanti’s words “World views are self views—literally”. Harsh words I suppose, though I cannot be sure that my understanding of those words is what he intended them to mean, but I have long considered that I can only perceive the world as I am, with all my biases and prejudices. Interestingly, I have found that changing my self view—not an easy process—does change my world view, though I have no doubt that the world has remained the same. A paradox 🙂
Keith’s commentary is not always that coherent, but once in a while his words resonate. 😉
I think your thoughts are quite valid. We each have a unique “lens” with which we view the world. So while we may look at the same thing, our perspective influences what we see and how we see it.