Or Can You?

As you might know, I have words and sayings which I use regularly. So did me Pops, such as, 'That'd stink a dog off a gut wagon'. So did me Grandpa Joe with, 'I ain't hell on pretty'. Well, me Uncle John had a routine phrase which he actually disliked: "You can't miss it."

When giving directions, he believed, you never told someone they can't miss it. They will. If he was being given directions, he knew that, once enlightened with the fateful phrase, he would miss it. To him, the words never failed to give the opposite outcome.

He didn't believe in the fates or jinxes of course. It was more that anything can go wrong, anything can be 'missed'. The right thing to do was simply give the directions and don't mix opinion into it. Answer the question about how to go where and find what, and leave it at that.

I hope you get his point. Because, of course, you can't miss it.

Sunday morning downer

Yeah, why not use Sunday, the penultimate day of the week, the day we relax and refresh ourselves and our psyches, the day we look upon the coming week as chock full of possibility and potential-fulfillment, as a day to pop balloons? Because let's face it: in the world of axioms and catchphrases meant to inspire, some are just plain wrong.

We try to inspire our kids by saying they can be anything they want to be. But they can't. There are too many people and too many things beyond their control working against them. We simply cannot, by force of will and the power of daydreams, be anything we want to be. Some teacher or interviewer simply won't like you. Your path will be blocked. That's life.

You can if you think you can, we are told. Well, refer back to what I just said. Because, no you can't. You can't be a walrus without a lot of miracles. Or a lot of expensive surgery. Or eating just far too much.

Never give up! But, you know, sometimes the smart thing is exactly the opposite. Sometimes you need to give up; sometimes it is the best thing to do. Sometimes it's the only thing to do: there are no other options. Nothing. There are times to cut bait.

Follow your dreams! Do we actually want to be walking the hallways of our schools in our underwear?

There, now. Still looking forward to the week?