Just did some research on a favorite phrase of mine only to find out that I inadvertently shortened it. I was only following whom so ever quoted it before me.
Before I reveal it to you, let it be known that I'm not prone to using popular lingo. I was born an old soul and my language comfort zone is conservative, Merriam-Webster vernacular. It really pisses people off around here that my choice of words are difficult to interpret and I have to really dig into my 3rd grade primer to make my self understood. In other words, I have to dumb down to talk to some folks. That's a sad, sad commentary on the current educational system in these United States. I have a tee shirt which espouses this fact. It states "I am right 97 percent of the time, who cares bout the other 4 percent."
My dad was an extreme college professor. There was no mistaking him for anyone other than a scholar.
He lived it, he spoke it, he raised his children to honor and respect every word that came out of his mouth. I did until the day I left for college and then suddenly, there was no evidence that we had ever been related. My admiration for educators was challenged and I became disillusioned, dropped out and made my own way in the company of a very liberal, free thinking crowd. That relationship lasted for more than a decade. Glad to report, that I was not emotionally scarred and those memories gave me deeper insight and appreciation for the good in common man than any lecture involuntarily given me by him.
My education, except for a single semester post college, was attained west of the Mississippi, east of the Pacific Ocean, south of the Canadian border and cradled in the bosom of the vast Rocky Mountains along the 42nd parallel. Elementary school was reading, writing and arithmetic plus Spanish, physical education, art and music. Junior high school was an elevated addition of the previous with emphasis in the sciences and home economics. My high school experience must have been moderately interesting as I graduated in the middle percentile of a fairly large class of over one thousand. College was hit and MISS as far as academics but heavy into the social scene. Could have really gone far with a major in music, but the professor had no tolerance for skipping class, so…
Well that's enough back story. Anyway, my choices of expression are pretty much maxed out and are reflective of the successes and failures as mentioned above. My current challenge has nothing to do with what I learned but where I currently reside. Geography and genealogy are great predictors of both the spoken and written word. I blame both currently for my sporadic inability to communicate. Having traveled here and beyond and appreciating the challenges of cultural exchange, I am constantly amazed at the limitless opportunities to mis understand another. Sometimes I wonder, who is doing the mis understanding. So far, compromise and resolution have been my guide.
But as I enter my twilight years, I think I will resolve to just wear the tee shirt which best describes me on a particular day and let the world figure it out. After all, there's little time remaining to argue a point, better to just be a visible representation of my thought processes.
My current fav tee shirt is black with white lettering. It's printed on the front only, has a small graphic of a penguin outline and states "KEEP CALM AND WADDLE ON". That about says it. Time for the younger generation to figure it all out.
Oh, and the phrase which started it all used to be: "Been there, done that, have the tee shirt". But that's not the whole quote. Sometime in 2007, thanks to a posting in "www.alt.music.pinkfloyd.usernet/newsgroup" it continues "…wore a hole in it and now use it as a duster".
Now that's just the right sentiment. It's a mouth full. Don't know if the entire sentence will fit on the front side of the shirt; may need to up size. Need to get that one in several colors. Could come in handy.
