Friday, January 31, 2003
SECOND CHAIR
No one wants to play second fiddle. With everyone playing melody, however well they may do so individually, they can only produce discord because each will differ a bit in their concept of the tune. Their efforts will never produce harmony.
To allow oneself to be placed a second chair to play second fiddle is, to many, a mark of shame – an insult. It is judged to make on seem inferior and it is “un-American”.
We, as a nation, have been placed in first chair. We play the melody. We “call the tune”you might say, and unless we find others who are willing to play second violin we are without harmony and proper contrast and embellishment or harmonic agreement.
Even thought we might not like to admit it, many of us were born to play second fiddle. It is not a badge of dishonor but, rather a special mark of merit. You may not realize it, but not everyone can play second fiddle well. It demands an exceptional sense of cooperative involvement some people simply cannot learn to handle
You don't have to be an expert in music to realize there is a tremendous difference between a lone person singing a solo when other voices - bass, tenor, baritone – are added. Your favorite quartet group simple cannot exist without cooperative action and genuine understanding of the essential nature of each contribution to the musical whole.
It holds true in many other aspects of modern living, too.
It is highly unlikely that the one hundred and seven nations, less or more, which make up the United Nation group will all be ready,willing or able to fill second chair positions with competence. And, all are not qualified to aspire to seat in the String Section. Some will be better suited to be in the Brass Section, Woodwinds, or Tympani. Percussion players are needed just as vitally as are second chair violinists because, while the added group of string bring harmony, the tympani persons pace the piece being played.
Only in working together, so that all talents are orchestrated and used wisely, can we even hope to bring forth a worthy production.
A.L.M. January 29, 2003 [c370wds]
Thursday, January 30, 2003
OLD TOWNS
How you ever felt that cities and town are like people in that they “age”? I don't, of course, mean they simple grow older – that's a part of living, but town and cities, like some people, do not mature with charm and grace and with an attitude which becomes an asset rather than an impairment.
I visited a city this past week where I was a frequent sojourner many years ago, and having not seen it in many years,I found it had changed in many ways. Such changes are evident everywhere, but there was unifying quality about such changes which excited me and made me think this town was more vital than I had come to suppose.
To begin with it is a secondary city, in that it happens to be connected to a larger city which has grown to it and all around its relatively small area. That is not a pleasant place for a town to be. One is sure to feel overwhelmed by colossus next door, and to play second fiddle in most affair of common concern.
We are experiencing that condition more or that sort of growth,too as cities grow to mammoth proportions compared to what used to be thought of as their own domain. It is not uncommon for one city to swallow up half a dozen small towns and villages, many of real character and individual worth on their own.
One distinction allowed the lesser portion is that it has not changed by simply spreading out. The changes have been internal. While the so-called “downtown” area has not been made into a model community by any means, it does appear to be more vibrant, functional and useful than does the center of the larger city.
In art terms it is called patina, I believe.
Works of art are often said to have gathered a patina or shadowy overlay which makes the entire item more worthy than ever because it has endured and served well. I see the larger city's community arena is now located within the the smaller, absorbed portion. So are the city's leading professional offices.You will come to realize that it is not at all impossible for the tail to start wagging the dog.
It will be interesting to follow the career of these conjoined communities. A few years from now, I dare say, it will be found that the actual governing leadership will come from the small town base within the larger city. The ultimate spoils do not always go to the so-called victors.
Watch it happening in your own locality where one city is growing to encompass others.
A.L.M. January 29, 2003 [c451wds]
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
WORST CASE
So many people these days seem to find a certain satisfaction in citing the worst possible conditions which might evolve if everything goes as wrong as the seem to think it must.
You know the type. You, no doubt, met a your share of them in that strange time just a few years ago ago when the world faced the beginning of new century. Do your recall the near panic which occurred with many people at that time? Many seemed certain that only doom awaited each and every one of us .. all of us ... in strangely different and exotic ways. Computers, especially, were to suffer ignoble defeat and disaster. Everything that could possibly happen in a phase of war and strife, plus, abject poverty, famine and disease were sure to take place beginning in those few minutes right after midnight. I know people who stocked upon on foods, water medications and ammunition in newly constructed basement shelters to outlive the vague threats of doom sure to rush upon us as the old century died.
Where are these strange people now?
Many of then are still with us and their dedicated efforts are being expended daily in concocting the worst possible scenario detailing all the vilest misery and dismemberment of our nation in the immediate future. If you ask what they think of the situation in, let's say Iraq, or North Korea or any other hot spot of the moment - even those which are just warm - you will find they have it all mapped out in fine detail as to who will suffer the most and some will even tell you how and why. They are preparing for it all just as they did for the arrival of the year 2000!
The very individuals upon who the troublemakers of the world do not know what is about to happen. They see it all in a different light and much depends on what others do in the crisp, nervous meantime. No one ... none of us, for sure ...has such a firm grip on the true facts as has this viral worst-case prophet who remains a part of our body politic.
I meet with the situation daily as do most of you. “What do you think is going to happen in Iraq?”
I don't know. Many of the leaders of those nations involved do not know. And certainly the “Year 2000 Doom Sayer”, now a war an strife specialist, in is unlikely to be an instant-authority on all such concerns.
Be careful what you allow yourself to think, and say and even hear about the direst potential of the moment. No one can even begin to describe what it might be. I they could, and did so, no one would believe them anyway. These people who think they know for sure what is ahead for all of us, don't know the meaning of real of human suffering horror and loss. Their pictures of the worst are adult “child's play - pretending - and little more.
A.L.M . JANUARY 27, 2003 [c516wds]
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
DEDICATION
Whatever became of the quality we once called “dedication” which used to be thought of a being an integral part of employment?
Do you remember when many people were really proud of the firm for which they worked? For men, or members of his family, to brag a bit, now and then, concerning the close ties they genuinely felt with his employer was not a rarity. It is an attitude which is no longer to be found in day's market place.
It seems to me to that a firm sense of loyalty and trust would be essential for both parties. I was a good sound when we heard a man or, or a woman, praise the actions of the firm for which they worked. It was an assurance that he or she worked at that particular place because they had deliberately chosen to do so.
Now, when I talk with employees, I find far too many individuals who actually deride to firm which employs them. There seems to be a strange element of suspicion, mistrust and doubt. At times,I feel some have revived the ancient relationship of master to slave.
There has been a point of confusion somewhere along the work line - most likely at several points - when ownership of the firm has become flawed by mixing too closely with mis-management. If management was transitory by nature it intervened between the firm and those people who actually run the mechanism which keeps the money flowing. A management portion of any firm which is constantly in a state of internal ferment and change, is hardly the one to build confidence and loyalty among workers who they think of as being beneath them in their in their self-created industrial or commercial hierarchy If middle management resembles a bouncing ball it is always seeking a lower level in which to re-assure itself or seek to find another path. Some seem eager as a stream of water to reach the the lowest possible level.
Part of the dissatisfaction some workers feel concerning their employers, no doubt, evolved from the rather tense times when unionization swept the country under the guise of being a magic cure-all for any and every condition which might seem to be repugnant to any individual. The work place was split into harshly-edged factions, as a result, and an obvious gulf was worsened and deepened between the two factions. Ignoble practices were exploited by both sides,I feel to the ultimate benefit of none. “Evil” and “greed” became commonly accepted terms, and were included, unfortunately, in future evaluations.
There was a time, too, when there was a wider choice to be had by workers seeking employment, but many of those jobs no longer exist. Manufacturing, in the wide sense of the word, has long since departed these shores. Many jobs are no longer on the employment lists. Entrance level employment is at a minimum and service area placement, often unstable, has become the alternative.
Furthermore, the nature of placement has moved more and more into two fundamental groups all are “executives” or “workers”.
To the worker the executive becomes “the firm.” For whatever reason it seems to be true today that men and women have lost respect they once had for competent management. It it high time we stop educating all youth to be “executives,” if they make it, or to be content to be “workers” if not.
.A.L.M. January 26, 2003 [c576wds]
Monday, January 27, 2003
REVERSE JUSTICE
Recently, a man in the Winchester, Virginia area telephoned his wife at work to tell her their dog had bitten him and that he was going to kill the pet.
The method he chose was,it seems,to beat the dog to death which proved to be a poor choice, and he never got a chance to change. Not too confident,it seems he took his double-barreled shotgun along when he went into the main room of his trailer home to finish off his version of Man's best Friend turned sour.
To those who saw his body hours later, it seemed that he had hit the dog several times, one blow with such force that the heavy, plastic stock of the gun broke right at the point where the safety mechanism was located. He was holding it by the barrel end. A full shotgun charge when through his lower left abdomen and that was the end of his part of the fight.
Examinations indicated that the fight was over for the dog as well,. There were mo indications that the dog continued the battle once his opponent had fallen. The SPCA took the thirty-pound Shar-pei in for routine tests such as that for rabies and to treat his wounds The autopsy said the man died from the gunshot wound not from any dog attack.
The curious thing about this tragic situation is that wherever I have mentioned it or heard people talking about it, the sentiment seemed to be decidedly one-sided... and in favor of the dog. “Hm! Served him right!...“Good! Last dog he'll beat on for awhile.”
A man was killed and it will be called an accident. He had shown poor judgment in many ways and most people seem to have little sympathy for him. He was beating a dog, too which ,to many Americans is simply something people do not do on a whim or as a pleasurable thing.
There are other factors to the story which are not being talked about which deserve some special attention. One account I read cited dog authorites as saying the Shar-lei breed was one not readily adaptable to family living and certainly not to limited trailer or mobile home living quarters. The breed has been the source of stubborn, highly self-protective dog for hunting and for dog fighting. Experienced dog owners advice against Shar-lei as a pet under anything.
It may be that an incident such as this serve to caution many potential dog owners to choose with care and to be absolutely sure that you can adequately provide for the dog's comfort, ease, overall well-being and special tendencies. Some must also learn that a dog is not piece of furniture to be kicked around or discarded if the styles change or if you tire of seem them around A dog become a member of the family to which it is attached It's a two-way relationship as well.
A.L.M.. January 25, 2003 [c495wds]
Sunday, January 26, 2003
SPILLS
You may be missing a lot of valuable information if you do not read murder mysteries.
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For instance, until last week, I did not know what a “spill vase” ”is” or “”was.” Imagine not knowing that!
Just think of going through the rest of my years without knowing what a “spill vase” might have been or is? I cringe a bit when I think of such a shameful situation but I do wish to listen and to learn.
I came to count this knowledge as a new wrinkle in my brain with the guidance of one Agatha Christie who wrote a novel called “The Affair at Styles” some years ago which I have just got around to reading.
Periot - her wondeful little Belgian detective character - in his usual confusing logical logic makes quite a point of tearing up a document that is essential to the plot. I find out later that he has hidden the shreds in a Spill Vase in the living room of the manor house where the murder took place.
Clumsy as I am, I can make any vase become a vase that spills.
The dictionary defines a vase as being a container made to hold flowers and water.” In all fairness to the Noah who fashioned the dictionary , he does not append any limitations with control of the word "vase". It is conceivable, then, that such a vase might contain other items as well, or instead of. Right?
Having determined what a vase is - what, then, is a "spill?
I turned to the big, desk dictionary and well down list I found it. A spill is the same as a wooden splinter, or twisted bits of paper kept near a fireplace for use to light pipes or candles. Oh, those disciples of Noah are a knowledgeble breed, aren't they?
Now that I have found that out what he meant, I was back on track with Mr. Periot and could see where I thought he was leading me, which turned out to be somewhere else than where I had in mind.
But I learned what a spill vase is. Now, where else could I have acquired such a piece of information, I ask you? Now, alI have to do is find a fresh murder in a manor house and have need to hide a document. A spill vase would be the perfect place.
It would be safe there. So few people would know where to look.
A.L.M. January 24, 2003 [c423wds]
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