DEREK, CUT THE CRAP! | 2006-02-02
In repsonse to "My Name is Bob Whitaker," Derek says,
"Yes indeed...I don't know Bob. I just know his ideas and thoughts. I guess that is enough really. "
"I have been writing in short, declaritive sentences since I first read Hemingway. It is easier to communicate with others when you are direct."
"Maybe that is why I feel like I fit in even though I don't know squat in comparison with some of the elder, more learned commenters. "
Comment by Derek
MY REPLY:
The last sentence pissed me off royally.
Everybody here, even including Joe, whose respect is not easy to come by and who is an old bastard like me, has made it clear that they respect you.
Dammit, and I think I speak for the rest of us older folks, you should APPRECIATE that!
All that apology doesn't do a damned thing for me. What would compliment me would be if you were cocky about it, if you said, "Here I am in Bob's Blog, where nobody gets a break. Bob and Joe and Peter and Mark and Shari and Anonymous and all the rest have no mercy. If they think I'm being dumb, they will say so."
"I am running with the fastest crowd there is, and I am holding my own."
Now THAT, for you and Shari and anybody else who uses apologies, would be a COMPLIMENT.
Because it is TRUE, which is the one thing we stick to here.
You can apologize yourself to death, but nobody here is going to give you a break.
So what's the point of all the apology crap?
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that a young man has not been around as long as Joe and I have.
We also know you are not purple.
Now that I've gotten to what is NOT rocket science, let me make a further observation.
Human beings regularly choke to death. That's why we have the Heimlich Maneuver. Other animals don't need it because they are not handicapped by the low-lying vocal chords we have. We DIE so we can TALK.
Evolution or Creation, there is a REASON we die so we can TALK.
Talk is critical to us.
You know me because you know what I SAY, not because I smell like a member of the pack. Dogs hardly notice TV because they can't SMELL it.
We are an eye-oriented animal. We are an IDEA oriented animal. There is a REASON for this.
I am a white man. I LOOK like you. You know my ideas from what I SAY.
The OBJECT: to save people who LOOK like us. The MEANS: Ideas.
You KNOW me.