Category: Humor
The Dirty Secret of the Mission Trip Industry
When we lived in Guatemala we saw a lot of this – large groups of affluent suburban WASPS who spent thousands of dollars on what was more or less a vacation thinly disguised as missionary work (in a country that has been Catholic for 400 years).
A Powerful 60 Seconds
Who’s In Charge?
Several friends have posted pictures of their cats today and it reminded me of a funny anecdote. I have a cat at my office. She is very regal and pompous. She also kills whatever critters are about, which is nice because that’s why I adopted her.
Occasionally, my Wife is kind enough to stop by and clean the office. While She is sweeping or vacuuming, my cat, whose name is Catarina, (or just ‘Cat’ for short) , will find the highest perch she can and then stare down on my Wife, often without moving for several moments. The Wife says that it makes Her feel like a servant to have someone watching over Her every move like this.… Read the rest
Playing Well With Others
#2, age 17, is universally liked. He’s simply got one of those pleasing personalities and even temperament (unless he’s gotten less
than 8 hours of sleep). Even on the football field opponents who’ve been run over or knocked out of the game will return with a smile and thank him for the experience. I heard a story related about him recently that I simply had to share.
Several years ago during my time at ClubFed our kids were forced into public school. Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house where The Wife and the kids were staying temporarily and told her she’d go to jail and the kids would go into foster homes if she didn’t put them in school within 24 hours. So our children, who had known nothing of public school life, found themselves in the jungle that is public school culture.
For #1 and #2, that meant high school, and the boys suddenly found themselves in a demographic, social and ethnic mix unlike anything they’d ever experienced (and these were boys who’d navigated the subway in Mexico City and the back alleys in rural Guatemala without a problem).
Anyway, the story goes that #2 was in class waiting for the teacher to begin when another student, a young black man, arrived to class and, seeing a friend, said loudly, “What up, my nigger?” There’s nothing particularly unusual about that greeting in my experience, except the teacher thought to take issue with it.
“Why is it acceptable for you … Read the rest