Rich's Random Thoughts

RICH'S RANDOM THOUGHTS

By Rich Briggs
The Weekly Recorder
April 18, 2008

*The underlying themes of this column have always been common sense and personal responsibility. They will continue to be. However, I, like everyone else, make mistakes. Too many to count at times, but I can also admit to my errors. Life is not easy, especially now with the economy in the shape it is in. We are all trying to make ends meet and it is becoming difficult, at times, to do that. Yet, we must always fight the good fight and do right by the people we love and are responsible for. That isn’t always easy, either, but do it we must. We still live in the land of opportunity, despite some opinions to the contrary. As long as we are not willing to sell our souls, for any reason, we will escape this latest bout of adversity we are dealing with. A country is only as strong as its people. Take care of yourselves and each other. Together, all of us, we will prevail.

*A trend that I have been noticing quite a bit lately, and even longer than that, is that I believe we have lost our way. To be more specific, living in this era of political correctness, I feel we have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves and we have been taking ourselves way too seriously. Someone says something that offends us and all bets are off. We immediately tell the offender that what was said was disturbing and we act as if we have been violated. One method of our survival is our ability to laugh at our imperfections.

It used to be that we could make fun of ourselves and people would laugh along with us. Now, we are wound so tight that we are missing out on the finer things in life, and laughter is one of them. Whomever coined the adage “Laughter is the best medicine” hit the nail on the head. The ability to laugh, at something funny or at ourselves, I feel , is the key to living and life. Some of us have our shoes tied so tight that we don’t know how to breathe, let alone laugh.

One of the reasons why a former Pittsburgh Steeler and Hall of Famer, who is now a broadcaster for Fox NFL Sunday, Terry Bradshaw, endeared himself to the fans of this area when he was our Super Bowl winning quarterback, is that he never took himself seriously, and still doesn’t. He laughs and jokes about himself all the time and I have never known the man not to have the ability to have a good time.

I am not saying that everyone is lacking a sense of humor. On the contrary, there a good many people who know how to have fun. My cousin and I were out with a friend last Saturday night and we really had a good time. I don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. When you laugh, your body gets loose and it releases chemicals in your body that help to make you feel better. I like the feeling after a good laugh and I experienced that Saturday evening.

But when we want to give someone a hard time, some people know how to take it and some don’t. The ones that don’t are the ones who bother me and the ones I worry about. I know not everyone gets my sense of humor. It is a very strange mix of different types of humor. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate what someone else finds funny. I have been told by some that I am too easy. I beg to differ. My mind works in a different way than those of others, and I see things that others don’t. I just find humor in a lot of things that others don’t.

I can see how people might lose their sense of humor during tough economic times, like what we are experiencing now. However, I also believe humor is a way to deal with tough times like the ones we are dealing with now. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, then maybe we are in worse shape than I thought. Granted, it’s not fun worrying about what bills are going to get paid with the money that is left over from a paycheck. That is not an easy situation to deal with; I understand that. But a sense of humor is an important part of survival during times like this and something that I think we all need.

I believe we have lost our way not because of who may be the president or anyone else who may hold high positions of power, but because someone ushered in political correctness as a way to appeal to those who are extra sensitive so that they may not be offended. Political correctness has either damaged, or destroyed, our very way of life because we are too afraid of saying something that may offend someone or hurt someone’s feelings. This is absurd. Telling it like it is now appears to be a thing of the past. Do that now and you may find yourself in trouble and not even know it. That is the sad part about the era of PC.

People, in order for us to get back to where we need to be, we need to see humor in everyday life and in what we do. We need to learn to laugh at the things that used to make us angry. Humor is the key to a happy life and looking at things lightheartedly. I only hope we are not so far gone that we cannot come back. I believe one of the reasons why we have been subjected to some attacks from our enemies is that they feel we are too sensitive and ripe for abuse. I also fear they’re right.

*One of our contemporaries at the Big Daily, Byron Smialek, the one time Sports Editor, News Editor, and now senior writer and columnist, wrote an item the week before last that I found intriguing. I have met Byron a couple of times, as I graduated high school with his stepson, John Karafilis.

On one issue, Byron wrote about the cost of gasoline (which we all know is hurting us economically) and the idea that, for the price of a gallon of gas, we should be receiving treatment that was given way back in the day at full service gas stations. At that time, an attendant would fill up your tank, check your oil, clean your windshield, and perform any other basic task upon request, and sometimes that would even be offered by the attendant.

Well, like much everything else in our society, things have changed. Quite honestly, I would rather perform these tasks myself. Now, there are so many people who pull up to service stations, which are now more convenience stores with gas pumps, and do these things themselves. I know the older generation still appreciates it when someone else performs these services since some of them find it harder to do these things themselves. I can respect that.

I prefer to pump my own gas, check my own oil, and other fluids, clean my windows and windshield, and even check the air in my tires myself. I am very funny about someone else touching my vehicle, outside of a very trusted few and my mechanic. I don’t think there are others who respect the property you own like there used to be, and that includes our automobiles. We used to own a 1980 white Ford Thunderbird and it would get filled up at a full service station. There was a stain where the gas leaked out of the nozzle on the white paint and it needed cleaned every week. That took an application of wax/polish and some elbow grease. That is when I decided I would perform these tasks myself.

What Byron may have forgotten is that this service was often paid for and the price built into the cost of gas. It was not totally a “free” service in some locations. The other side of that coin is that technology has allowed it to be much easier to pump gas than having it performed by others. Yes, the cost of gas is high and it would be nice to have these services performed by an attendant, a la, the good old days, but I will pass on that and pump my own gas. At least I know what I am paying for.

*Another in a long list of incidents, based on my column about manners several weeks ago, occurred over the last weekend (twice). One of these times at PNC Bank in Washington, the other at the CoGos in Houston. At the PNC Bank branch, I was leaving and a woman was entering the bank. I held the door open for her. She looked down and away from me and did not utter a word. No “Thanks” or “Thank you.”

At the CoGos, I was entering the store and a man was leaving. I held the door open for him, he walked out and looked the other way, never uttering a word. You wonder why we are going in the wrong direction as a country? These are classic examples. No one has the decency to thank anyone for something as simple as having a door held open for them. It is getting to the point where I don’t want to hold doors open for anyone anymore. Do it yourself; and I hate being that way.

*Tuesday was Tax Day – Did you pay your taxes, or getting, or received a refund?

*This Tuesday is Primary Day in Pennsylvania. Are you going to vote? Are you as unexcited as I am? I am not even voting on the Democratic side and I am still bored with it. Nonetheless, GET OUT AND VOTE!