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I can't help but think of a folk song Bud Jones taught us as kids called
"There's A Hole In The Bottom of The Sea". I understand the Chief Executive
Officer of British Petroleum has it as a ringtone now. When is the Gulf oil mess
going to go away and what are the long range effects on the environment. I had
planned to go to the beach this summer but think I'll just go to Jiffy Lube and
save some time and money by cutting out the middle man. I am amazed that in a
nation with the best engineers and creative minds on Earth there hasn't been a
solution to this disaster. Monday the 14th is Flag Day. I still don't
understand flag burning as a way to express your political thought. Once on
the radio I encouraged any flag burners to meet on Head
Avenue and see if they can borrow somebody's Bic lighter. You might
recall, no one took us up on the challenge.
Memorial Day, Flag Day, and
the
4th of July and
Veterans Day are set aside to honor this country that in spite of
political disagreements, is still the greatest nation in history. Teaching
foreign students I have had my eyes opened wider as to just how wonderful the
United States is. You don't hear of anyone sneaking into
Venezuela or China
have you? One of the greatest Americans of all time was
Will Rogers who was perhaps the greatest political sage ever. He was an
actor in vaudeville and the movies. He was a radio star. He was a confidant and
advisor to people in power. He died in 1935 in a plane crash with his best
friend, Wylie Post. He had some basic truths that all of us can use. He said to
never kick a cow chip on a hot day. If you find yourself in a hole, stop
digging. Will Rogers also said to never slap a man who's chewing tobacco and to
always drink upstream from the herd. Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole
lot easier than putting it back Mr. Rogers believed. He also said there are two
theories to arguing with a woman, and neither of them works. His advice on good
judgement is it comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad
judgement. He had an axiom that we call could use in the tale of the mountain
lion who ate an entire bull and he felt so good he started roaring. He kept it
up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral of the story, when you're
full of bull, keep your mouth shut. On the subject of aging he said that
eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start
bragging about it. The older we get, the few things seem worth waiting in line
for. Will Rogers went on to say that you know you're getting old when everything
either dries up or leaks. Pete Bridges might like this one belief of Mr. Rogers
in that long ago, when men cursed and bet the ground with sticks, it was called
witchcraft. Today it is called golf. I guess I need to wrap this up with one
more truth from Mr. Rogers. he said never miss a good chance to shut up.
Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a member of adminstrative faculty at
Kennesaw State University.
Comments are welcome at
rhubarbjones@aol.com or
professorrhubarb@gmail.com
or at P. O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, GA 30176
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