Make
A Wish
Years ago, when I was still a callow
youth (as opposed to a callow cranky old fart) I and
several of my family
members tried out to be contestants
for
the game show, "Family Feud". It was my sister's
idea. I wasn't terribly keen on the venture but I went
along for the lulz.
There about twenty other
families in the auditorium that day and the producers
asked each
group a series of questions no doubt intended to weed
out the weak sisters and to find those who would make
for good television. My family didn't fare well as
my two otherwise gregarious sisters chose that moment
to go tits up from a touch
of stage fright. My moment came when asked if given
one wish what would I do with it. After a moment to
peruse my options I said "I'd like a house".
"A house? Are you sure?" they said, looking at one
another.
I said yes, a house, and they said, "Okay. Next."
Then we left. To no one's surprise we never heard
from them again.
I look back on this event with no small degree of embarrassment
because I'm certain what the producers were looking
for were answers like "Feed the hungry" or "universal
health
care for
all", something which implied a more sophisticated
world view, but it took me years to realize that.
Yet, it was that very specific moment of shame
that now colors almost
everything I do in my life. It took much too long to
reach this point but I eventually came to the understanding
that life isn't all about me, that everything I do
has wider
implications. And there's nothing wider than the understanding
that climate change is real.
As they say in the Navy, "First your ship, then your
shipmate, then yourself."
Which is why I'm voting for Hillary Clinton rather
than Donald Trump, because he's the torpedo.
=Lefty=
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