An Ounce - For Your Consideration

You know what they say – The early bird gets the worm. And, he who hesitates is lost. But, Good things come to those who wait.

 And, it’s better safe than sorry. But, nothing Ventured Nothing Gained.

 Life is seemingly full of contradiction:

• Analog vs Digital
• Democrat vs Republican
• Progress vs Tradition
• Old vs New

It goes on and on.

There is a need to reject the perspective of ongoing contradiction, contention, winning the argument, being right at all costs.

 It is divisive and destructive – and it does not have to be. 

To our eyes and our minds, what at first might seem a complete contradiction, can exist in seamless harmony. We just need to learn to see how.

This episode is about an 'alarming' character. Why do I describe this person as alarming? Perhaps it is because he blazed his own path, cutting through many societal expectations and norms. He worked tirelessly to better himself, and to provide opportunities for others to do the same.

He was born in 1706 to a Boston family of modest means. His father was a soap and candle maker, who married twice. One of 17 children.  

Ben was a self-made man of great ingenuity. 

A man whose hopes should have been held within the modest circumstances of his birth. 

But, instead, he did not settle for how things were supposed to be and charted a course against the current of the existing norms and expectations of society.

It is Fire Prevention week! But the information in this Practical Bits episode is good all the time.

Seasons are changing and it’s time to take a few important actions to prevent fires and reduce the loss that fire can cause.

Listen for some practical tips, and a fun game you can play with the kids

Names – everybody’s got one.

The use of names – that’s how we know who or what we are talking about, reading about, learning about.

They are a vital and useful part of our society, culture, and personal identity.

“What’s in a name,” asked Juliet of her beloved Romeo?

“A rose by any other name is still a rose”.

As an introduction, it has the meaning bestowed in the mind of the stranger to whom it is presented.

In time, it carries the character of the one to whom it belongs.

Theodor was born in Springfield Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. He was born to a German family who was considered prosperous, but as world War 1 broke out their German heritage brought them under suspicion, as it did every German in the United States. It was a time when the German Frankfurter became the ‘hot dog’, and sauerkraut became ‘liberty cabbage’.

Regardless of the attitudes of others, the family continued to thrive. Though an occasional target of anti-German bullies. Theodor was not big, or strong, or a skilled fighter. But, he did possessed and ingenious and creative mind. And, he loved to participate in the boy scouts, Troop 13.

In 1918, at the age of 14, Theodor’s enterprising nature led him to be one of the top 10 salesmen of war bonds in his Springfield MA boy scout’s organization. And, as a result, had the opportunity to meet a famous and patriotic President of the United States, with whom he shared a first name - President Theodor Roosevelt.

On the appointed day Theodor, along with 9 of his peers were lined up onstage at the Springfield Municipal Auditorium. Where he waited his turn to have his namesake - Theodor Roosevelt the great hero and president - pin a medal on his chest proving him to be a Great American. After all he and his family had endured from the anti-German sentiment of neighbors in Springfield, he was to be exonerated, and his devotion to his country proven.

There was a little mix-up, however.

In our lives of all kinds, things and events happen. Events and things like rain, entertainment, laughter, relationships, coincidences, and surprises.

Some we don’t even notice, like the smile of a store clerk as we buy that morning pastry.

Some might catch our attention, like the report of a natural disaster in a faraway place. But, though it may be sad or shocking, it has very little direct impact on us.

Or, we may learn of a life-threatening diagnosis for ourselves or a loved one. Which will undoubtedly change our lives.

Events occur every day, in the life of every individual. 

So What?

In being prepared for life we must begin with the one thing we can control, and that is ‘the person we are’. It Is A choice.

Viktor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”.

Young Tom was born the seventh, and youngest child, of Samuel and Nancy on February 11, 1847, in Milan Ohio. Samuel, an exiled political Activist from Canada and Nancy an accomplished school teacher.  

It became apparent the young Tom was not going to be like other children. 

Though suffering from rather profound hearing loss due to scarlet fever, he was vigorous, bright, and engaged in life. By the age of 12, he was selling newspapers along the Grand Trunk Railroad line. 

There are many lessons we could learn from Tom. It’s complicated, He was complicated. In him, there was both good and bad - and so it is most anyone else who has ever lived.

As a (now retired) firefighter/EMT It has always been odd to me the random things that I would notice during an emergency. Allow me to share an example.

It was a few days before Christmas and I can recall that this first man was very well-dressed with a dark suit, dark overcoat, and some very expensive shoes. He was tall and distinguished though his appearance was greatly diminished by the fact that he was laying in a crumpled heap on the concrete, in front of the Main Terminal at Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. 

I meet the second man many years later after I had retired, I found retirement didn’t suit me. So, I got busy and became a Locksmith. The name of the company I worked for was Zippy Locks - a that Little factoid only matters because I recall answering the phone at work one day, And A deep male voice began singing, “zippidy do dah, zippidy aye, my oh my, what a wonderful day!” 

These two men were not necessarily teaching anything on purpose, I learned great life lessons from them both.

Have you heard of some of those crazy ‘challenges’ going around on social media? 

In the past few years there been a few such as the “Ice Bucket Challenge” where a person has a full bucket of cold ice water poured over their head. The “Cinnamon Challenge” where the participant snorts cinnamon up their nose - Ouch. And, the ever ridiculous “Tide Pod Challenge” some numb-skull pops a tide laundry detergent pod in their mouth and eats it – really?

You gotta’ be kidding me. Only today's youth would be stupid enough to do stuff like this.

But, hold on there a minute, this is not the only time in history when people did stupid stuff.

So – If you’re going to become a famous popular music singer you’re going to need to be Good Looking, Have an edgy attitude, have great moves, a really good manager, and be able to sing your butt off. Well, maybe not that last one.

Maybe, you don’t need to sing at all!

 Allow me to tell you about it.