It is said that youth is wasted on the young – but what if you’re young at heart?
Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that I sure don’t act my age. I love to joke around, horse around and as fidgety as a kid who needs to pee.
Some folks are quite happy to stand around, lay around or be home bound – but not me. The lure of what’s around the next corner tugs at my very nature. The horizon beckons me like a moth to a porch light.
I’m also a people person. I love to watch people as they stroll by, and in my mind I try to imagine what type of person they are. You can tell a lot about Joe or Jane Doe just by the way they carry themselves, their expression or the cloths on their back. I’ll wager that you too have played this game of guessing who’s who.
On the other hand, just like you should never judge a book by its cover, you should never assume what’s in the hearts and minds of others. Let’s say you notice a white haired lady who is dressed to the nines and wearing a snooty scowl on her face, would you ask her how old she is? How about a burly man with tattoos, would you ask him not to curse in front of your lady? And of the two, who do you think would be more likely b*tch slap you?
I’ve been in sales most of my life, and I’d like to think that I can read people pretty well. To be successful in the sales game you have to be able to read a person within a heartbeat of meeting them. Their face, body and voice will have certain ‘tells’ that will tell you their mood and how you should interact with them. Some white haired old ladies may like to be teased with naughty innuendos. Then you might meet some big gruff, tough guy who won’t even tolerate the word poop to be said in his presents.
My wise old uncle once said to me: “it’s better to sit quietly and be thought a fool, than it is to stand up and open your mouth and prove it.” Its words of wisdom like this, that are passed down from generation to generation. Even animals teach their young what they can eat and what can eat them.
Throughout the ages every family has passed down knowledge so that their offspring won’t have to suffer the same hard lessons that they did. Take for instance a man who works at a menial job from dawn to dusk – he wants his children to get an education so that they may have an easier life. Most soldiers don’t want their children to face bullets and bombs – so that they may have a life. I don’t know about you but I’d rather make love than be shot at.
If the National Rifle Association lobbyist had their way every person on the planet would own an assault rifle – yet mental health is a low priority in our halls of government. It makes about as much sense as issuing drivers licenses to blind people.
It would seem that the only lesson The NRA and Islamic radicals have learned is: Shot first and ask questions later.
THE END
Please feel free to email Bernie Bates at [beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca].
