August 29, 2008
... would make us forget a lot of good times...
Recently, I did the FaceBook thing. I have a lot of requests for 'friends' from folks with whom I did not have a lot of communication in high school. In fact, only one was truly a friend. I don't know, but I figure people just like to have the attachments considered friends. Some of these folks were down right mean to me, but I know that my memory is far more freakishly in tune than most. Then again, maybe my definition of friend is a bit off kilter from others. At any rate, it made me think of some people that were very important to me during some difficult times. I was in Germany with one of them. I tried a number of years ago to start contact with him, and got no response. I don't give up well, and I happened to find him again. We'll see if he responds. Perhaps the friendship was more one-sided than I knew...
Well, in the process, I looked at some pictures from Germany. I wouldn't change anything, because I learned so much, but there were a lot of embarrassing pictures. For starters would be when I convinced my host parents to let me dye my hair black...
Of course, there was the amount of alcohol consumed. My best friend was a french kid that ultimately taught me German because he didn't speak English. He taught me German. I taught him...
... how to play quarters. Yes, he is wearing my UMR sweatshirt that was provided to me by my sister, which essentially celebrates St. Patrick's Day, which was a major drink-fest when I was at UMR.
My favorite family in Bavaria sent me tickets to travel back to Augsburg over Easter Break. The further gave me a train ticket, and maybe even paid for my friends Jim and Oliver (you can figure out which one was French). That wonderful woman had grandiose plans for us to visit museums, cathedrals, and all sorts of historical landmarks. We had been in Germany for nine months, and would have vomited over another Gothic or Baroque display. So? We went to a beer hall and talked most of the day. I had long since decided I didn't want black hair, and was unable to turn it back to sandy blonde, as shown in this picture taken by Olivier.
In case you are confused, Jim is the one who really is a redhead. Those were not our first mugs, and I think it was shortly after that we stood up and discovered we couldn't walk very well. That was ok, we walked over to another table to settle a bet that the people there were from Northern Germany. I won. They were. I might not have had a great accent, even though after I moved north I was known as the American with a Bavarian accent, but I could tell who was from where.
At any rate, it brought back some wonderful memories. They were not all perfect. This was not a vacation; it was a self exploration. I learned a lot about me. I learned a lot about myself. One of my co-workers, who is an immigrant, has commented that I was not very worldly in my views. I just laugh and let that kind of thing go. Strangely enough, I have seen and experienced a lot. I have incorporated all of those things into my perspective of the world. I have literally stood at the demarcation between Capitalism and Socialism. I purposely do not contrast Democracy to these other political philosophies because East Germany called themselves the German Democratic Republic, and I understand why. As it turns out, the concept of a Democratic environment is a bit vague; as is the concept of a Republic. It was only over the span of a week, and it was not as if I lived it constantly even in that short span of time. I didn't need it. The environment and the people that lived it let me know.
When the government starts redistributing income there are repercussions that follow. First it is that those who have health care programs must pay for those who don't. It seems innocuous. It seems like the right thing to do. Fine, I can pay a little more in taxes. Next comes further support for those that either do not want to work or can not. Sure, I can buck up a little for them. Never mind that while I was focused on my future they were doing 'other things.' They might have taken risks that didn't succeed. Wait a minute. I took a risk, too. I never expected anyone to buck up for me. Understood. I am just being a selfish autocrat. Oops. I don't mean to be, so I'll pay for that, too. I might have certain religious beliefs. Maybe my daughter has been taught to pray during the day. Well, public schools can not allow that. Hmmm... well, I guess I can see how that would be interpreted from the Constitution. Granted, I never said *everyone* should have to pray. Wait a minute, the schools are required to provide a vegetarian meal at lunch for those that believe that this is a philosophical belief. Oh, well that is not religious. Strangely, I make my daughter's lunch every single day. I guess that is not an acceptable alternative. If my daughter only ate a slab of raw beef for lunch every day, I am sure the government would ensure that that option was available. Ok, I am fine. One of my best friends does not speak English as a first language. In fact, it is not even his second language. However, he has learned it. We can carry on a conversation about anything, and he has no problem asking what something means if I use some slang or accent (I have an accent?) that he doesn't get. I remember his son yelling years ago in the house, 'WE ARE IN AMERICA, WE HAVE TO SPEAK ENGLISH!" Today, that boy has no accent what-so-ever. But, there are people that have not learned English that are here documented and undocumented. I guess I am supposed to learn more languages in order to make their lives easier. My German could be reborn very quickly, but strangely Germans want to learn English, and adapt quickly as a result of their desire. Annie and I are trying to learn Chinese. Not because it is required, but because we thought it would be interesting. Nevertheless, we will spend more money at school to ensure we have translators at our disposal to talk to students and parents that do not speak English.
Apparently, there are people that are not being paid well for their jobs. Damn that. That has to suck. Well, we had better establish a system that regulates income. Then it had better regulate time spent. Then it had better regulate benefits. I am not allowed to think that I should be paid more than others. I have been told as much. They are entitled. I am sure they struggled as much as I did. I am sure that they did everything they could to be better than they were the day before. I am sure they took finals with a 106 degree temperature. I am sure they demonstrated a skill that few people in the world could do. I am sure they get calls every month asking if they would be willing to relocate to do that particular job somewhere else...
Sorry for my sarcasm. I see where this is going. I walked through it. The Berlin Wall was not put up by the West, it was designed, implemented, and manned by the Socialists/Communists. It is sad that the only thing left is a single piece of wall in memory. That was not the Wall. The Wall consisted of two concrete barriers with somewhere around 50 yards of space between them. The outer perimeter did not end in the West. There was a space left for the East to drive the perimeter. Manned turrets were spaced amidst the gap. The East side even had mounds that had been built up against the wall. They didn't tear these down. They were waiting for people to try. They would be gunned down trying to cross the gap, or picked up if they had brought tools to scale the opposing barrier. It wasn't to keep the West out. Why would you build something like that if you thought your philosophy was better?
I have so much more, but I am getting frustrated with how many things keep coming to mind. I frankly don't think I am alone in my beliefs. In fact, I think the majority of citizens would agree with me. Unfortunately, we are all too busy working, so the smaller groups of activists get their way...
Mffffff.....
Recently, I did the FaceBook thing. I have a lot of requests for 'friends' from folks with whom I did not have a lot of communication in high school. In fact, only one was truly a friend. I don't know, but I figure people just like to have the attachments considered friends. Some of these folks were down right mean to me, but I know that my memory is far more freakishly in tune than most. Then again, maybe my definition of friend is a bit off kilter from others. At any rate, it made me think of some people that were very important to me during some difficult times. I was in Germany with one of them. I tried a number of years ago to start contact with him, and got no response. I don't give up well, and I happened to find him again. We'll see if he responds. Perhaps the friendship was more one-sided than I knew...
Well, in the process, I looked at some pictures from Germany. I wouldn't change anything, because I learned so much, but there were a lot of embarrassing pictures. For starters would be when I convinced my host parents to let me dye my hair black...
Of course, there was the amount of alcohol consumed. My best friend was a french kid that ultimately taught me German because he didn't speak English. He taught me German. I taught him...
... how to play quarters. Yes, he is wearing my UMR sweatshirt that was provided to me by my sister, which essentially celebrates St. Patrick's Day, which was a major drink-fest when I was at UMR.
My favorite family in Bavaria sent me tickets to travel back to Augsburg over Easter Break. The further gave me a train ticket, and maybe even paid for my friends Jim and Oliver (you can figure out which one was French). That wonderful woman had grandiose plans for us to visit museums, cathedrals, and all sorts of historical landmarks. We had been in Germany for nine months, and would have vomited over another Gothic or Baroque display. So? We went to a beer hall and talked most of the day. I had long since decided I didn't want black hair, and was unable to turn it back to sandy blonde, as shown in this picture taken by Olivier.
In case you are confused, Jim is the one who really is a redhead. Those were not our first mugs, and I think it was shortly after that we stood up and discovered we couldn't walk very well. That was ok, we walked over to another table to settle a bet that the people there were from Northern Germany. I won. They were. I might not have had a great accent, even though after I moved north I was known as the American with a Bavarian accent, but I could tell who was from where.
At any rate, it brought back some wonderful memories. They were not all perfect. This was not a vacation; it was a self exploration. I learned a lot about me. I learned a lot about myself. One of my co-workers, who is an immigrant, has commented that I was not very worldly in my views. I just laugh and let that kind of thing go. Strangely enough, I have seen and experienced a lot. I have incorporated all of those things into my perspective of the world. I have literally stood at the demarcation between Capitalism and Socialism. I purposely do not contrast Democracy to these other political philosophies because East Germany called themselves the German Democratic Republic, and I understand why. As it turns out, the concept of a Democratic environment is a bit vague; as is the concept of a Republic. It was only over the span of a week, and it was not as if I lived it constantly even in that short span of time. I didn't need it. The environment and the people that lived it let me know.
When the government starts redistributing income there are repercussions that follow. First it is that those who have health care programs must pay for those who don't. It seems innocuous. It seems like the right thing to do. Fine, I can pay a little more in taxes. Next comes further support for those that either do not want to work or can not. Sure, I can buck up a little for them. Never mind that while I was focused on my future they were doing 'other things.' They might have taken risks that didn't succeed. Wait a minute. I took a risk, too. I never expected anyone to buck up for me. Understood. I am just being a selfish autocrat. Oops. I don't mean to be, so I'll pay for that, too. I might have certain religious beliefs. Maybe my daughter has been taught to pray during the day. Well, public schools can not allow that. Hmmm... well, I guess I can see how that would be interpreted from the Constitution. Granted, I never said *everyone* should have to pray. Wait a minute, the schools are required to provide a vegetarian meal at lunch for those that believe that this is a philosophical belief. Oh, well that is not religious. Strangely, I make my daughter's lunch every single day. I guess that is not an acceptable alternative. If my daughter only ate a slab of raw beef for lunch every day, I am sure the government would ensure that that option was available. Ok, I am fine. One of my best friends does not speak English as a first language. In fact, it is not even his second language. However, he has learned it. We can carry on a conversation about anything, and he has no problem asking what something means if I use some slang or accent (I have an accent?) that he doesn't get. I remember his son yelling years ago in the house, 'WE ARE IN AMERICA, WE HAVE TO SPEAK ENGLISH!" Today, that boy has no accent what-so-ever. But, there are people that have not learned English that are here documented and undocumented. I guess I am supposed to learn more languages in order to make their lives easier. My German could be reborn very quickly, but strangely Germans want to learn English, and adapt quickly as a result of their desire. Annie and I are trying to learn Chinese. Not because it is required, but because we thought it would be interesting. Nevertheless, we will spend more money at school to ensure we have translators at our disposal to talk to students and parents that do not speak English.
Apparently, there are people that are not being paid well for their jobs. Damn that. That has to suck. Well, we had better establish a system that regulates income. Then it had better regulate time spent. Then it had better regulate benefits. I am not allowed to think that I should be paid more than others. I have been told as much. They are entitled. I am sure they struggled as much as I did. I am sure that they did everything they could to be better than they were the day before. I am sure they took finals with a 106 degree temperature. I am sure they demonstrated a skill that few people in the world could do. I am sure they get calls every month asking if they would be willing to relocate to do that particular job somewhere else...
Sorry for my sarcasm. I see where this is going. I walked through it. The Berlin Wall was not put up by the West, it was designed, implemented, and manned by the Socialists/Communists. It is sad that the only thing left is a single piece of wall in memory. That was not the Wall. The Wall consisted of two concrete barriers with somewhere around 50 yards of space between them. The outer perimeter did not end in the West. There was a space left for the East to drive the perimeter. Manned turrets were spaced amidst the gap. The East side even had mounds that had been built up against the wall. They didn't tear these down. They were waiting for people to try. They would be gunned down trying to cross the gap, or picked up if they had brought tools to scale the opposing barrier. It wasn't to keep the West out. Why would you build something like that if you thought your philosophy was better?
I have so much more, but I am getting frustrated with how many things keep coming to mind. I frankly don't think I am alone in my beliefs. In fact, I think the majority of citizens would agree with me. Unfortunately, we are all too busy working, so the smaller groups of activists get their way...
Mffffff.....