Don’t Laugh At Me…

 

    It had been a busy day. Yes a quick trip to Portland and back, watching a bit of the news for an hour or so and a brief snack and it was just time to “shut down” for a few minutes in a comfortable chair and just relax. And part of that relaxation gets enhanced by asking Alexa to play some music.

   Recently when listening to music I have been going back in time and being a child of the 50s and 60s I have folk music has risen to the top of my list. Whether it be Peter, Paul and Mary or Bob Dylan, as well as a few other names, the hits of the time brings back a lot of memories. And as I listen and sometimes even sing along, if I can remember the words, many of those songs and the verses had a great deal of meaning for me at the time. Who cannot remember “Blowing in the Wind” or “Like a Rolling Stone” and put themselves at some location or at some time in the early days of growing up. Did can honestly claim that at some point they did not have a magic dragon named Puff or search the tool chest to a hammer so that they could hammer in the morning or evening?

   As I sipped on a cool glass of wine and with the melodies of Peter Paul and Mary in the background, there was a song that caught my attention.  Its melody and lyrics were one with which I was not familiar. How could I have missed it years ago?

   After listening to it a second time, I knew I needed to do a bit of research here. How could a piece of music this old and one that I do not ever remember hearing, touch my soul as it did on this day in early January 2023, especially someone my age.

   "Don't Laugh at Me" is a song written by Allen Shamblin and Steve Siskin and recorded by American country music artist Mark Wills. The song was released in July 1998. Since then it has been performed by a number of country and folk song musicians. But as sometimes happens, things and/or events will pop into our lives when we least expect them and share a new message or thought as we navigate life despite how you or old we may be and for me, this is what seems to have happened the other day.

   I asked Alexa to replay the song several times and each time I listened carefully to the words and message. Yes, there were some parts I could really see in my own life, but what was surprising to me was that although written years ago now, the ideas and issues expressed through this song back in the day are still part of the world we live in today. Do we learn from our past, or our mistakes and our experiences?  Do we allow ourselves to really change and grow that much as we strive to be a better person, a better society, or a better world?

   So here are the words of the song written by Allen Shamblin and Steve Siskin and performed by Mark Wills:

   “I’m a little boy with glasses The one they call the geek A little girl who never smiles 'because I've got braces on my teeth. And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep. I'm that kid on every playground who's always chosen last. A single teenage mother trying' to overcome my past. You don't have to be my friend. Is it too much to ask. Don't laugh at me,

   Don't call me names. Don't get your pleasure from my pain because in God's eyes we're all the same. Someday we'll all have perfect wings. Don't laugh at me.

   I'm the cripple on the corner. You pass me on the street and I wouldn't be out here begging' if I had enough to eat. And don't think I don't notice that our eyes never meet.

    I lost my wife and little boy when someone crossed that yellow line. The day we laid them in the ground is the day I lost my mind. Right now I'm down to holding' this little cardboard sign. So don't laugh at me,

   Don't call me names. Don't get your pleasure from my pain because in God's eyes we're all the same. Someday we'll all have perfect wings.

    Don't laugh at me because I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short I'm tall. I’m deaf, I'm blind. Hey, Aren't we all? Don’t laugh at me, don't call me names. Don't get your pleasure from my pain’ Because in God's eyes we're all the same. Someday we'll all have perfect wings. Don't laugh at me.”

   I hope that after you read this you won’t laugh at me but simply reflect upon those events and happenings in our lives that make us truly the person we are today.

 

 

To Wander, Meander, or Just Walking

 

   It has been said, well before my time, that life is a journey and that throughout that journey one can and will experience many different things. That journey can take one to many different places, to experience a variety of emotions, meet all kinds of people and on occasion can give one new life, maybe purpose,  and new meaning regardless of age. Perhaps most important, it can give one perspective, the ability to look back and in so doing learn some valuable lessons for life for the future.

   Having reached an age where I have a lot to look back on, I think I have a better understanding of the different stages of life we move through. It begins as a time of exploration as a small child, then a period of experimentation and then transitions into a time of commitment and seriousness about a journey forward.

   But throughout those various parts in the journey of life one may find there are times when you may discover a need to just wander and meander just a bit. You wake up in the morning to a bright sunny day and decide that, instead of a “normal” day (what that may be for you), you decide to go for a walk, just wander around listening to the sounds and enjoying the solitude and peace and quiet it brings. It can be as simple as a walk in the park, the park being the world you have created around yourself during your journey so far.  

   The journey through life can, in some cases, feel like riding on a speeding train, getting off every once ana while, taking a few steps and  then getting back on board only to wait for the next stop, the adventure, the next leg of your journey.

   Perspective is an interesting word and for some reason I have been thinking about it often recently. Perhaps it is because I have become a bit older and I am trying to figure out about the different parts of my life, the different experiences, and why I have become the person that I am today. And perhaps it is because I have come to a new and better understanding that the journey through life never really ends, but only if we allow it. The journey just changes and takes a different direction.

   With getting older the train ride may become slower and the stops at each station may last a bit longer. But the most important part is that if we allow it, the wandering, meandering, and walking can still continue as we reflect on the past and the future. We come to the realization that despite how old we become we can still learn new things. We can still experience new adventures and we are able to enjoy those walks in the park, looking at the pieces of our life we have gathered around us that helped to make us who we are.

   There will always exist the idea of ‘perspective’ and the curiosity of wondering how things would have been different if only I had…….We know how that thought ends. But the idea of gaining a somewhat new perspective of who we are, regardless of where we are in the journey is not to take us backwards, but it can help us continue to move forward and continue to learn and grow.  We may not be able to wander and meander about as quickly as we did when we were younger. But we can still climb aboard the train and continue the journey.  

   I have come to believe that the journey never ends. It just takes a different form. The memories and history never goes away. Pictures hanging in the hallways, scribbled notes on old birthday cards, an old blanket or pair of shoes left under the bed and other pieces of memorabilia can trigger memories and history.

   As I looked out the window on this very cloudy morning I decided that this would be a good day to do some walking and ‘meandering’ around the yard. Speaking of meandering, where did I put that snow shovel? I may need it later today. I don’t want to speed up that train, but it would be nice to get a little taste of the upcoming springtime though.

  

  

 

SPAM Risk

 

   As each days passes, it becomes a bit of a challenge to remember life as a nine- or ten-year-old. I remember the house I grew up in, some of my friends in the neighbor, and playing football in the middle of a traffic circle on a very busy highway.

   But I know there are many things in my lifetime that I have forgotten or just do not want to remember. But once and a while something triggers a memory, often at the most curious of times. One of those times, for some strange reason happened recently and strangely enough, it has to do with food.        

    It was a nice summer afternoon several weeks ago. I was sitting in the backyard watching the birds attack the bird feeder. If my recollection serves me correctly it was a Sunday afternoon around 2:00 PM. The telephone started ringing. And then I heard it, the warning coming from my phone. Spam risk! Sunday afternoon. Spam risk? Come on. Someone must be working very hard in some foreign country somewhere.

   This ‘spam risk’ warning was something I had programmed into my telephone in an attempt to stop receiving those unwanted, or at least warn me about nuisance telephone calls from telemarketers and other annoying people. Well.. I think they are people, but these days it is difficult to say.

   The ones I really have to laugh at are the car maintenance reminders.” Your contract has expired on your car maintenance and for a mere fee of whatever, you can continue to receive this valuable service.” Here is the kicker. I have not owned that car for nearly ten years now. Someone needs to update their records. No. They need to stop these foolish calls and put me on their “do not call” list.

   On an average, I receive about three to five spam calls per day and now they are occurring almost every day. Remember when Sundays were a day of rest, dinner at grandma’s or maybe a trip to the beach?

    And it is not just my house phone anymore. These ‘skilled artists’ are beginning to call my cell phone. Many, if the call does sneak by the hang-up and get to my voice are now in Spanish.  The nice thing about the cell phone, if there is one, is that I can turn off the ring, so it won’t wake me up during my afternoon nap.

   At this point, if you are continuing to read this, you may be asking what this has to do with a memory when I was a nine- or ten-year-old?

   One of my mother’s favorite meals to prepare for dinner or any time for that matter was to fry up some spam. Spam, which still can be found on the shelves of many stores today, is a processed meat that comes in a can. One simply pops the end, slides the contents into a frying pan, heats and eat. And my memory? I did not like it. But it was pretty regular on our dinner plates at my house.

   Now I find it somewhat interesting that these unwanted calls of today are labeled as spam calls and every once and awhile when I hear the phone announce a potential spam call, it reminds me of those dinners that I would try to miss by going to a friend’s house for dinner. In case you have any doubts, it was not one of my favorite meals, just like these nagging telephone calls today.

   I am sure that I am not the only person who receives these obnoxious calls on a regular basis and if anyone has come up with a better solution to stop this attack than the spam risk warning, please share. Perhaps this is an issue that could be addressed by our leaders at the state or federal level. But then, they may not receive such calls and do not know about them.

   So for now, I will continue to be on guard for the ‘spam risk’ warnings on my phone and remind myself that the memories it triggers about some of those dinners of that past, are just that, memories, and will soon be forgotten. (I just can’t believe that spam in the can is still available in local stores.)