Righty-Tighty / Lefty-Loosey - Always Choices!

Do you remember having been taught that there
was a correct and an incorrect way to tighten nuts and bolts,
water faucets, and door handles?

It was buried somewhere between "don't talk with your mouth full" and "sit up straight." Two personal experiences have brought those "sage" sayings to mind recently.

When my wife and I were vacationing in the UK we had to make the adjustment to several cultural things rather quickly. "Mind the gap!" was a frequently heard phrase any time we were near the tube (subway or train to we Americans.) Driving on the other side of the road is not only the practice (but encouraged for reasons of safety and order!) as was walking down the LEFT side of the stairs and through the LEFT side of double doors. Additionally, there was the ever-present phrase "please get in que," meaning don't butt in line, take your place at the rear of the folks already waiting for something-anything. Imagine our surprise on one occasion when we made it to the front of the line, only to realize we weren't interested in using the "lou."

Well, that seems to be mostly an "other-side-of-the-pond" issue, but we certainly have our own unique cultural things here as well. Except that we may have missed the opportunity to effectively pass on those rare tidbits.

While we know that talking out loud at a movie (as well as having a cell phone turned on) is frowned upon, we do it. Getting ahead of the other person is a common practice - just ask a New York cabbie - or the teen-agers at a Harry Potter premier. Just check out the folks when the "blue light special" is announced and an apparent fire-drill seems to have been created.

While we ceratinly don't want to be percieved as old fogies that are interested in rules, have you noticed the breakdown in the little tidbits of life that contribute to a well ordered culture? My favorite is watching with vast amusement the utter chaos that occurs at double doors on campus, when young folks try to go in and out of buildings at the same time, many opening the left doors! I don't think that they think they're in London.

However, many a dropped bookbag, spilled frappacino, and slightly grazed nose have resulted from this practice. Have they forgotten the righty-tighty / lefty-loosey advice they were given years ago, or did they think that ONLY applied to nuts and bolts? It's not about rules, but it IS about respect and courtesy!

Tomorrow (or today) try opening the RIGHT door and, as a courtesy, holding it for the person that is following you. They will greatly appreciate not having someone spill their frappacino!

Unless, of course, the other person on the other side of the door CHOSE THE LEFT SIDE!!

Hence The Name

A Treatise on Wanting Things To Be Better for the Next Generation!

When I was very young, my mother used to have fried eggplant, with all the fixins' every Friday night and I always thought it was because that was her favorite meal. To this day I also like that meal, though it was well into my young adult life before I discovered that the reason for that Friday night special was because she used it as a meat substitute due to our family budget needs.
My father used to gather used newspapers and bundle them, planning to meet the big truck with the hanging scales which arrived once a month to gather the bundles, weigh them, and pass on to him an amount of cash equal to seventy-five cents per hundred pounds.

Those examples taught me a great deal about having to work hard, plan well, and "waste not" when it came to the things we wanted, perhaps even needed.
Recognizing that these are different times, shouldn't we still want some sort of fried eggplant and bundled newspapers in the life experiences of the next generation, whether they be our children, our students, our future political or business leaders?

Hopefully, this vehicle will allow me/us to discuss that which builds, praises, and challenges us to consider things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable - all for the purpose of encouraging growth in character for those who follow us.