How To Make Unknown Quantities into Known Quantities?

Recently I posted a blog that asked, “Are People Really Racist Or Just Scared Of The Unknown Quantity?” To which I received a couple of rather different responses. Here I will share the first and later, in another post, will share the other. Both add interesting insights into a very complex matter, that I can only touch on in my blogs, so thanks to all for your input into my thoughts and blogs. Anyway here is the first and I quote, “Hi Walter, Well I think I am in a position to comment on your little article and I have to agree with you because most people no matter who or what they are, turn out to be just like us in most respects. As you can imagine I have a lot to do with Chinese people and find them to be extremely nice people, (of course the fact that they are Christians helps a lot) but generally speaking they are terrific. I will give you a better example. Years ago when I was working for an English company here in Melbourne, we had a young German fellow start work with us. He was very reserved and everybody said he was a hard-nosed Kraut. I actually went out of my way to befriend him and used to go and sit with him for lunch. He turned out to be an extremely nice, but sensitive young man. He was frightened that being in an English company he would be looked down on by the other workers, (a hang over from WWII) and hence the reason for his withdrawal from the rest. We are still friends to this day but unfortunately I seldom see or hear from him because he bought a farm up near Wangaratta and he is kept very busy. If I had not taken the trouble to make the first move and let him know that he could be my friend, he would probably have gone on being lonely and dissatisfied with his job, but he blossomed and became a good worker for the company. ****” This is just a reminder that a person’s actions and motivations, may not necessarily be the same as we judge them and like this German, instead of being proud or arrogant and just another hard nosed "Kraut", was in fact a rather timid, shy and intimidated person and was only withdrawing into his shell as a form of protection and self-preservation.

That is not to say that one won’t occasionally come across some genuine hard-nosed “Krauts” of all races and nationalities, but that we should always judge each person individually and not collectively. And also that we should always do our best to get to know the true “Inner” person before we do judge too. What say you”? Either to my friend or to me?

Croydon Market now and then.

Recently a friend and I got talking about Croydon Market and how it has changed over the years. So much so that it can hardly rightly claim to even be called a market any more, in my humble opinion.

Although it has been going for a long, long time, my memories of Croydon Market only go back to 1962, and specifically after the 62 January Bush fires, when a mate of dad's had some Sheep but no sheep dog, so I as a recently turned 11 year-old, often became his sheep dog and loved it. And as a perk, got to go to Croydon Market every Monday I had off from school for many years. Yes it was a whole different world back then. They had roughly 3 main Auctions going almost at once, as well as other more permanent stalls and such. Firstly there was the Junk auction; where all sorts of stuff, from tools to real junk was auctioned off. Then there was the poultry section; which also included pets such as dogs/pups, ferrets, guinea pigs etc. And finally the larger livestock action: such as pigs, sheep, cattle and even a few horses. A real fun place for a wide-eyed country boy to be, I can tell you.

Later, in the late 70's, when I had a home of my own and my own Chooks, I also used to go to the market and buy and sell chooks, and some Pheasants that I had hatched from eggs obtained from one of my Aunts. As well as some pigeons I had at one stage, (which I think most if not all, except the few I bred form captured stock, all came from the Alpha Laval factory over at Reservoir where I worked for a brief time before going to Safeway's Fruit and veggie departments).

However even in the late 70's, Croydon Market wasn't a patch on what it was in my earlier years as, apart from the Junk and Poultry sections; little other livestock was being sold there then and the face of the place was already changing as stalls and business started moving elsewhere.

Of course even what was there in the 70s & 80’s is long gone now and apart from a bit of Junk sold at auction on Mondays, it is just another Flea market on Sunday and Mondays and a car park the rest of the week for the small shopping centre now built on its former site, which also bears the name (But little else) of the original Croydon Market. Such is progress, I guess!

However what is true for Croydon Market, is also true for most things of our youth isn’t it? Very few things ever stay the same, do they? So how do we handle those changes? Moan and groan and complain over them? Or just get on with life and accept the changes and move on with our lives?

What about you today as you face a constantly changing world? Do you moan and groan and complain about it too? Or do you just get on with life, accept and adjust and live with these changes and live a happy and productive Life in the present ? Remember, much of a happy and successful life, is not in what is dealt out to you, but in how you respond to that which is dealt out to you!

Just to close, when life hands you lemons, do you moan and groan and put on a sour face? Or do you go out and make lemonade out of what life gives you? Again what say you?

It is all in how YOU handle things.

Although as a Christian I do not for one second believe the depiction of Heaven and Hell as depicted in the following e-mail I recently received is anywhere near true, I do like the mind set behind this e-mail in that it shows that everything we come across in life, has its good side and it is bad side and it is how we respond to it that determines whether we see it as good or bad. Well that's how I see it. How do you see the following tale?
”A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'
The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew, which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, 'I don't understand.' It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'
Again whilst I totally reject this pictureation of both heaven and Hell, I do acknowledge that we can make things easier or harder on ourselves in this life, depending on how we look at things.

If we, like the first group are always looking after ourselves first, then we are often going to find ourselves suffering for it, too, just like the first group.

However if we accept that no man (or women) is an island and that we both need each other and need to look after each other, then we will nearly always do far better that if we try and do things on our own. What say you? Forget about heaven and Hell for a moment and think about the here and now and whether you are making this life easier or harder, both for yourself and for others, through your greed or generosity in regard to other fellow life travellers? Over to you for now for your say.

The Six Doctors?

Recently received an e-mail with a nursery rhyme in it. I have no idea where it is from, or who wrote it and I have never come across it before even though it is obviously old, I but thought it worth sharing with you. So here it is.

“The Six Doctors”
"The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling"
- Nursery rhyme –

Again a simple little ditty with a simple but profound message to teach our children too, isn’t it? Yes, a simple little message but has it ever got through to you? How often do you really and truly visit these six doctors?

Are you getting enough sunshine, Hydration, real rest and real fresh air? Are you exercising and eating right? I will leave you to answer that as honestly as you can, but it is funny isn’t it, that if most of us, were to visit these 6 doctors and regularly too, we would not have to visit other doctors half as much would we?

So what about you today? Are you going to take the advice of this little ditty and visit these 6 doctors and regularly too? If you do you will truly be the better for it. What say you? I will leave it with you now as I am off now to visit Doctor E, with a walk to the Shops! Yes, which Doctor or Doctors, are you going to visit today?

Sand In Everything.

Another item inspired by For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston. This one has 7 frames of a little boy playing in a sand pit and getting sand absolutely everywhere, with the final frame of His mother washing him saying, “How can so little sand get into so many places?”

Ever noticed how laziness and bad habits are like sand in a sand box? They look like harmless fun and are quite enjoyable at the time, but like the sand, they often find there way into places you just don’t want them to be and just like the sand in your hair and clothes, takes a lot of time and effort to get rid of them later so that they don’t interfere with the rest of our living, don’t they?

A little fun and a little sand is not necessarily a bad thing but we do all have to be careful that we don’t overdo it don’t we, and ruin many other good things that just don’t work with “sand” in them?

Sand in the right time and place is fine, but please don’t overdo the sand usage and get it everywhere and particularly in places where it will cause extreme damage. Over to you now while I go and get my bucket and spade!

When Is A Bribe Not A Bribe, But A Reward?

I know that if you are anything like me, you will look down rather strongly upon Bribe giving, but a recent cartoon has made me reflect upon that black and white view and left me asking, when is a Bribe a bribe and not a just and reasonable reward, for a job well done?

In the comic strip For Better Or For Worse, by Lynn Johnston, there is a scene of plans for a wedding, with discussions about the flower girls, with the Bride to be, saying to one of the flower girls, “And if you are really, really good … I’ll have a very special gift for you when the wedding is over.” To which the groom to be, replies, “Her comes the Bribe!!!”

Which made me think about the whole bribes and rewards thing, a whole lot more carefully. I mean that if we are totally honest, all rewards when offered before the event, are bribes aren’t they?

I have no real answer to give you on this thought other than to encourage each one of us to carefully consider how we reward people for a job well done rather than Bribe them to do that job in the first place. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Being Nagged At, Is A Sign of Being Accepted.

Some people have funny ways of showing that they have accepted you into their own little group don’t they? Some of these ways are good and some not so good.

When we were working with the Xhosa people in Transkei, at first we were treated with great respect, even reverence, (which was actually quite unnerving, and we were very glad when it finished) but after a while we started getting treated just like them and left to fend for ourselves just like them. And it was only then that the penny dropped and I realised that they had stopped seeing us a guests and were now seeing us as family and just treating us as they would each other normally.

Yet that is only one way of being accepted into a family. Lynne Johnson revealed a slightly different form of this acceptance into the family in a recent Comic strip.

There the bride to be is in the supermarket with Her Fiancé’s little girl who is begging for every thing she sees: from Sugar cereal, candy and toys. All to no avail and she is shown as pleading, “PLEASE, please, PLEASE, please, PLEASE, please, please?!!!” To which the lady says to her fiancé, “I’ve been accepted by your daughter, Anthony… She’s started to NAG me!”

So being treated like everyone else and even being nagged at are both clear signs of being accepted by others. Sometimes, like being nagged at, we might prefer their acceptance to be shown in a nicer way, but at least we are being accepted and not kept at a distance, as not belonging.

How about with you now? What are some of the ways you have been shown acceptance into other’s lives and you in turn, have welcomed others into your own little world, to otherwise outsiders, thrust into it? Your views please?