Finneran: Blessings And Curses

Friday, October 07, 2016

Tom Finneran, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

A BLESSING:

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The thought occurs to me as I watch an elderly woman in obvious pain hobble into the supermarket....health is the greatest of life’s blessings, allowing us to fully enjoy the multitude of other blessings---family, friends, work, and play.

Clearly life itself is precious. The fact that it can be gone in an instant makes it fragile too. Here today, gone tomorrow can be a very sobering thought.

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Having had two hip replacements and several sports injuries which required crutches for different periods of time, I like to think that I’m alert to the challenges of others. Holding doors, lifting or carrying heavy items, or just being patient around folks with mobility challenges can be good reminders of just how lucky most of us are. Yet it seems to be a part of human nature to take it all for granted, casually assuming robust health as our natural inheritance for years and years on end. It ain’t necessarily so.

In fact, a wise friend who has faced his own unexpected and serious challenges has adopted a great slogan---“eat dessert first!” Sign me up for that. My friend gets it, never taking any day for granted anymore.

A CURSE:

Actually two curses. Let’s take them in the order in which they occurred during a morning commute this week.

First, the texters. They are horrid selfish dangerous human beings. They screw up the flow of traffic, they endanger fellow motorists, and they truly frighten and frequently cripple pedestrians. 

Such self-importance. I’m sure that they feel an obligation to respond to the news of their Nobel Prize for Medicine, for Literature, for Science, and for World Peace. They simply must stay in touch with their adoring and demanding public, the rest of us be damned.

I wonder if it ever occurs to them that the world functioned reasonably well before the texting revolution descended upon us? Or does it occur to them that the “vital” news that they are sharing does not expire with time? Believe it or not but if Kim Kardashian and Kanye or other similarly dopey people continue to embarrass themselves it will still be “news” when these crazed texters arrive safely at work.

Second, how about drivers who block intersections? Is there anything more selfish? Is there anything more dangerous? Three times this morning I witnessed first class idiots block intersections and paralyze traffic. They are lucky I’m not a cop. I would write them more traffic citations than they could read and with one word of backtalk I’d put them in cuffs and have the car towed. No ambulance, no firetruck, no police car, could get through the logjam created by these jerks. 

A BLESSING AND A CURSE:

The debate this week between the Vice-Presidential candidates was reassuring on one level and dispiriting on another level. The fact is that either of these candidates could responsibly assume the powers of the Presidency. They are well-informed, well-spoken, highly experienced candidates. Indeed, in many ways their presence on the ballot is more reassuring to the general public than are the candidacies of the two major candidates for the job. Thus their presence is a blessing to the Republic.

The curse surfaced in their behavior. Perhaps I’m too old-fashioned but I think that constant interruptions are just plain rude. A political opponent should be given a fair chance to respond to a question, without multiple interruptions. And it’s up to the moderator to cut off any lengthy kill-the-clock filibusters of the candidates. 

I’d bet that in real life these gentlemen are courteous and respectful, rarely if ever rude, more likely being patient to a fault. Yet for some reason they succumb to blowhard political consultants who advise them to go for the jugular and dominate the clock. They should ignore the consultants and recall the wisdom of their mothers---rudeness is never good.

Rudeness is remembered. 

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Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.

 

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