good news, bad news, and in between

The good news:
My brother got a really wonderful and fantastic promotion yesterday. I’m not sure that I can get into all the details in public yet. But I want to publicly say that I am very proud of my brother. I’m not just proud of his professional accomplishment. I am very proud of my little brother for all the good and hard work he has done on himself this year.

The bad news:
My dad broke his foot. He fractured the outside (near his pinky toe) of his left foot when he fell Monday while getting the trash cans ready for Tuesday morning trash pick-up-something he does every week. y dad has MS. My dad is a doer. It’s hard for him to sit still. Unfortunately he falls (a lot). Most of the time these falls leave him with a scratch, a bruise, a scab. But every now and again these falls leave him with a broken bone. And this fall leaves him wearing a boot for the next few weeks. Poor Daddy.

The In Between:
I have long known that I dislike it when people begin a sentence/conversation with, “Look” or “Listen” or interject those words as a command/demand/conversational emphasis.

Example:
“Jennifer, what's do you think about the color pink?“Look, I like the color pink. I think it’s a good color. And, listen, it goes really well with some of my other favorite colors – like green, brown, and white. So, yeah, look, I like the color pink.”

I think it often comes across as condescending.
In a “let me tell you something” way…
In a “what I have to say is very important…”
In a “what I have to say is waaaaaaaaay more important than what you have to say…”
In a “what I have to say is the end all to the discussion…” way.
Maybe it’s something that is an odd pet peeve. But whenever I hear it it just it makes me crazy. Sometimes I don’t even hear what comes after it.
Isn’t it really saying, “Hey, LOOK at ME! LOOK AT ME!”?
Some may not even realize they are saying these words in this way. It’s just become part of their speech patterns.

What I’ve recently noticed is just how many political pundits use the words look/listen in this way. Just watch any of the news channels for about 25 minutes and you’re going to hear it. And in that setting it REALLY drives me crazy. Even when I agree with the person! These are important issues we’re talking about and they are already polarizing enough. Often times we’re dealing with opinion that is shaped by varying worldviews, life experiences, values, and let’s be honest, emotion. The political conversations in which I was on the other side of an issues from someone and that I have actually enjoyed were respectful exchanges. And they usually weren’t ones in which the other person or I were trying to change one another’s opinion. We were just saying, “This is my view…what’s your view?”

So, LOOK pundits, and LISTEN up! If you really want to get my attention you could...
Stop.
Look.
and
Listen.

And now for something completely different...
Last week BFFBeLinda and I were having a conversation about my uncle’s doctor, Dr. Gover. At first BeLinda read Dr. Gover’s name as just “Grover”. You know, the Muppet. This lead to further conversation about family roles and how family members match up to various Muppet characters. In the end we came to the conclusion that my family, per capita, has an unusually high number of Fozzie Bears. I, personally, am more Fozzie Bear than say, Gonzo or Sam The Eagle.

A few days after this conversation I got this card in the mail.

Inside it reads:

I love it when my brain has a funny idea and I have the supplies to carry it out.

I might be an Ernie.

Love, Be.