Beech Tree News Network

A few years ago, we had an employee who asked for an advance on his pay on a weekly basis.  On one such request, I looked at him and said, “You need a better job—one that pays more money.”  I learned later that the guy had approached another employee and said, “I think Cheryl just fired me.”

            “Did she say you’re fired?” asked the second employee.

            “No,” answered the first.

            “Then you’re not fired,” said the second employee, “I know Cheryl.  She doesn’t beat around the bush.  If she wanted to fire you, she would have said you’re fired.”

            There are times when I tend to be a bit abrupt.  Most of the time, I’m easy-going, but every now and then, something makes my hackles rise, and I blurt out what’s on my mind.  One day, a friend of one of our co-op students stopped by to see him.  I had no idea who the guy was.  I had never seen him.  I did know two things about him, however.  One: he was a teenager.  Two: he was vaping. 

            “Do you want me to go ahead and schedule your double lung transplant?” I asked.

            At first, he was startled then he grinned.  “Yeah, yeah, I know these things are bad for me,” he said.

(One of these days, somebody is going to haul off and slap me silly—probably sooner than later.)

            I’ve come across others like I am, mostly in the Walmart checkout line, which will bring it out in the meekest of people.  One day, I was behind two women in line.  The first woman was dressed like a Hippie and had purple hair.  The second woman was dressed conservatively and had brown hair.  They both looked to be in their late fifties.  After the first woman checked out and went on her way, the second woman turned to me and said, “She is too old to be wearing purple hair.”

            I laughed, and the woman said, “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t say things like that.  Everybody is always telling me I should keep my opinions to myself.”

            “Let me tell you something,” I said, “There are some of us who don’t have the ability to keep all of our opinions to ourselves.”

            (I want to pause here to add two disclaimers.  I don’t participate in malicious gossip or outright rudeness.  Both are destructive and hurtful and have no place in human interaction. What I meant by what I said to the woman in the Walmart line is that for some of us, our minds are like a running commentary on what is going on around us.)

            Recently, I sat next to a woman at a baby shower who was originally from Butler County, but had moved away when she was young and had just moved back to the area.  She introduced herself as the sister of a good friend of Garey’s and mine.  “We just love your brother,” I said.

            “Which one?” she asked.  “I have two brothers, and I’m in the middle.”

            When she told me who her other brother was, I said, “Both your bothers.  We think a lot of both of them.”

            “When you see (she called her other brother’s name) tell him you sat next to the boss,” she said. “That’s what he calls me.  He’s the stubborn one, though.  If he decides something, there’s no changing his mind.  Now my younger brother is a sweetheart.  He never gets upset about anything.  I tried to be like him once, for about two weeks.  I had to give it up, though, because I almost had a nervous breakdown.”

            I understood.  Trying to keep a lid on a nature like that is akin to attempting to cap Old Faithful.  I am very thankful for the opportunity to write.  This column gives me a place to vent, and helps me keep those opinions to myself that should be kept to myself.  Still yet, somebody is probably going to slap me silly someday.  And I’m sure I will deserve it.