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Musings on a Bitter Handyman
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Musings on a Bitter Handyman |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
I watched the pragmatic, practical, prosaic student of life as he put on a show for me to teach me why I ought to be thankful for my lot in this life and not to complain. As is my wont, I focused on the structure rather than on the content - thereby missing the mark. As he did the work and refused to let me help lest I, in my lack of practical know how, screw something up, he swore up and down about the chinese workers who'd likely been responsible for constructing the bloody sink that wouldn't budge. I hated listening to the tirade. It was pure racism - nothing more, nothing less. But I knew that it was also a hard lesson in life for me. Had I grown up in a different culture, had the lack of opportunity he did, would I have been any different? I think back now to a philosopher I read recently. I recall his gentle dialogue with himself. "Here is someone who irks me in this way. What can he teach me? How can he strengthen me?" Here was a handyman, bitter from all the years of toil his own father had imposed upon him despite the fiery contents of his mind. There was the angry tirade about the migrant workers, or the Chinese factory assembly lines. What did it do to strengthen me? Thank you, God, for giving me the opportunity to get an education, and for instilling in me such a passionate curiosity and also the opportunities to slake it. Among so many of the so-called practical is the ethos that curiosity and thought are a second sex to be reviled for its temptations - a pleasure to be avoided. Yet why have you cursed them with it? Sex I understand. It's there for the sake of procreation. But without curiosity and ingenuity we could still survive - as cavemen. Isn't that enough? Isn't it enough to be born, eat, sleep, have sex, make children, and then die? Why do I want something more? Why am I tortured by such a ravenous desire? Life's short. Think hard! |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Enjoyed this provocative read. Some men are, while not content with their own life, perspective enough in their own minds to allow as not to cuss at their own fate. Some would change it, if they could; others, burdened with wife, children, mortgages, and such, take each day one at a time, and even some hope to leave the best of their philosophies behind, in lieu of "a better position or lot" in life. You bring many men to my mind; and yet, they all passed, not cussing life, but thanking God. You do make one think...always a good thing. |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN |
I've always enjoyed your pieces. From, way, way back in the day. This was a nice little window into your thoughts and I still find you to be a talented wordsmith. You come in with a different perspective than my own. Why not sate those ravenous desires or at the least plumb their depths. I thought the end was maybe a tad weak. You see this contrast to you dealing with a temptation/sin but you don't really explore it as much as I would like. |
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Larry C
since 2001-09-10
Posts 10286United States |
Interesting. No attempt here to answer that question. But if sex is only for procreation then why those buttons that provide so much pleasure? |
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rad802 Member
since 2008-04-19
Posts 279KY U.S.A. |
Sex is natures way of ensuring that the next generation occurs. Filthy language(or cursing) is only filthy if everyone agrees that it is filthy. If the intention is to offend, then I would agree, it is filthy, but it could just be venting or a colorful expression that is not intended to offend. I do this a lot. I hope I havn't offended anyone. Nice work, by the way. A worthy legacy is the irrevocable consequence of dreaming. |
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