Anyone who knows me, knows that I adore learning. My husband and I are lifelong learners, even though it has been years since we were sitting in classrooms to earn degrees.
Sometimes I wonder what people are learning these days, and even if anyone is learning anything anymore. That thought is based partially on the way that news reporters on television do not seem to know even the correct pronunciation of words.
Lately, so-called “educated” individuals cannot write well, cannot speak well, and cannot form sentences that are not disjointed, unconnected, and make one wonder what they are trying to say, anyhow. The most egregious example of someone who speaks in this way, consistently, has had enough press lately, so I need not provide a name.
I have never been a “hockey mom,” nor cavorted (for lack of a better word) with “Joe, the Plumber,” but I think that without too much trouble I might fall into the category of a quilt historian who is like a “Pitbull with lipstick on.”
There’s just one glitch in the analogy. I don’t usually wear lipstick. However, I do try to adhere to the truth, and I do care about the truth. I try to uphold the truth, even if telling the truth makes someone else uneasy, or rocks the proverbial boat, and even if what I say is misconstrued as not being “nice.” I have no interest in being “nice,” if “nice” means being quiet about someone’s falsehoods and errors. When the meadow muffins start piling up, it’s time to get out the shovel.
There are all sorts of lies: inadvertent misrepresentations, half-truths, lies of convenience, lies to cover up, lies because someone did not take the time to seek the truth (i.e. sloppy scholarship). No matter how you cut the mustard, these are all lies. If you are not telling the truth, then … you are telling a lie. Makes sense to me.
Having worn this subject thin, I will give it a rest, as full of disgust as I am at a particular situation involving misstatements. I will go “lie” in my bed, to ponder what makes people tick, before I count sheep with ticks. I guess a motivator for some individuals is money. Another motivator is social standing or prestige. I am just content with the truth, simple as I am. Now, is the truth really too much to ask?
Patricia Cummings
