" I guess it is the culture,"!

[Eamonn]

For the most part, when I think about myself, I think of myself as being fairly normal.

I don't have any deep dark secrets.

I think I'm very middle of the road on and about most things.

It has been a very, very long time since I went out of my way to hurt or harm anyone.

I think the last time was when I was about 14 and picked a fight with a kid at school.

I have a few nasty habits.

I smoke. I enjoy the odd adult beverage.

I love to laugh and have fun.

And yes I've been known to tell the odd off color joke! (Never to a Scout!)

Maybe at times I'm guilty of being a bit of a raciest. Even though I try really hard not to be.

Nothing really nasty, but I do think that the French are better cooks than the Italians.

Most of the Hispanics I know, even the guys in jail tend to be really hard workers and a lot of the Englishmen I know can be a little stand offish.

I was raised to say "Please" and "Thank You".

I don't think twice about giving up my seat on a bus to a female or aged person.

I still call nuns "Sister" and Priests "Father".

I don't have a lot of time for things that I see as being a waste of my time. Or people or things I see as being petty.

I do tend to work hard, play hard and I'm blessed that I have people who love me and allow me to love them.

I love my wife.

No one alive today understands me better than she does. She is my best friend, my co-worker and really is my partner.

I love my son.

At times I don't understand him!

Why anyone would want to have rings through their nipples? Is beyond me!

I think that his Mother and self did a good job raising him. Even if at times he is a little toad, he is a very loving caring person.

I guess I've led a very privileged life. I've never known to be really hungry. I may have been upset when I was made wear my older brothers hand me downs. But I was always "Well Dressed"

My parents made sure that I was given a good education.

At times I questioned their blind faith in God and the church I was raised in.

I however made sure that I raised my kid the same way.

Because I thought it was the right thing to do.

Some friends of mine have said I was a strict parent.

Yes he had a set bedtime.

I believe that adults need time without the kids being around. So it was as much for our good as his.

He had things that he Had to do.

His main thing as a little fellow was his school work, that included homework.

He did his stuff around the house, mowing grass, running the vacuum.

Since he was little everyone has remarked about how well mannered he is.

I can hardly wait to become a Grandfather.

My hope is that I'll have a lot more time for my Grandson than I had for my son.

When my son was little I was busy trying to make a living.

I'm willing to put up with all the new stuff, the high tech stuff,maybe even the changes in the culture.

But I hope most of my values are installed in my Grandson.

I hope he will play fair, work hard, care for others, be polite and of course love his old Grand Dad!

Ea.

[Eagle92]

So is a package on the way?

[OldGreyEagle]

I love my Old Grand Dad now

 

Oh, thats not what you were thinking about?

 

Never mind...

[studentscout]

Eamonn, I read through some of your posts (you are very prolific) and I think you are a nice guy and will be a wonderful grandfather (you need to quit smoking though). However, I can only say this directly: you write bad poetry, none of your stuff has either rhyme or meter.

[BklynEagle]

Actually, I'd say it falls into the "Free Verse" category

[Eamonn]

I wasn't try to verse or reverse anything!

Barry, who I really respect a lot has twice in the past few days brought up in not so many words that things are not what they used to be.

He very well might be right?

If he is?

Who is to blame?

I suppose we old codgers are!

At some stage we need to be able to look people in the eye and tell them to get a life.

When rules and regulations don't make sense or get in the way of us doing what we know to be right, we need to ignore them and err on the side of doing the right thing.

I'm 101% for not going out of my way to upset people, but all this politically correct stuff seems to just get in the way.

 

Here in the forum, some people do things a lot different than I might do.

I of course think they are wrong, but if they really deep down believe what they are doing is the best for the kids they serve.

I do have to respect them for that. (They are still wrong!)

We are supposed to belong too and be leaders in a value based organization.

I can't pass on values that I don't have.

I refuse point blank to in any way intimidated from doing what I think is the right thing, just so I can appease someone else.

At some time or an other we all joined this organization in order to have fun.

Fun when we were kids, fun with our kids or fun because we are just big kids.

We stuck around for as long as we have, because most of the time it is fun.

We enjoy the people we serve with, the kids e serve bring us great joy and satisfaction.

Most times when we are not having fun, it's because we have lost sight of why we do this and have allowed stupid pettiness or stupid petty people get in our way.

When they do get in our way, we should be able to fall back on our values and see that we are right when we tell them to go take a hike.

Eamonn.

[Eagledad]

>>I of course think they are wrong, but if they really deep down believe what they are doing is the best for the kids they serve.

I do have to respect them for that. (They are still wrong!)

[Mike F]

Amen, guys!

[Eamonn]

Not sure if it's a sign of the times?

Or back to this "Culture Thing"?

Barry was a long from my home town, when I was growing up.

Having only ever spent one night in Oklahoma City, I of course can't say much about what it was like.

I do know it was a long way from down town London.

I lived about a quarter of a mile from the river and about five miles from Buckingham Palace.

My trips to the great outdoors were thanks to Scouts and Scouting along with summers spent in Ireland.

My parents and I'm guessing Barry's parents didn't live our dreams for us, they gave us the time and space to live and explore these for ourselves.

While of course my parents were always there for me.

They were willing to allow me to sort things out for myself.

They provided what I needed to "Get the job done". But made it very clear that I had ownership of the job or task at hand.

An example of this is me playing rugby.

I'm not and never have been very big.

When I was 14 I weighed in at ten and a half stone. (147 Pounds) -Today I've grown a bit, I'm up to ten stone ten pounds (150 Pounds.)

My Games Master was also my House Master.

He also played rugby for Wales.

For some reason he thought I made the ideal Hooker.

The hooker is the little fellow in the middle of the scrum who is tasked with working the ball (Hooking) back to the rear of the scrum.)

I kinda think I must have been the smallest Hooker in the history of rugby!

I got the living daylights pounded out of every-time we played and even more so during practice!

I came home with black eyes, a broken nose, black and blue legs and a couple of broken ribs.

It stopped being fun, soon after I started to play.

I wanted to quit, I wanted as far away from a rugby field as I could get.

But quitting would entail telling Mr. Jones, my House Master. I was brave, but not that brave.

I tried to have my parents write sick notes for me. But that just wasn't going to happen.

They said if I really wanted out, I needed to talk with Mr. Jones.

I played rugby until I went to college!

Eamonn