I served a mission for my church right out of high school.  I was sent to Canada, Montreal for two years.  While I was there I served with two different missionaries from France.  Both said basically the same thing, and it went something like this:

 

“American’s are wimps.  If someone directs a remark to an American that happens to point something out that they are doing is wrong, they get offended.  Instead of looking at things pragmatically, they take everything personally.”

 

We spend so much time trying not to hurt feelings, that we get so tied up we can’t deliver the message.

 

The comment from Mr. Dye’s remarks where he would phrase some way of pointing out something dumb was:

 

“Hey Bill, you might already be aware of this, and I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all, but that fuel line looks awful short to me – when the engine moves, it could pull that end right off!”

 

I think that illustrates our fear for saying things how they are.  We have got to knock it off.   It would have been better phrased:

 

“Hey Bill, What the hell’s this?  Who put this together, a lawn mower repair man?  I thought you were better than this.  You got a death wish or something?”

 

Or

 

“Hey Bill, how did you get in here, it’s 300 over cast and you told me the other day that you aren’t proficient.  What are you thinking?  That was stupid.”

 

That’s what real friends do/say.

 

 

I for one am sick of hearing people complain about how this insurance company requires this or that from a builder/pilot to fly your ship with coverage. 

 

I’m sick of it because it is MY insurance company who is putting MY premiums on the line for your sorry butt.

 

Call me mean, call me course, but I tell what is meaner and courser, is when you are so caught up in yourself that you leave behind a family, a wife, sons and daughters that need you with them, supporting them and loving them.   It’s hard to do when you’re spending quality time with worms under 6 feet of dirt.

 

Or even worse, you deprive another family of one of their loved ones. 

 

Remember, the opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy.  Beware of the person who never says anything to you, stay close to the one that is riding your ass.  He just may save your life.

 

Let’s have fun out there, but let’s look out for each other folks, and forgive quickly those who offend you.  At least they cared enough to actually say something.

 

Kevin