by John Philipp
Member since:
August 10, 2006

Thought~Byte No. 135

January 07, 2009 12:22 AM EST
views: 153 | rating: 10/10 (31 votes) | comments: 99

Thought~Byte No. 135

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d644/d422/d745/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 

Concept and words by John Philipp. Drawings by Phil Frank.
(The comments below are where the wisdom is found.)
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Comments: 99

John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:23am EST
Thought~Bytes are posted every Wednesday. To see all Thought~Bytes and get an email when new ones are posted, please join Thought~Bytes
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jan 7, 2009, 12:27am EST
I don't know John. As a child I knew how reindeer could fly, how to visit other planets by using a new concept called warp drive, I knew I could always, always count on my best friends Frank and Mike, I knew which neighbor would help me out, I knew and understood the then-uncomplicated meaning of love AND I pretty much knew right from wrong; black and white.

I grw up and I discovered a lot of uncertainty and gray areas. How does one defeat 'gray areas' Obi-John?
Lin B. Jan 7, 2009, 12:27am EST
giggles Love it~
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jan 7, 2009, 12:28am EST
John O - I ate some Yankee Pot Roast this year. we're practically blood brothers.
Tracy Fabre Jan 7, 2009, 12:30am EST
.... so you can be one of the grown-ups someone else grows to rise above! Circle of life, baby.

Pot roast sounds good.
Larry H. Jan 7, 2009, 12:31am EST
good one thanks for sharing.
Connie C. Jan 7, 2009, 12:38am EST
What is up with the pot roast?
~Sia McKye~ Jan 7, 2009, 12:51am EST
Unfortunately, some never rise above that. Or they never really become 'grown-ups'. :-)
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:54am EST
It's a Yankee thing, Connie.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:55am EST
That is the unfortunate side, Sia.

And, it's a choice not a decision.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:55am EST
Hola, John. Missed you!

"I made Yankee Pot Roast's favorite humor of 2008 list"

Great news! Will definitely check it out.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:56am EST
"I grew up and I discovered a lot of uncertainty and gray areas. How does one defeat 'gray areas' Obi-John?"

Robert, if I told you, it wouldn't be a challenge.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:56am EST
Thanks, Lin.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:56am EST
That's the issue, Tracy. We all face it.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 12:56am EST
You're welcome, Larry.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jan 7, 2009, 1:10am EST
"Robert, if I told you, it wouldn't be a challenge."

Me thinks you misplaced the force Obi-John. That is a non-answer if I ever heard one. What? You writing for Obama now?
Jan S. Jan 7, 2009, 1:15am EST
Good parents encourage their children to rise to a higher level of achievment and make the most of their talents.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jan 7, 2009, 1:21am EST
Jan, 'your' dog just posted another pic.
Claudia (kitty-cat) K. Jan 7, 2009, 1:39am EST
Robert, I think that gray areas can be defeated by elimination. Take them and toss them to the wind and just concentrate on the black and white, and you'll be all right.
When someone commented on how helpless our infant son was, his father replied "Helpless! He's got two people rushing around 24 hrs/day to fulfill his every desire, and he can't even talk yet!"
Donna Hammett-Tooker Jan 7, 2009, 5:33am EST
As a child I felt protected and sometimes smothered by parental over-care and the "cotton-wool" padding my mom felt was necessary. I wanted to break free and actually feel things and then came school - big eye-opener- I was no longer Daddy's little girl but for some the fat kid with glasses who refused to get skinny for the rest of the world and brought them out for the "Fatty, Fatty , 2 by 4, can't get through the bathroom door" treatment. I survived to become one of them without the name-calling gene and went on to try to protect other overweight persons from the name-calling by answering every question in the book thinking that full-disclosure would satisfy and change the masses. Alas, as an adult I found children to be blatantly observant and critical to the nth degree but basically honest and adults to be disseminators of projected political correctness behind which they hid a myriad of dishonest behaviors and thoughts that could boil over on occasion but were pretty much capped off. So, now I try to talk to children but do not attempt adult conversation, it is harder to talk on their level than I remembered and being closer to the ground, they recover from a fall or error more quickly than I. Maybe the real trick is not a trick at all but just not acting like an adult...
JOHN BECK Jan 7, 2009, 5:55am EST
There are exceptions, John. The mother of a teen knows nothing despite the fact that she knew something when she was a teen.
College freshmen know a lot but college graduates become aware of how little they do know. That's part of that growing up process.
Larry M. Jan 7, 2009, 6:50am EST
Of course, when we get big and strong and others around us are weak we need to remember what it was like being the small and weak one and help the little guys out.

(Not that they'll appreciate it, though. :-)
Wilhelmine Estabrook Jan 7, 2009, 7:00am EST
Some time it takes years and years to overcome the challenge. At 70, I expect it to happen any day now.
Patricia J. Jan 7, 2009, 7:30am EST
I still have problems sometimes but I just get up every day resolving to give it my best effort.
esteban g. Jan 7, 2009, 7:45am EST
Innocence, Inexperience, Honesty, Joy (I'm sure you can think of a few more) all tend to fade in time. Nice to keep a few alive.
esteban g. Jan 7, 2009, 8:01am EST
I like the drawing.
Nancy Biri Jan 7, 2009, 8:23am EST
cute
mary bryant Jan 7, 2009, 8:37am EST
I still Don't know enough
Jennifer aka Jenn B. Jan 7, 2009, 9:06am EST
still growing
Linda T. Jan 7, 2009, 9:19am EST
Once you think you know it all you begin to realize how little that knowledge is.
Bert Van Essen Jan 7, 2009, 9:36am EST
I was raised where a child had no power and the adult with power abused it on me. I think now I have a greater feeling for those who have no power in society and I get much satisfaction in trying to level the playing field for them.
K D. Jan 7, 2009, 10:14am EST
Hmmm. I guess that's the way life is, we always are looking to better ourselves and achieve more. It's a ongoing process.

Potroast sounds like a good idea for tonight's dinner!
Chas Andrews Jan 7, 2009, 10:36am EST
Good one
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:49am EST
Good comment, Bert.

Power is one of the key facets to this Byte. Thanks.
Desiree T. Jan 7, 2009, 10:50am EST
so true
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:51am EST
"we always are looking to better ourselves and achieve more"

And, K D., the learning in that is why that is true.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:51am EST
Glad you liked it, Chas.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:51am EST
Thanks, Desiree.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:51am EST
Thanks for the link, John O. I will go there posthaste.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:52am EST
Robert, the Byte is the catalyst, the answer is in you — always.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:52am EST
"Good parents encourage their children to rise to a higher level of achievment and make the most of their talents."

True, Jan, and like all things that can be overdone.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:52am EST
Claudia, thanks for holding Robert's hand.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:53am EST
"He's got two people rushing around 24 hrs/day to fulfill his every desire, and he can't even talk yet!"

There is that perspective, Sarah.

And it's downhill from there.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:53am EST
"Maybe the real trick is not a trick at all but just not acting like an adult..."

Excellent comment, Donna. You may have something there.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:53am EST
"There are exceptions, John. The mother of a teen knows nothing despite ..."

Very true, John and here I'm thinking more from the perspective of the very young child.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:53am EST
"we need to remember what it was like being the small and weak one and help the little guys out."

Would that more people did, Larry.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:54am EST
"Some time it takes years and years to overcome the challenge. At 70, I expect it to happen any day now."

Keep plugging away, Wilhelmine :)
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:54am EST
"I just get up every day resolving to give it my best effort."

Then you've learned what you needed to learn, Patricia.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:54am EST
"Innocence, Inexperience, Honesty, Joy all tend to fade in time. Nice to keep a few alive."

Or keep them all alive in different ways, Esteban.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:55am EST
Thanks, Nancy.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:55am EST
"I still Don't know enough"

Mary, maybe the remaining thing you don't know is that you do know enough if you listen to yourself.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:55am EST
"still growing"

Jenn, at the rate you are going someday soon you'll turn into a fine young lady.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:56am EST
"Once you think you know it all you begin to realize how little that knowledge is"

And, how unimportant that knowledge is, Linda.
esteban g. Jan 7, 2009, 11:15am EST
Very good John. In slightly different ways.
Sally L. Jan 7, 2009, 12:21pm EST
Good one!
Haim Kadman Jan 7, 2009, 12:50pm EST
We do try from childhood on, don't we? Great concept John.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Jan 7, 2009, 1:14pm EST
If the answer's in me then I elect to color the gray areas white. Is that acceptable?
Carrie C. Jan 7, 2009, 1:49pm EST
I have spent we-won't-mention-how-many years trying to figure out what my mother wanted of me when she told me to be a have. And gray is my favorite color -- all shades.
David S. Jan 7, 2009, 2:23pm EST
But they have such big shoes! :)
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 2:42pm EST
They DO, David and it's pretty overwhelming.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 2:42pm EST
Thanks, Sally.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 2:42pm EST
"We do try from childhood on, don't we? "

We do, Haim, It's quite amazing what we accomplish.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 2:42pm EST
"If the answer's in me then I elect to color the gray areas white."

Your life, your call, Robert.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 2:43pm EST
"trying to figure out what my mother wanted of me when she told me to be a have."

And what answer did you come to, Carrie? Or, did you stop trying?
Teresa A. Jan 7, 2009, 3:25pm EST
Good point
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 4:53pm EST
Thanks, Teresa.
Bethany Q. Jan 7, 2009, 5:11pm EST
the first challenge is to recognize that. Thanks John.
Chris Brockman Jan 7, 2009, 5:32pm EST
It's a series of one-down situations, but it's always first and inches.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 6:03pm EST
Good point, Bethany.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 6:04pm EST
Good way to say it, Chris.

Thanks.
Debra B. Jan 7, 2009, 6:44pm EST
For whatever reason (mostly by choice, I think) some never do ['rise above that'].
Stefania H. Jan 7, 2009, 6:58pm EST
Good one, John.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 8:02pm EST
Choice and sometimes not believing there is another option, Debra.
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 8:02pm EST
Thanks, Stefania.
blaine d. Jan 7, 2009, 9:13pm EST
still a pup in the woods!
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 10:43pm EST
Go for it, Blaine.
Georgiana S. Jan 7, 2009, 10:52pm EST
always another option!
John Philipp Jan 7, 2009, 11:56pm EST
Agreed, Georgiana.
Marie J. R. Jan 8, 2009, 3:41pm EST
and yet,???


Bless you,,,,
Angela A. Jan 8, 2009, 5:34pm EST
I'm 31 and there are still things that I will never understand.
And, one of them is hatred of any kind.
John Philipp Jan 8, 2009, 7:01pm EST
... and yet, most of us turn out quite well, Marie.
John Philipp Jan 8, 2009, 7:01pm EST
Amen to that, Angela.
Bill W. Jan 9, 2009, 4:00pm EST
What if life's challenge was not only to understand more than the grown-ups of your day but to prove it?

Rest easy
regina k. Jan 9, 2009, 4:53pm EST
I am a grown up now and still don't know what my mother was talking about!
John Philipp Jan 9, 2009, 4:56pm EST
Proof is an over-rated commodity, Bill.

And, for the topics we're discussing, a nonsequitor.
John Philipp Jan 9, 2009, 4:57pm EST
LOL, Regina. Thanks.
Nyota *Star* Jan 11, 2009, 2:50am EST
sometimes it's good to stand over a mirror and look down. then imagine how you look to a kid.
John Philipp Jan 11, 2009, 5:32am EST
What an excellent idea, Nyota.

Thank you.
Jerri H. Jan 12, 2009, 1:36pm EST
After that perspective I think I will be squatting down when I talk to my little one ;)
John Philipp Jan 12, 2009, 2:25pm EST
An excellent idea, Jerri. It makes a lot of difference to them.
Elise w. Jan 13, 2009, 8:13am EST
So, do I have this right? Sevens are born as one downs and grow to be 7ups? :-)
John Philipp Jan 13, 2009, 8:24am EST
By God, I think you've got it!
Sharon B. Jan 13, 2009, 12:56pm EST
sorry for the generic comment... trying to catch up with almost 1000 e-mails in here
John Philipp Jan 13, 2009, 2:06pm EST
Sharon, slow down and smell the roses.

Seriously, if I had that many emails I'd have a "Deletion Incident." We won't miss not receiving one or two emails from you.
Roberta Moto Jan 27, 2009, 7:18pm EST
john- I think Robert is becoming co-dependent
John Philipp Jan 27, 2009, 7:34pm EST
Roberta, he's just enjoying himself.

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