We have little patience with people who waste their time

DELANSON — Tuesday morning, Aug. 13, had the feel of a little coolness in the air, plus the fact that the thermometer on the porch was reading less than 60 degrees. OK, long pants it is, maybe even a long-sleeved shirt

When we got to Gibby's Diner and were standing in the parking lot waiting for the doors to open at 7 a.m., the long pants and long-sleeved shirts easily outnumbered the short pants and short-sleeved shirts.

While still outside in the parking lot, one OF was seen approaching another OF and inquiring about what was written on his T-shirt. The T-shirt in question read this way, “There's no Place Like So & So’s Cabin, East Berne”

The questioning OF said he has lived in East Berne forever and has never heard of “So & So’s Cabin” and he asked what and where it was. The OF wearing the T-shirt laughed and promptly told him, “That’s my house; it's where I live.” And so starts another OMOTM breakfast.

Many questions and concerns regarding the scribe’s Boot and foot were expressed. No more jokes. The scribe reported that, one week later, the Boot was obviously gone and so was the pain.

The scribe did hear in the background some OF mutter, “Wait until he gets stomach ulcers.” The scribe didn't need to hear that.

Electric blankets

Along with the cool morning came a discussion about electric blankets. That really comes as no surprise although it is a bit early to be talking about it.

It is also no surprise that it is also part of the age-old, forever ongoing battle of the sexes. Too hot vs. too cold, and vice versa. No, I'm not going to go there in this column, or any other column for that matter.

Just be yourself

Another comment heard in passing at one of the tables was, “Waste time productively.”

To many of us OMOTM, these three words just don’t belong together in the same sentence. It is just flat-out a contradiction of terms.

Back in the 1930s and ’40s, there was a popular author and lecturer who talked and wrote about salesmanship, public speaking, self improvement, interpersonal skills, and corporate training.

Something tells me that the OMOTM didn’t have any of those topics on their minds when they were getting up at 4 a.m. to go milk the cows. A hot cup of coffee in their hands as they walked to the barn on that cold winter morning in the 1930s and ’40s, thinking about the work that lay ahead of them that day is what was occupying their minds.

Remember, this was the 1930s, it was the Depression and the world would be in a war in just a few years. Tough times like those do not leave too much time for thoughts like wasting time productively.

This column has talked about the “The Greatest Generation” before. They were the generation, who, like their forefathers, just went to work and got the job done.

They were the “Doers.” They saw what needed to be done, and did it. 

“Waste time productively?” Wasting time was wasting time; it was not being productive.

The Old Men of the Mountain had little patience with people who wasted their time. They were too busy working and getting calluses on their hands.

Your current scribe is not suggesting that getting involved in an educational program that you like, or that you need, in order to make your life better for yourself and your children is a bad thing; it isn't. It is a good thing.

It is a natural thing. Even if it just results in allowing you a couple of hours a day to relax, to calm down, to read a book, or like our own Scribe Emeritus, John Williams, those calloused hands can now pick up a paint brush and create a picture.

All I'm suggesting is, just because you listen to someone else’s theory or thoughts on how to become a salesman, or public speaker, or how to be a successful farmer, doesn't make it happen.

Just because someone else says you would be great at doing this or that, but you just do not want to do this or that, you, with your fabulous hands, you can really make a piano sing, or paint a picture, or carry on the family farm — then stop trying to become someone you are not, and start making that piano sing or paint that picture!

So, for some, learning which end of a screwdriver to pick up is a complete waste of time. It is not productive.

For others, it is absolutely the most productive use of their time. It is what they want to do.

We all are what we are, and someone else really should not try to change us into something else altogether. Like what Texas Governor Ann Richards once said, “Well, you can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique, but it is still a pig.”

We are what we are. I am not saying we are pigs; what I am saying is: Just be yourself.

Just because we take a course on farming or whatever doesn’t make us a farmer or whatever, and certainly does not put calluses on our hands. Only doing the work, whatever that work is, or walking the walk, will do that.

Ask any Old Man of the Mountain; he will tell you that. He will also tell you that wasting time is wasting time. It is not productive.

Among those being productive this morning at Gibby's Diner were: Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Jim Austin, Gary Schultz, Ed Goff, George Washburn, Wm Lichliter, Pete Whitbeck, Peter T. Parisi, Gerry Chartier, Frank Dees, Frank A. Fuss, Jake Herzog, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Joe Rack, Lou Schenck, John Williams, Paul Goiton, John Dab, Dave Hodgetts, Bob Donnelly, Jack Norray, Dick Dexter, John Jaz, and me.