My nephew, who I will call Ryan to protect his identity, was visiting Boise this week. Ryan is a 25 year old man, with the best smile ever and a cheerful, positive demeanor. He has always been so nice to everyone in the family and seeing him again after a few years was like I get to see him every day. We had brief chat, I learned about his job, his travel schedule, his mom and dad, and that there is now a significant other in his busy life. As he told me about her, he was beaming, and he finally analyzed his state of mind—“twitterpated”. “The sweetest person I have ever met.” It was great to see someone so happy with his life and his future possibilities.
In 1942, Walt Disney released the movie-Bambi. It was a beautiful story with a sad twist. Bambi is guided through his early life by his mother, his best friends Thumper, Flower and friend Owl. The trio sees a frolicking pair of butterflies and ask what is wrong with them? Owl tells them they are “twitterpated”, and goes on to describe the affliction – you are walking along minding your own business when you look upon a beautiful face, you become weak in the knees, your head in a whirl, you become light as a feather-walking on air-finally you are knocked for a loop. He emphatically tells the trio “this could happen to you.” You likely recall, Flower is a baby skunk. I remind Bambi the sage advice from Forrest Gump’s mother-“life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get.” And the follow on advice, “….miracles happen every day, some people don’t think so but they do.”
Speaking of miracles, the Covid 19 vaccines are a modern day scientific miracle. The vaccines are not a part of a conspiracy theory or a way to insert a chip in each of us for mind control. Thankfully a few politicians are moving away from ninnyhammer status and have heeded Forrest Gump’s mom’s advice and tried “put their past behind them” so they can move on. “Stupid is as stupid does” is a good description of so many thoughtless selfish citizens in our country. Forest’s mom reminded him, “don’t ever let anyone tell you they are better than you.” Simple words that so well describe our current social battles in this country.
I hope you have taken time to enjoy the Olympics and the many heartening stories of athletes from around the world. I know we take pride in the American athletes and their success but this is a time to celebrate the diversity of our world and the camaraderie across the competitors. I hope you saw Megan Rapinoe’s gol olimpico, she scored from the corner kick position with a beautifully bending shot. A rare unaided corner kick score. So many great stories as well as “agonies of defeat”. To compete you have to earn the right – hats off to all the world class athletes.
Finally, the world is well off balance. So today’s word describes it well, apathokakological, composed of good and evil. How else can you rationalize the behavior of those who chose to place their family, friends, health care workers and community at risk by not getting vaccinated. I hope that they figure it out before it is too late.
Please wear a mask when mandated or if in doubt, is a very small inconvenience. Stay safe. Mike