Crockham Hill May 2024 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 46
Last Word - Lessons in life, a letter to the Editor.
Some people will recall a poem by Max Ehrmann called Desiderata which
calls on people to go placidly through a noisy and troubled world. Written
and given to soldiers in the second world war and turned into a song in the
1990s.
Like a remix of classic pop songs, it could do
with a 21st-century update. Experiences
from life, reflecting more Garage and
Grunge than Hip-hop and House, tend to
give us a more cynical outlook.
Comments I have seen in subsequently
deleted WhatsApp messages between political leaders include:
I9ll try to be nicer if you try to be smarter.
I have plenty of talent and vision but just don9t give a damn.
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
Ahhh. . . I see the screw up fairy has visited again.
We9re all refreshed by your unique point of view.
What am I? Fly paper for freaks!
It sounds like English but I don9t understand a word you just said.
Do I look like a people person?
And so to Desiderata, an update:
False hope is better than no hope at all.
Why waste your time reliving the past when you can spend it worrying
about the future.
Blessed are the flexible for they will tie themselves in knots.
A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to a problem.
When someone hurts you, forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit but not
nearly as gratifying.
As you learn the innermost secrets of those around you it reminds you to
keep quiet.
Honour your personality flaws and character defects, blame your parents.
The complete lack of evidence is the surest sign the conspiracy is working.
I have learned that criticism is not nearly as effective as sabotage.
When fate knocks at your door pretend to be WFH (working from home).
Just for today, do not sit in the living room watching all day TV; instead
move the TV to the bedroom.
Yours truly, Gary R. Umpy-Oldman
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