Fat Cats

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The more I read about Twitter the more pleased I am with myself for deleting my account. I liked the idea of composing within a confined space of only so many spaces to say what I had to say. After all, I wrote mostly poetry for the first fifty years of writing, and only switched to mostly prose when I went online in order to participate in e-mail discussion groups. I seem to be near the end of my rope with that activity. That's very sad. I like doing it a lot. It's just that I can't find any subject or topic to write about with other people about something that engages my curiosity.

Yesterday my brother felt like he had to formally ask me to feed his dogs while he and his wife are gone to India. He knew he didn't have to ask, but he felt obligated to say it out loud even if he knew I wouldn't mind. I know the dogs all and every one. Not feeding them would be like abusing my human friends, but not as much fun. ;-)

My brother told me a little about their agenda for doing the trip. It's sponsored by the Rotary International group and the participants will come from various Rotary Club groups from around the United States. He doesn't know any of them personally, so that oughta be an interesting way to meet people.

I told him that I was a little envious of his mode of travel to a place like India. I've never been there. I don't have much interest in going unless I win the lottery and can do it first class, top shelf fashion. That's when he told me he had been assured that they would only be hosted by the "haves" and not the "have-nots". That's practically like winning the lottery, and I'm glad he explained.

It's not that he'll be staying with Indians in their homes and they have servants and slaves that caused me some consternation. When he said they'd be staying with the "haves" I felt good about his safety, but my heart dropped into my stomach when it came to avoiding the "have-nots". For some reason or the other I've always chosen to remain on the side of the lowly.

In the past, I've written about how I must have made some unconscious vow of poverty. It's not a joke to me as my heart re-informed me after hearing my brother's descriptions of the hospitality they were told to expect when they agreed to take the trip.

When I write about my unconscious vow (if such is actually so) I don't really believe I feel that way. It's like I'm writing it to give the impression I'm more compassionate than I really am. I don't really believe I made such a vow because I don't really know if I cop to being on the side of the lowly.

I allow myself to think I'm fair in my attitude toward wealthy people too by saying or writing that, but being on the side of the common man is something that's very real to me when push comes to shove. Personally, I'd like very much to be less prejudiced, and I am, unless somebody pushes my buttons, and then I'm off to the races with ridicule and scorn.

I have a conscious goal or resolve to try to adapt the counsel of two holy writings (sorta holy to me) from the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the I Ching and from the Gospel of Thomas. In the I Ching it is written this way: The superior man lets a lot of things pass without being duped." In the Gospel of Thomas Occam's razor seems to have been used, and it stated briefly and succinctly: Be passerby. When I read the Thomas admonition I always add the proviso from the I Ching "without being duped".

That's what I don't do occasionally or perhaps more often than that. As I've aged I let things pass more and more often than when I was more youthful, but still have to concern myself with the "without being duped" part. I don't know if "letting thing pass" and "without being duped" are exclusive from each other or not. I still don't know if I can let things pass if I feel like I am being duped. That would mean that I had gained some control over losing my temper with fat cats. Fat chance of that... eh? '-)

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