Posted on by Pat Coakley

Being Only

choice

I was a Philosophy major in college.  Thinking about Being with a big “B” and being with a little “b” used to fascinate me.  I remember Martin Heidegger had something to do with the phrase but, without Google, I wouldn’t know what that means today.

Practical lessons of philosophy were an oxymoron in my case.  The only recruiter on campus looking for philosophy majors (there were three) was IBM and they snagged the one of us who was logical (and mathematical).

The dreamy, totally out of touch, what’s it all about without a lick of experience was, in truth, my major.

But, I feel like I’m back in school, studying Logic 101, with Professor Obama in office.  Love him or hate him, the man knows how to think about complex  problems.  There are professional pundits who comb his speeches for clues as to political policy shifts, diplomats who lament that “being honest” (his summons in national as well as foreign speeches) is not a practical negotiating strategy.

Me?  I comb his speeches as if I might learn something valuable, something practical–not about Foreign Policy but about how to talk to people in my own living room without blowing a gasket or two when their opinions raise my blood pressure.

Here are some practical changes I’ve made so far and he’s only been president for five months.

My Big Blue eye rolling is out.

Grimacing and jumping out of my chair is on the decline and only partially due to arthritic knees.

Hurling remote controls is definitely on the wane.  ( I lose it only when someone tells me they watch the reality show with that couple and their eight children)

Reminding people, matter of factly, of the duplicity of plant life: some are poisonous, some are not is definitely OUT–along with my favorite phrase:  “Some mothers eat their young, why not yours?”

Tectonic change since January 20, 2009.  I think there is Obama HOPE for me and just to prove it, I’m calling IBM today and insisting on that call back interview from 43 years ago.

Wish me luck.

©Pat Coakley 2009

PHOTOGRAPHY CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

18 Replies to “Being Only”

  1. Another fantastic image. you really are on a roll lately.

    Here’s a philosophical question for you.

    Do you think that you would be happy to work for an amoral company that helped the Nazis administrate the death camps? Something to consider when thinking about IBM.

    From where I stand, I’m glad you’re not the sort of person that IBM needed. Being a soulless number crunching myrmidon isn’t living.

    You seem to be experiencing quite a bit of creative growth, how about revelling in that?

  2. Damnation, Razz. Just spent a few moments looking up “Myrmidon”! It started out with ant-people then morphed to “robots” and then to mindless bureaucrats carrying out the devil’s work. You’re right! I’m not taking IBM’s call back. I’ve got caller ID for myrmidons!

  3. the way it shifts, inside out and back, captured me rhythmically, and then how it speaks, the clarity and pace, supercharged. the photo and the writing both, such a delight!

  4. i just about drove in the ditch looking at that image. Really heavy philosopher’s fog out there today! But what fun to not always know where it is you are going.
    As for being logical… you might want to hold on to a few of those tantrum-like behaviors because it is the only thing that gets through to some people.

    1. Don’t worry, Don. Those behaviors are always there at the ready if my Zen Obama smile doesn’t shut them up!

  5. While I wholly respect your opinion, Pat, I think you, like many, have fallen into the Obama Trap. So far, Obama’s greatest trick has been in making us think he’s complex. In fact, the only thing complex about him is his willingness to take on more than he can handle. He’s the fix-it president, after all. Except he’s really just a guy who was far too altruistic to be president in the first place.

  6. Oh, now, Chris, this is a blogging opportunity to practice my new Obama tolerant social skills! Let me see…Thanks for sharing and could you pass the rutabaga. It’s a tricky and complex plant, though, as it is masquerading as a turnip but tastes like cabbage.

      1. Chris, “stung a little”? Progress! Now imagine if I’d suggested your mother should have eaten you when you were a baby which I might have done to you BEFORE Obama.
        I may add the sums column differently than you but it’s not because I’ve been herded into a pen by Chief Sheep Dog.. I’m 64 not 14. Herding is difficult unless potato chips are involved. Then, I’m first in the pen. I think we’ll agree to disagree and go from there you cross processor, you.

  11. I missed the part about that woman with the tummy tuck, bad haircut & too many kids. If she ate them, her staples would pop though… I think I need to take some lessons from you because that woman dsigusts me almost asmuch as the women who go to her book signings to tell her how powerful she is. I suppose berating her husbnad on national tv makes her strong. Where’s our reality show? Oh right here… I forgot. You should make a train wreck image in honor of that show & the Gilligan’s Celebrity island.

Comments are closed.