I was recently accused of perceving life in terms of black or white values and I don’t have the capacity to accept there are shades of grey to issues. I was initially taken aback that somebody regarded me as being so dogmatic. However having mulled it over for a few days I take the accusation as a positive. I do have strong opinions and the older I get I am going to voice them.
I am passionate about many things; my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my favorite sports teams, politics, movies and occasionally golf. I do have shades of grey but they usually involve things that I am ambivalent about.
So anyway, to paraphrase my dear mother-in-law who is not in the best of health, I decided to run through a few likes and dislikes of mine and share them with you. When I was compiling my lists I noticed the dislikes far outweighed the likes, and consequently a little bit of editing was necessary to balance the books.
I like playing golf early in the morning when it is fresh and a new dawn may bring a good round instead of the usual inconsistencies that a weekend hacker like myself has to contend with. I like seeing the sun rise rendering a pink hew over the fairway which is still entrenched in a low lying early morning mist.
I dislike slow play and players who don’t respect the etiquette of the game. I do not like taking a break between the front and back nine. Consequently I like playing a round in 31/2-4 hours.
I like dressing in black; possibly because I read somewhere that black is slimming and I need every help I can get. I do not like wearing white; simply because I am one of the world’s great stainers (the spell checker doesn’t like that word for some reason.) Take a look at my white shirts and you will be able to tell what I’ve been eating and drinking the past couple of weeks.
I like honest, genuine people with a self-effacing sarcastic and/or silly sense of humor. I do not like people who take themselves too seriously, are insincere, or superficial. Americans hold the lion’s share in insincerity and superficiality, but fortunately there are one or two exceptions.
I like cooking, but I don’t appreciate dinner guests claiming they eat can anything and then turn their nose up at an exquisite fish dish. “Oh I’m sorry; I forgot to tell you my husband doesn’t like fish!”
I like watching football, NFL football, rugby, athletics, golf, baseball and cricket. I don’t like watching motor sports, swimming, ice hockey, basketball or wrestling. I’m indifferent towards horse racing and boxing. Ha Ha! I have shades of grey in watching sports.
I like going to the movies and losing myself completely in the atmosphere of a big screen. I can’t comprehend anyone who hasn’t seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Gone with The Wind.” I’m revealing my intolerance here, but that’s bizarre to me that one can go through life and not experience two of the all-time movie classics.
I like sipping a glass of champagne in the hot tub on Christmas morning surrounded by a layer of fresh crisp snow on the deck. Honestly it did snow two years ago in Atlanta on Christmas Day. I dislike the fact that America does not celebrate Boxing Day.
Basically I’m a curmudgeon who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. For the record I cannot tolerate rudeness, I dislike pretentious people and have little time for the shirkers of this world. Nobody is perfect but some are closer than others.
Rev Sheridan James is showing “Its a Wonderful Life” in her church on Dec 19th with mince pies and mulled wine as part of a free film festival. I think Clarence and George would be happy!