Cal.E.'s Korner

C,:  Hey, d.c. You look down, so I’ll tell you your favorite joke to try to cheer you up: “What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t work?”

d.: A srick.  Thaks for trying to cheer me up, Cal.E., but I have something on my mind that I’d like to get off my chest.

C.: go ahead, then.

d.: I’d like to address abuse of power.

C.: Yes, some politicians take advantage of their positions here on Earth, just like on The Planet of the Talking Cats.

d.: That’s true, but what I want to address is a little closer to home. True enough, politicians do abuse power, and that’s wrong, but so do lay people, even ones who swear they never will after having to live through an abusive childhood with an abusive, domineering parent(s)>

C.: I thought that you had a good relationship with your dad and your late mother.

d.: I did. They made mistakes, like all humans do, but it wasn’t because they weren’t trying their best. That’s one thing, but to intentionally try to control another person’s every move and to pushing him or her when s/he doesn’t do exactly as s/he is told is a big problem in some marriages, work relationships, and parent-child relationships. The problem is, when the abused person decides to assert him or herself, s/heoften goes too far, because the resentment has been building up for so long.

Country music singer  Kenny Rogers had a popular song about forty-five years ago about a man who’d been raised to be a pacifist. He promised his dad, on his dying bed, that he would never fight anyone. Hia dad had been someone who brawled almost nightly, so he didn’t want his son to grow up that way. However, as other  people caught on that he wouldn’t retaliate, the “coward” finally stood up to what sounded like one-half the county In the song, and subdued each and every one with his fists.

The man had so much fury built up inside of him that he was able to channel it into his fists and win every fight. Anyone who’s been on a gridiron and played American Football knows that most of the players play better if they have a purpose; and that purpose is often trying to get revenge on another player that has conceivably done something to harm the player.

As long as the rules are followed, this can be a constructive way to release pent-up hostility, but rules are subject to interpretation. Most of us former linemen have fists that are scarred and/or arthritic from using them to punish an opponent.This is especially true for those of us who played before the rules were changed to allow offensive linemen to extend their arms when blocking. And, in the Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors NBA matchup, the commentators are sometime referring to the play as being like a Rugby scrum. The officials must adjust to this, or blow their whistles every five seconds.

Unfortunately, some very good athletes take out their frustrations on their family when they retire and don’t have a constructive outlet for their anger. By the same token, some men and women who have worked hard to get into the role of a supervisor are frustrated when the reach that position and find that they don’t have the people skills to  motivate other to do their jobs as well as they did when they were in a production position. Some of the best workers make lousy managers, and frustrations mount. Being in a supervisory position usually means working long hours and getting home to late to go to the gym or to take a run to relieve stress, unfortunately. In that situation, it’s best to find some kind of physical outlet, even if it means just walking your dog around the block before showering, eating and going to bed. Remember, y’all stress kills by stroke and hypertension.

Cal.E and I will be back tomorrow with another brilliant blog. In the meantime, this has been d.c. scot, with one man’s (correct) opinion..