A friend of mine when he was young had a dog we’ll call Spot. The boy’s father thought Spot had one negative feature about him. In dad’s opinion, Spot’s tail was too long. The father thought that Spot would look a lot better if his tail was shorter. So they got Spot ready and my friend’s father told his son that it wouldn’t hurt him. He laid the dog down, put a belt around his tail so it would not bleed too much, and you got it, whack!
The boy’s dad had reassured him “dogs don’t have any feeling in their tails, especially one that is too long, so it won’t hurt at all.” Evidently, ol’ Spot did not get all that information processed correctly. When the hatchet hit his tail, he shot out of their hands. He ran around the yard yelping and howling like demons were after him, and then he found a place to hide. It was a long, long time before Spot chose to come around again.
Often on Tuesdays and Thursdays I play golf with a bunch of characters in what is called a “point’s game.” One in the group smokes a bit of pot during our play “Helps me relax,” he says. Another one plays in blue jeans, and you never know about the appearance of another. We have a couple guys with pony tails and one of them has an earring. One of the “pony tail” guys is called “Jesus” by some of the boys. Tattoos, well I won’t even go there. It’s quite a group. If they all lined up before heading to the first tee, I’m sure we could make some evaluations and feel we could probably make improvements in their appearance. Some of them need their “tails shortened” a bit.
But you know, that would be our opinion. What’s the old line, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?” I’m sure some of them have a special beholder.
It probably would have been best for Spot to be left alone and allow his tail to appear as it was given. Often the same is true in our evaluations of others.
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June 7m 2016
Keep on,
Larry Adamson