LADIES AND GENTELMEN!

Remember when a speech would begin with "Ladies and Gentlemen ..." Where did the ladies go? And the gentlemen, where did they go?

Gentlemen? They were the kind of man that stood to give a lady their seat. Gentlemen seated their lady at a restaurant. Gentlemen ordered the meal. Gentlemen opened the door for a lady. Gentlemen held her arm as they walked ... and he would walk on the curb side. A civil time. That was the lady and gentlemen era.

Where the ladies and gentlemen went is no real mystery.

Woman's liberation 60's thru 80's. quietly changed the lady to a woman and changed the gentleman back to a man!

Woman and man!

Woman's Liberation was the big gender blender blunder! No more ladies, no more gentlemen.

We're all equal. Unisex flourishes.

Women boldly going where no woman had gone before permeating the very sanctuaries of testosterone as well as reversing or minimizing man's roll in society.. Estrogen vs. testosterone!

"Move over man, I'm sitting there now!" ... the tough broad smiles," want to make something of it mister man?"

Open a door for a woman now and she looks puzzled. Try and seat a woman now and you get a dirty look!

Alas, the lady and gentlemen are two endangered species.

Indeed there are millions of women, and millions of broads too ... but has anyone seen a lady of virtue around?

FORMAL EDUCATION

When making that important decision regarding future schooling proceed slowly and proceed with caution. Don't be fooled by the front door! Whether a simple bible school, seminary, college or university; the front door is always inviting, it's always open and looks great!

Don't fall for the beauty of academic brick and mortar! Inexpensive tuition? There many be a reason.

Don't fall for promises, if it's performance your after.

A person enters schooling to be educated. A student enters school somewhat like moldable clay and leaves formed and baked. (In some cases ... half baked!)

It's the back door that you need to watch.

The back door, not the front door, defines the school.

Who came from the school that became a notable leader?

The school's alumni all came through that back door, what did they become, better yet who did they become and what did they amount to?

As to schooling, always study that back door ... before you enter the front door!

The time you take researching a school's alumni will be well worth the effort.

HONORARIUM

There is word called "honorarium." As a speaker I found I was often given an "honorarium" for speaking or teaching. Sort of a clever gift of gratitude.

A gift you didn't have to declare as income.

Most speakers get an appropriate honorarium and expenses paid, and that's only fair. If you're a big league speaker you get big league "honorariums" and if you're a person like me, a little league speaker ... you get what the people are good enough to pay.

Fortunately It was never necessary to make my living from speaking, so I rarely discussed "honorariums" and for the most part it came off well. On occasion I would get a thousand dollar "honorarium" and on other occasions not a red cent. Not even expenses ... or gas.

I remember well the most unusual yet endearing and humbling "honorarium" I ever received.

I was to speak to a small Church in tropical India. To say the church was small would be an understatement. Thatch roof, four posts and four short pews. A little pulpit for me to speak from. The little church was packed with ten smiling brothers and sisters.

After the service, we were all meeting and greeting one another, when a lady came up and with a smile handed me the church honorarium ... three eggs.

That thank-you meant more to me than any honorarium I've ever received.

THE STRANGE FEELING OF EMPOWERMENT!

I was thinking about government; I guess today we all think about government ... and I remembered the phrase "public servants," then I thought further into government, and even more important who funds our Governments.

Why, it's us! It's me! Enlightenment!

Why, I'm an employer! I'm the Governments boss! I'm the President's boss!

Yeah, I may be just a small sardine, but in this case us little sardines swim with the big tunas.

Wow! This has given me a new perspective, seeing as how heavily invested I am in my Government. (And God knows I am!)

I am a boss!

Just think, the next time I'm pulled over for a minor infraction, I can look at the police officer as my employee! Now that's a perspective I like! That dude is working for me. No more quaking fear. No more wet pants, but an eye-to-eye contact. Oh, and officer please address me as sir.

The unleashed power of a new mind set!

I can stop along the freeway construction area and inquire as to how they're doing on repairing my freeway and commend them on their work. Or tell the two men holding shovels to get down in the hole and help the one digging or I'll have them fired.

As boss I should be able to walk right in to the DMV and inquire as to how things can be improved and the need for so much paper. Oh, and I'll give you a date and time when I'm available.

And with due respect, I should be addressed as Sir. After all, I am boss and aren't all government employees ... public servants?

Servant has sort of a humble ring to it.

Alas, along the line we run into a bit of a double standard. The term "Public servants" is simply political misspeak! Reality sets in and again I cave in to my own employees.

The truth like a dream vanishes ... us sardines are still sardines and the big tunas ... well, they're still the arrogant and incompetent big tunas we elect every year.

(Try to find a good tuna? Here's a tip! You'll find the best selection ... in your local market!)

A DUMBED DOWN PEOPLE

What is dumbing us down? Could it be our growing legislation ... and masses of rules and regulations?

The bureaucracy with it's "One-size-fits-all-ism" makes one size fit all rules and regulations. Lets start with driving. Here in California we do the right thing because it's the law and the Cops are watching. We don't necessarily do the right thing because we think it out, it's simpler to get the "law habit."

The police want us to get the "law habit." If the light's green, lets go, if it's red ... stop! See a stop sign, stop.

Most of us come up to a stop sign at three in the morning, and stop even if there is no one around for ten miles. Rather dumb, but it's the law.

Or ... in the Military bureaucracy, I learned fast and first to obey the rules and regulations. I became a Lemming, like the rest of the men. Why? Because a Sergeant was on our back. We were told how to talk, how to walk, how to stand, even where to put our hands ... we were told when to eat, when to sleep, when to work and when to learn. One size fits all. (Literally.) The Military man is not trained to think above a certain level, or use common sense, but to simply obey! Your superiors were better qualified and did the thinking ... from quite a distance, I might add!

Our government legislatures continue the dumbing down process that's woven through the bureaucracy. Seatbelts mandatory, motorcycle helmets mandatory, no smoking, no Colas or Big Mac's ... they make you fat. No room anymore to reason or think, just do it because, well ... it's the law.

And the bureaucracy knows best.

No need to think any more, because that's what we have our Government for. The well educated egghead legislators always know best.

Don't leave your keys in your own ignition switch, it's against the law, it will tempt criminals, and you'll be cited ... not the thief, especially if he is undocumented.

If this keeps up I wonder what Americas population will be like in the next twenty years. Could we say "brain dead?" Fortunately we will have a large strong Government to carry us through.

Times like these are hard times for us old timers who dare to think things out. Not easy for the few of us who are used to using Common Sense and reason to govern our actions.

I wonder why it's against the law to plug in a toaster and take it in the bathtub with you? I should place that sign up over my bath tub. "No toasters in tub with water!"

In Mexico, where I drive, it's defensive driving and common sense decisions. Mexico where rules are simply suggestions ... and only apply when a policeman is near.

I fit in well.