THE TRUEST THING I KNOW

 The first one was a fictional novel about rivals turned friends who weave their lives in baseball. The second book was a confessional about the mistakes I made with my son during the years he played baseball. Unknown to most folks is a third young adult e-book.  

The first two books sold “dozens” of copies. The young adult e-book hasn’t sold more than a couple of downloads. That’s not what I had hoped for when I wrote these tomes. No, I had visions of book signings, television appearances, and speaking engagements. Money would roll in, and Amy would quit work to help me with all the wonderful things that a successful writer experiences.  

What I discovered is that I’m not good enough for those things. My skills aren’t on par with such famous authors as David Baldacci or John Grisham. My style is different from theirs. They are wordsmiths; I’m a writer. My pieces and books rely on the common, everyday language that folks speak. My character development isn’t elaborate; dialogue sometimes fills pages without revealing anything toward the complication of plot.  

My best work comes when I begin with the basic rule of “what’s the truest thing I know right now?” From that I develop a column or a story or a book. I also follow the acronym K.I.S.S.-Keep It Simple Stupid. Because I work on simplicity, my books don’t have to be measured by thickness or word count. So often, major authors are paid to produce hundreds of pages in single books. As a result, the plots are sometimes drawn out too long or pages of description interrupt the plot.  

Thanks to The Focus and Charmin Foth all those years ago, I’ve been allowed to fill a column space each week. Furthermore, folks have supported those pieces enough to keep me going. I wrote for other publications, but this little weekly paper is home. The people who read my “stuff” sometimes write to agree or argue. Either way is fine with me. We are equals and have the good fortune to think and hold opinions.  

I sometimes wonder if I should fade into the background. Maybe I don’t fit in today’s world. I sure don’t understand many things about it. Then again, maybe I’m supposed to write each week to keep in touch with the oldest generation of which I am a member. I do worry that I might someday run out of things about which to write. Family and friends can’t imagine a time when I would go quiet or run out of opinions. 

No, all those things that I hoped would happen in this writing “career” that’s been going for about 20 years have fizzled. Still, I can be satisfied writing a weekly column for people who love or hate it. My views are often in opposition to readers, but all of us can keep minds and bodies healthy by letting blood flow quicker as we give an “amen” in agreement or a “hell no” in opposition. My prayer is that I never fail to come up with the truest thing I know right now.   

FAIR AND BALANCED

 For those of us who are UT fans, nothing makes for a better New Year than having the Vols play in a bowl and beating the opponent soundly. That’s especially true when the other team’s coach belittled our players a couple of weeks ago.  

I used to attend games. A friend traveled to every home game from Memphis, and he told me that if he could drive across the state that I could travel across the city to watch Tennessee play. I sat through ark-building rains, toe-freezing cold, and alcohol-befuddled fans. At the same time, I’ve stood in a snaking line to use the restroom, after which I bought and overpriced hotdog and coke and returned to a one-cheek wide seat. At some point, I simply put my foot down and said, “No more!” The crowds made my claustrophobia flare, and I couldn’t take it anymore.  

Since that time, I’ve watched my favorite team on the television. Because some games weren’t available, I paid extra for sports programming that aired games. My behind sat in a recliner that fit my body and allowed me to lean back when things didn’t go so well. Trips to the restroom took less time, and the facilities were much cleaner. Snacks were hot and much cheaper. The bottom line was that a became a better fan and enjoyed games more.  

Over the years, watching UT play on television with some problems. Sometimes the designated channels for the games were stuck on earlier unfinished contests.  On occasion, games have been broadcast too late for fans.  

The biggest obstacles that Tennessee teams face are the announcers who cover the games. For years, CBS has covered the SEC feature game. We fans listened to the “Verne and Gary” in years past. Neither man cared much for the Big Orange, although Verne was a bit kinder than the other man. Gary made several comments that offended UT fans. He praised other teams while shooting darts at Vol players and coaches. Some were warranted, but most showed the bias that this announcer has against our state’s school. Verne has retired, but most folks wish Gary had left instead. His criticisms of UT have continued, even during a year when the team won 10 games and the Orange Bowl. 

The dislike for Tennessee teams is just as apparent on games aired by sports channels. Most recently, Tennessee took on Clemson in their bowl game. One of the announcers was a former quarterback for Alabama, and he lavished praise on the Tiger’s quarterback throughout the game. Fewer good words were spoken for Joe Milton. During one segment, the two men in the booth oohed and aahed about Clemson while Tennessee moved the ball down the field. Positive words were finally uttered after the Vols soundly defeated Clemson. Still, the talking heads gushed again about the future for the Clemson team.  

Tennessee fans don’t expect announcers to be perfect. We welcome criticism when the team performs poorly or individual players do wrong things. The rest of the time, we simply ask that the broadcasters be unbiased. We don’t want to hear them discuss how lucky the team is or how the officials are helping the team.  

UT fans are proud of the team and thankful for the coaches. What they are looking for is a team of announcers that present the game and other special plays. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Like the news, fans want it without editorial comments. Maybe networks can work on that for the coming year.  

DON'T RELIVE DISEASES

 It’s possible that I’ve covered some area of this subject before, but evidently, some readers in the USA didn’t see the column. So, I am duty-bound to restate my take on this subject. Some might agree with me while others might find my reasoning faulty and unconstitutional. At any rate, here goes.  

First off, I’ll remind everyone about the definition of freedom. The word means “the absence of coercion or constraint in choice or action.” For us who aren’t as refined, freedom is the ability to do as we please. The thing about my freedom is that it ends where another person’s begins.  

With that out of the way, I can now talk about vaccinations. Covid shots are where I could begin, but that topic has been hammered for too long. Instead, I’m bringing up vaccinations from long ago. We older people remember them, and a few others might vaguely recall those protective inoculations.  

The worst of the bunch was the immunization for smallpox. That one begins with a bunch of needle sticks and ends with a scar or the upper arm that resembles a crater on the moon. A person’s approximate age can be determined based on the appearance of the upper left arm. 

The next worse was the polio vaccines. The first two were given via syringe with a needle that looked a foot long. The last one was given in a lump of sugar.  Children and adults alike were more afraid of the disease than the shots.  

My generation didn’t have vaccines for measles, mumps, and chickenpox. Children caught those illnesses and were ill for days. Measles covered our bodies with bright red rashes; the chickenpox blistered our entire bodies and sent us to soothing baths that temporarily stopped the itching. The mumps came with swollen glands and sore throats. Swallowing was almost impossible. Most of our days were spent in beds with fevers and completely lousy feelings.  

Today’s young people are luckier. They only need to receive vaccinations to prevent having any of these diseases. In fact, most of them are wiped out in this country. Wait a minute. Some place in Ohio has 82 cases of measles; outbreaks of chickenpox and even polio are occurring in the country. The culprits for this medical problem are anti-vaccines adults. A whopping 28 percent of adults say that MMR vaccines shouldn’t be required for a child’s ability to attend school, even if that might lead to infecting vast numbers of children. 

Here is where the question of freedom comes in. Is it okay for a minority to make choices that have potentially life-threatening consequences for the majority? Before anybody answers that question, he or she should realize that as many as 500 persons died from the measles and between 3-4 million were infected each year. At its height, polio cases reached 52,000 with more than 3000 deaths. This disease was nearly wiped out in 1952 through vaccines, but now we hear cases are reappearing because some parents don’t want their children to be immunized.  

Common sense should push all parents to have their children protected from dangerous diseases. Present-day demands for individual choice over vaccines is nothing more that selfishness and abuse. Yes, we live in a democracy where freedom is prized; however, a democracy functions under the principle that the majority rules, especially when public health is being attacked.  

No political or religious beliefs should be cited as a reason not to immunize children. In the last century, our country and its citizens subscribed to the idea of “in loco parentis” in regard to schools. That meant that during the days, the schools served in place of parents. Requiring immunizations for all students was an action taken by a good, loving parent who is protecting his family. 

The time for the minority rule must come to an end, especially when the health of citizens is in the balance. Common sense decisions must once again be at the forefront of our actions in all areas. Anyone who has seen a child in leg braces or an adult held prisoner in an iron lung knows how important vaccinations are. No parent should be allowed to make a foolish and possibly deadly decision against vaccinating a child.  

RECTOR LIPS

 One of the things I love about my wife Amy is that she is slow to anger. Perhaps that’s the reason we’ve been married for so long. The good lord knows I’ve done and said enough things over the years to make her pop a blood vessel. Unlike my saintly partner, I am quick to lose my temper and explode like a volcano that spews lava. During these terrible times, I’m not angry. That’s how civilized folks and the upper crust of society react. Instead, I am “mad.”  

As a child, my temper often landed me in trouble. My mother had tried everything to cool me down. She would wash my mouth with soap after I let loose a string of profanities. She tried to exorcise the foul anger demons from me with switches and belts. Mother finally made me come to the kitchen and sit at the supper table. I was stuck there until I cooled down and behaved. I wasn’t allowed to utter a sound the entire time I sat. Eventually, my temper cooled, and my wild, blind madness faded.   

My children could stoke the embers of my temper. Lacey, who is too much like me, refused to “go with the program,” and doing so made the mercury in my inner thermometer quickly tick up to boiling. Amy stepped in at those times and scolded both of us. Dallas knew every button to push to send me into orbit. His most complete takedown of his dad came when he decided he liked Charles Woodson better than Peyton Manning. My son rubbed in the fact that the Heisman Trophy was awarded to the Michigan player. Like all Vol fans, I was furious about the situation, and my boy’s stunts only increased my ire.  

Over my lifetime, I’ve become more incensed when principles and rules are disregarded or broken by others. Those kinds of violations leave me fuming. I learned such righteous indignation from my mother, who also disliked people who acted entitled and above the rules.  

These days, I’m slower to anger. Each of us has only so much energy at any one time, and I’ve found losing my temper leaves me exhausted. Yes, I still get mad, but not with such fervor. Now I “stew” over things instead of blowing up.  

As for my family, they can tell when my hackles start to rise. They swear that I put on the “Rector lips.” That means I tighten the muscles around my mouth until my lips look like a single line drawn in a downward arc. If I disagree with something, a frown goes along with thin lips. If, instead, I am mad, my eyes open widely and wildly. That is a warning that giving me a wide berth might be wise.  

 My fits of anger never last long. For some reason, I explode and then regret my lack of self-control. I’m sure most people judge me to be a rather immature male who is too quick to allow others to dictate my emotions. I’d probably agree with that assessment with only one comment: sometimes my anger is justified. In the end, if anyone sees me with the Rector lips on my face, he can rest assured that, at the least, someone or something has sparked my anger and that volcanic action is possible.