Ever see any of that? Yeah, me too\u2026 Nobody likes hypocrites, of course, and that does not just go for members of our culture, either. Nope, the fork-tongued devils are universally despised, and it is something we all try very hard to avoid being caught at ourselves.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, no one, I don\u2019t think, can legitimately claim to be totally innocent on this score, but nobody wants to be thought of as a hypocrite either\u2026 Very real consequences do arise for those caught daring to trespass upon this social taboo, and the sting of earning such a reputation can be\u2026 well\u2026 un-good!<\/p>\n
Another aspect, at least for folks with a well-calibrated moral compass, is the struggle with our own conscience, should we discover that we have somehow strayed from the straight and narrow path of acceptable upright behavior. In my humble opinion, that struggle is significant and perhaps the most difficult aspect of all the negativity surrounding this universally practiced, yet equally universally reviled, area of deportment.<\/p>\n
Naturally, we see this most notably in the arena of political \u2018combat\u2019. Yes, we have all observed way more than we\u2019d hoped to see in our most recent \u2018silly season\u2019, and we\u2019ve all heard candidates of all stripes being roundly criticized, condemned, and otherwise taken to task by those on the opposing side, who enthusiastically point out any egregious faux pas\u2026 real, imagined, or alleged. \u201cVote for our candidate,\u201d we were earnestly beseeched, \u201cbecause their candidate is even worse than ours!\u201d<\/p>\n
It has become an accepted norm for office seekers to promise outrageous \u2018benefits\u2019 to everybody for \u2018the common good of all mankind\u2019, of course, and to offer a sure-fire solution to all that ails society with not the slightest intention of actually tackling most of those issues.<\/p>\n
These unashamed practitioners of balderdash proliferation seem un-phased by any restraints that might be imposed by a functioning set of even modest moral principles, as they gleefully proclaim they truly do indeed plan to deliver on \u2018some\u2019 of their promises, though\u2026<\/p>\n
The rules are markedly different for those folks\u2026 The rest of us must muddle on, however, and do the best we can, burdened as we are with our ever-watchful, non-ruling-elite consciences, and the very real presence of enormous peer pressure looming large\u2026<\/p>\n
No doubt about it, we hate to observe hypocrisy\u2026 Partly, I think, because we realize someone is trying to deceive us\u2026 to lie, to probably cheat us, but certainly to mislead us\u2026 to present themselves as someone who is virtuous, when they clearly are not. We feel threatened by this for obvious reasons, but also because it reminds us that there are those among us who will do naughty things to us, and it forces us to acknowledge to ourselves our own vulnerability to persuasive, pervasive heifer dust. Spooky stuff for sure\u2026 but that\u2019s not all\u2026<\/p>\n
It galls us to see someone prostitute him\/herself and to pretend to be someone they are not. To present themselves to be stalwart goody-two-shoes, all the while doing underhanded things and taking the \u2018shortcuts\u2019 in life unacceptable, or at least unavailable, to us mere ordinary folk\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an onerous eye-sore, for sure, and we feel contempt for those we observe in such a light. Like so many things, though, we really hate to see that sort of thing, because it also reminds us of our own weakness, and of the times we may have strayed off the high-road ourselves\u2026<\/p>\n
I bring all this up, because I feel a need to cleanse my soul\u2026 to lay bare my recent conduct to those I do trust, and to seek counsel. To present a mia culpa, and to beg the forbearance of people I know to be of upright character and sterling values\u2026<\/p>\n
I have sinned and come up short of the standards by which we all should live\u2026 I feel so dirty, or at least seriously unclean, and my conscience is nagging me like a bitter spouse to make amends\u2026 I must do this if I am ever to regain peace of mind\u2026<\/p>\n
It all started because I\u2019d rescheduled my doctors\u2019 appointments this past summer, when I\u2019d decided to sell my house and relocate to Florida. All the emotional ups and downs and stress coupled with the considerable physical exertion automatically included in such a venture, left me in serious need of a therapeutic road trip\u2026; but, those pesky appointments were getting in the way. Well, I\u2019m not one to let proper medical priorities get in the way of a good, curative session with \u2018Dr.\u2019 ALI, so I rescheduled\u2026 like any normal Valk addict would\u2026<\/p>\n
There inevitably comes a time, however, when we must return to lucid thought, and we must right our ship of affairs. As I approached the dates for those rescheduled appointments, I was faced with another choice point\u2026 Should I keep those revised visits or reschedule again?<\/p>\n
Oh, the temptation was great, to be sure! By then I was already wanting to head out on another adventure; and, I did feel a twinge of guilt for not having ridden our girl in over a week\u2026 I sucked it up, though, and I made the difficult but prudent choice\u2026 I\u2019d put off my ride for another week and get my health status confirmed.<\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019d had some pretty doggone satisfactory medicos in Bama, and I hadn\u2019t seen a physician in Florida in more than twelve years\u2026 Rather than jump through all the hoops of finding new testicle squeezers, peek-a-booty finger wavers, and skin burners, I decided to postpone that activity for another time\u2026 I already had appointments with the old guys\/gals anyway, and they had my records and history on-hand\u2026 This had the additional advantage of not delaying my next ride nearly as much as a full-fledged switcheroo would. Not a tough call\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019d have to find a place to stay while I was up there, though, since new occupants now live in my old house\u2026 No sweat! My best friend offered to take me in, and Napper invited me to stay with her, too. I was prepared to just get a room in a motel, but the opportunity of staying with Napper was more than I could pass up, so here I am\u2026 So far, so good\u2026<\/p>\n
Being an unapologetic procrastinator, I naturally waited until the last minute to throw a few items into a bag and let that pass for packing\u2026 The devil truly is in the details, though, and haste does indeed make waste\u2026<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, a cold front was marching through the southeast like Sherman had done a century and a half before. Along with the rain that had forced me to make the painful decision to drive my car instead of ride ALI, plummeting temperatures were also in the forecast. Oppps, and I\u2019d forgotten to bring a jacket\u2026<\/p>\n
So, there I was\u2026 safely at Napper\u2019s place and all set\u2026 except that whenever I went outside\u2026 well\u2026 my teeth chattered so hard, I was going to have to schedule a visit to the dentist, too, if I didn\u2019t do something.<\/p>\n
Ever wise, sweet, thoughtful Napper graciously offered me the use of a \u2018throw\u2019 blanket I could drape across my shoulders, and this did help a bunch. Thing is, that \u2018throw\u2019 is black and orange, and it has \u2018Harley-Davidson\u2019 boldly emblazoned on it for all the world to see! I had little choice but to use it until I could get to a store the following day to buy something else\u2026. But, I did actually use that \u2018throw\u2019 during the interim. So\u2026 Now you know\u2026<\/p>\n
I am a solid Honda guy for sure, and every bike I\u2019ve ever owned has been of the metric persuasion; plus, I don\u2019t expect to ever be the owner of a Hog either, so\u2026 I not only feel like I\u2019ve been callously unfaithful\u2026 I also fear I may have inadvertently become a genuine poser!<\/p>\n
Have I crossed the line this time? Have I become a hypocrite\u2026 yet again? Is it possible for a transgressor such as I to ever find redemption? I now throw myself upon the tender mercy of the benevolent members of this forum for a verdict\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ever see any of that? Yeah, me too\u2026 Nobody likes hypocrites, of course, and that does not just go for members of our culture, either. Nope, the fork-tongued devils are universally despised, and it is something we all try very …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meanderings-by-ddt-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":791,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions\/791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}