14 Jul 2022

And Then, Not Sure...

   Well, so, I stumbled out of bed this morning at about eight thirty and when I finally fully woke at eleven, got to thinking about the hands free eating post and now I’m not a hundred percent sure it took place in Vũng Tàu. Was it while offshore in the Gulf of Thailand and crew changing through Songkhla? This is a tad scary as I remember the episode so well but now find I’m  unable to positively pin down the  location.
   Sadly, I may soon be experiencing hands free feeding once again in slightly different surroundings...
   Anyhoo, stumbling slowly on, during a comment conversation with the good Ripper, his words well worth a read, I left a link to the video below with the comment that unlike here, everything was flowing  and during my time there I never witnessed an accident. His reply was, ‘...I'm referring to the trust element - just as all those commuters in Saigon rely on each other to do the right thing.’
   It’s quite hypnotic to watch.

   And that sent me back to an oft used phrase used here, ‘but that’s only common sense’ which, in turn has prompted me to repeat this classic wot gets more meaningful with every passing hour. Well worth printing and pinning on the notice board at your place of work. Go on, do it.
   Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
   He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned, but overbearing, regulations were set in place.
   Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teenagers suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they had themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer paracetamol, sun lotion or a plaster to a pupil, but could not inform the parents when a pupil became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
   Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home, but the burglar could sue you for assault because you protected yourself and your own.
   Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
   Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility and his son, Reason.
   He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
  Not many attended his funeral because so few realised that he was gone.

Quote;  G. K. Chesterton.

“People that insist upon drinking and driving are putting the quart before the hearse.”

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