Monday, April 5, 2010

I See Both at the Same Time.... (Most of the Time, Anyway...)

Sharkbait hold a blog carnival of his own on Mondays. It is called "Rainy Day Monday", and the idea is to share an old post by oneself or somebody else that few people read. Here is my first contribution ever....

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From September 9, 2008

I have been reading Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar. It is about understanding philosophy through jokes. I hope they don't mind if I share one with you.

An optimist says that the glass is half full.
A pessimist says that the glass is half empty.
A rationalist says that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.


Luuuuuuuuv it! It's like the rationalist sees both at the same time. I'm not sure I'm a rationalist, but I love knowing that someone else doesn't think it has to be either / or.

My dad used to like to teach me stuff through jokes. His favorite was one he learned in Hungary as a young boy. "The King is a big man. But he still can't eat his cookies with a shovel." Maybe not philosophical, but it keeps me grounded when meeting someone who is better educated, or has more money, or name a reason they might be better than me. I remind myself they can't eat cookies with a shovel, which makes me smile as I shake their hand and converse.

I love the idea of using jokes to learn things. The blogger gadget section also has joke of the day, but I don't know yet if I want a random joke selector. What if there are naughty jokes sometimes. It's not that I never tell naughty jokes, but I usually whisper them. I know how to SHOUT on a keyboard, but I don't know how to whisper.

Have a blessed day!

4 comments:

jasonS said...

Very nice. I remember hearing the saying from you, but this is a great post. :)

♥ Kathy said...

Loved it! I think you whisper like this :)

Wendy said...

But if we could eat our cookies with a shovel, how big would our glass of milk need to be? This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night.

Shark Bait said...

Helen - Welcome to RDM. Yes, I loved that quote about the king. I remember you saying it before.

Kathy - Don't you know some trick so Helen can write in small letters to whisper?

Wendy - Well played!