I do not have the intelligence of an Einstein, an Orwell, Rand or Huxley, but mine is good enough for Government work… I should know, I was a ‘public servant’ for eleven years. (That was NOT a dig on ALL Government employees, only roughly 98.6%.)

What people like myself can hope to accept as ‘true’ comes to us in many forms, the absolutely best ones being, naturally, those gained first hand… First hand Knowledge of the events that shape one’s own life.

Yet these too are subject to ERROR from the personal shortcomings of our own sensory systems.

In my estimation, the MOST common source is HEARING where even minor differences in any two listeners can result in major differences of understanding. Two people standing side by side ‘hearing’ different messages. Toss in the different connotations of words (non-dictionary definition stuff) and off we go! “WOW!, Did you just hear THAT?”….”UM, no…hear what?”

We all know “SEEING is believing.” RIGHT? “DID you see THAT?”…”Huh, what?…I didn’t notice anything unusual.”

And then there’s SMELL…all the fragrances we are surrounded with. “A Rose is a Rose” may be true for you but not much for me. Are you wearing ‘Rose colored glasses or are you all stuffed up today?’

Even the sense of TOUCH, which should be universal, can be quite different for those with numbness other than of the brain. Those ‘numbskulls’ will stick their hand in the fire in order to see how hot it is. “Hey this cannot hurt too much…’

TASTE#1 can vary all over the place…from person to person eating the same thing and even the same person eating the same thing at a later time. “This WAS so good last time.”….”THIS was not as good as I remember.” Relax, we all do that…it’s natural actually.

TASTE#2 is the feeling that some of us have a higher idea about what is “right and proper” and we imitate them to ‘fit in.’ …”MAN, has he got good taste or what?”

I for one, with immaculate good taste in all things have formed opinions about just about everything. Let me share those concerning the WORLD TODAY:

1. I Do Not like what I’m HEARING going on.

2. I Do Not like what I’m SEEING all around the world.

3. I Do Not like the stink I’m SMELLING out there.

4. I Do Not like the way I FEEL about things right now.

5.a. I Do Not like the TASTE in my mouth from all this.

5 b. I Do Not think the folks who think they have better TASTE are worth a dime.

IN fact, I think things must get better real soon or I am in danger of developing into a real pessimist…and we all don’t want THAT to happen…do we?

Richard Phillips

New Iberia