MATURE PATIENCE: AGING OUT OF THE SNIT FIT

Before we acquired mature patience, things were different.

Everything was a new beginning, but not just new, bright and shiny new.

And it was exciting. Truth to tell, bright and shiny new is still pretty damn exciting, but in a different way.

The first burn-out in a car was exciting. Lay rubber first time? My dad let us kids take his company car to the corner store for soda pop before watching TV together.

One evening we got the pop and on the way home took a route with a hill. We put the car in neutral and let it roll, then slammed it into drive and floored it.

The car stood still while the smoke of burned rubber boiled up from behind. I opened the passenger door to look for fire in all of the smoke.

Just as we were getting smoked out, traction bit, the door slammed, and we rocketed up the hill. Was it exciting? More frightening. We didn’t tell dad.

Who would do that to their car now? Mature patience says not many, and those who do had better know how to fix broken transmissions and drive trains.

Eventually the thrill of raw power changes. Raw power is good; doing something useful with it is better.

For example, when someone decides get strong they make a certain commitment to themselves. They start a routine aimed at getting stronger.

Young people feel their strength and do what young people do: “Hey, look at me.”

From attitude, to clothes, to stunts, they want you to know they’re stronger. Stronger than what is the question no one asks.

Mature patience answers with: “As strong as I need to be to take out the trash, and you look like you’re past the expiration date.”

A good example comes at a high school reunion. The ten year is when you notice people who changed up. They are strong and competitive instead of weak and sneaky.

“What happened to you?”

“I wanted to get bigger.”

“Why didn’t you do it in high school and play football? We could have used some help.”

“Yeah, we sucked.”

“Maybe you’ve still got some eligibility.”

“If I did, I would have been better than guys on the team.”

That’s the ten year reunion. By the twentieth they remember they were on the team and scored lots of touchdowns, intercepted lots of passes, blocked extra points, and led the team in halftime cheer.

Which is why team captains need to show up at reunions and keep the record straight.

When Mature Patience Wears Thin

Face it, if you didn’t know by now, everyone wants to be a hero. And why not? Be a hero in your life. Just know that most people stop thinking heroic things when the time comes to be a hero.

You’ve heard, “I didn’t sign up for this.”

Maybe you’ve said it? Here’s the deal, whether you signed up or not, you’re still exposed to the same experience as others who did sign up.

No one signed up for the coronavirus, the same as no one signed up for polio, the same as no one signs up for cancer. But there it is.

No one signs up for a disease the same way no one signs up for spending more time with punks and jackasses, which brings this blogger to a national point of interest coming so near a presidential election.

In a better world, Joe Biden wouldn’t sign up for another run at the presidency. But his mature patience has worn so thin that he had to heed the call.

Vote Joe Biden Because . . .

When a seventy four year old man refines the act of the snit fit, shit fit, or over emotional display, who gets the call? Joe Biden.

During a time to reaffirm the basic premise of science, and the link to medicine, we have a non-science non-medical believing guy in the White House. Even more, Trump is a science and medicine denier.

It’s even been said he has a gift for science and medicine. So far it’s the gift of toxic bullshit that is scooped up and devoured by the usual suspects.

This is a man, a salesman of the highest order, peddling glorified snake oil potions for his fans to chug straight down. And they do before asking for more.

Joe Biden could have sat this election cycle out the way Colin Powell die in 2000, then complained for the next four years. Why didn’t he run in 2016? As the Vice President, he had an open invitation. But Obama’s first Secretary of State had it all sewed up.

But the seams broke at the last minute, unleashing four years of knowing more about Trump than anyone wanted to know. We learned about his skills in crafting policy, signing acts, and firing up his fans. What else?

We learned that he’s a man who bridles at authority other than his own. We learned about his ability to judge the character of his fellow man.

Most important, we learned about his opinions of law and order, racial justice, and economic equality. What if the same opinions were bull-horned by the friend of a friend at your birthday party, non-stop?

You’d show them the door. But what if they didn’t leave and started looking for help from your friends? They’d all show him the door. If he still wouldn’t leave?

This is the Joe Biden decision. Can Joe Biden defeat a man seen as the savior, the super man, the man who knows better than anyone how to do everything?

Vote like you’ve heard enough from a name calling, woman degrading, race insensitive, whiner who complains ahead of time about what may or may not happen.

Vote like you’ve heard enough about some rich guy’s opinion on respect, military service, and marriage.

Vote like you’ve seen enough of his skills at governing America, communicating with Americans, and foreign interest in his act.

Vote for mature patience, not impulsive, willful, ignorance.

Vote Joe Biden, then vote democrat until our republican pals learn to heel their dog.