Remember When?

Remember When?

Remember when your boss told you when you were hired that you didn't have to work weekends or mandatory overtime?

Yeah…

He lied.

Or the time you changed your cable TV bundle and they promised no rate hikes, no hidden charges?

Except (as you found out later) the installation, hookup, connection fee, city, county, state, federal taxes, carrying charges, monthly maintenance, multiple cable boxes in your home, on-demand movies, modem, duty fees, import fees, outport fees, bees in the breeze, birds in the trees seem to whisper, “Louise,” were all extra.

You know, like that… Yeah, they lied too.

Its like they say: Everything that glitters is not gold, whether it is a new job or a new bundle package-indeed, what glitters is usually poison.

Did you know that the brightest colored snakes and insects and animals are oft times flashy for a reason? That brilliance and dazzle they give off is a warning to others… don't touch. To do so is at your peril. There's a word for it (There always is, don't you know?) That word is Aposematism.

And it means precisely that… that forms of conspicuous animal coloration, sounds, odors or perceivable (insert “flashy” here) characteristics advertise the potential for great harm.

And so, we as reasoning beings, have to look at things sometimes philosophically and pull back on the reins of our avarice or yearnings when the glitter and the glam hits us square in the retina and say, like the animals: Watch out — something's not quite right here!

Because those who act out of sheer reflex often find themselves drawn in to tempting bait like a bear to a bear trap.

That's why we've got a head on our shoulders. So we can use it for more than a hat rack. Some of us, that is.

Yet, we still have those who can resist anything except temptation.

Case in point.

I recently saw an advertisement of a house for sale in town.

And I fell in love… like a puppy with a new squeakytoy.

I mean, this place had it all: It was built about the time I was born, the rooms were classical in design, complete with fireplace, walk-thru French doorways, nooks and crannies in the most delightful places, built-in bookshelves and a study at the rear of the house with huge picture windows looking out on a rear shaded garden area with mature trees.

What's not to love?

So, I shared my feelings with my wife.

She told me to forget it, she wasn't moving anywhere and neither was I.

And so, I did… Does that mean that I still can't appreciate that dreamy place?

No. And, to be fair, it DID have flaws. The noise level would be up with the intown police and fire buildings nearby, the school practically at my elbow, and the neighborhood was up-and-coming… only it had not quite up-and-come yet.

It just means I had to curb my appetite.

But, then we all do… if we are overweight and love food too much, or have families who are dependent upon us, or are responsible citizens and taxpayers.

At that point, we have to be philosophical about things.

We can't have it all.

We weren't made to have it all. None of us were.

Hey, NEWS FLASH: Even those who have it all don't have it all!

There is always something missing, something elusively out of reach.

I read that with the rich, what particularly bugs them more than anything in the world is that when they do finally reach their pinnacle of riches, they expect folks will bow down to them everywhere they go and give them the respect that their money has earned them.

And it never happens.

People are just people. Sure, money might garner their services, but it cannot gain their respect. I recall hearing about one superrich persona who was absolutely outraged at shopkeepers who would not fall prostrate at her feet in Europe.

Well, in Europe they didn't know who she was. So they treated her the same as everyone else.

And, man, did SHE HIT THE ROOF! She went on a tear, with a rant that went on for weeks in the media about it!

So, I guess it's true.

But, back to us mere mortals…

We have to keep our guard up and not be subject to impulse buying or be suckered into spree shopping for things that are not really needful or practical.

Sometimes, we have to be like that contestant on “The Bachelorette,” when Jo-Jo says, “No-no!”

When should we stop being philosophical about materialism?

Never.

Similarly, Montaigne retells a classic conversation with Crates, the philosopher, that went like this: Crates was asked, “How long is it necessary to philosophize?”

He responded, “'Til our armies are no more commanded by fools!”

And, sometimes, when it comes to that which glitters and glows, we find that our worst enemies are ourselves.

By Robert L. Hall