Minor Appreciations of Civilization

Well, it's been a while since I posted, with some life complications along the way. I had open heart surgery a while ago. I still can't drive and some of our household equipment and parts of automotive equipment have decided to die. Then on Thursday, hubby fell among cut-throats in an operating room. Things are a little better now but don't expect great thoughts today.

Thanks to our wonderful COBS and to all of you in The Horde. I've missed you!

We are blessed by family and friends, too.

Anyway, there's a lot going on in California and the world right now, but sometimes the larger culture seems less important than at other times. There's only so much you can pay attention to at one time these days.

I'm kind of happy that there are people who pay attention to the "larger" culture. Long-term trends in culture affect the daily (it seems) changes which dominate the news these days.

But my mind hasn't been much on the development of ancient culture lately. Forget the riots and other stupidities of a moment. There are people out there who don't pay much attention to them. Sometimes we count on these people, even the ones we don't know.

I have noticed some things about people that I might not otherwise notice, during our health challenges. Like people who work in the hospital system. Some of them are mediocre, but there are many who are very good at their jobs, even if their jobs are rather limited. They may do mundane things that keep a hospital system going, like patient transport, for example. They seem to prepare appropriately for their work days. I noticed that smart phones were not too evident in their work lives. They aren't making a big splash in the world, but they are making a difference in lives by being competent in the jobs they have chosen. They meet real people. Several I met treated their charges appropriately at all times.

No fame for connection to the Beach Boys. That's okay with me.

There are other limitations to our everyday culture, too. The people at the nurse's station where it was possible to reach my hubby after surgery had a hard time informing me when he was to be discharged after doctor rounds, or even when doctor rounds would be. This information was not in their typical mode of communication. But they did inform our designated driver!

Our designated driver had her own challenges the same day, when it took her an hour and a half to get blood drawn. The person who drew her blood wanted to talk, for one thing. Perhaps she was bored. None of this had anything to do with political conflict, and it did not seem to be affected by notable societal trends.

What directions do you see education pushing everyday civilization, beyond politics? Any adventures with stranger interactions which have affected your life recently?

I have been grateful lately for ordinary people who hang onto civilized behavior even when we don't see it much in the news.

Quotes

“If we ever allow morality or law to become just a question of whose ox is gored, then we will have taken a fatal step toward national suicide. We can survive lapses into hypocrisy, but we cannot survive making hypocrisy a ruling principle.”

— Thomas Sowell

Music

Fiddlin' Around

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

posted by K.T. at 11:02 AM

| Access Comments