Don't Look Ethel!

Appropriate is a lovely word. It rolls off the tongue easily. It sits nicely in the gut or the soul until someone or something nudges: "Made you look!"

Like the truth, appropriate is self defined. For all our sakes, I'll err with brevity.

I am truly bone tired of the following:

Doing a visual inspection of anyone's tattoos.

Diverting my eyes and struggling to understand a conversation because a tongue implement has now become a speech impediment.

Guessing the circumference of any upper thigh area that I should not have to see.

Wondering why anyone would be so disrespectful to wear that (fill in the blank) to church, a funeral, a job interview, a dinner party, or anywhere in public.

I am a great fan of, "To each his own." Do it, live it, celebrate it.


Everything has its place. You can have it. Please don't make me look at it.

Whose Truth?

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth ...?"

How many times have we all heard this phrase?

Recently I watched a documentary about eyewitness testimony. Most juries put a lot of stock in it. Turns out, it's not quite as reliable as people believe. In the passionate quest for justice, the brain can be a fickle beast. Before DNA testing, eyewitness identification was often the overwhelming evidence that convicted the accused.

Is it possible that sometimes the truth is just a story we've told ourselves so often it has become the truth in our minds? Is there such a thing as the absolute truth?

My opinion is my truth. But, I know it's fallible. My memories of events are my truth. But, I've often been challenged and even (gasp!) proven wrong.

There's something noble about the pursuit of truth. But I'm going to remind myself that it often depends on your point of view.

"Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies."
Ralph Waldo Emerson