My grain of salt

Forewarning:

The content and views published on this website do not necessarily reflect the ideas and beliefs of La Pétanque Marinière. Le Cochonnet Marin is a website totally independent of the Marin Pétanque Club and reserves the right to freely publish the uncensored opinions of its editor.                 

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Paying forward

Egged on by my wife, my doctor, Oprah, Doctor Oz, my self-esteem (who am I forgetting?) I have started a regimen of physical fitness that propels me daily on various paths and trails of my neighborhood.

Unlike some people who take the time to admire the scenery or gawk at the girls in halter tops, I walk briskly, concentrating on the task at hand which is covering at least 3 miles a day.

But while grimly focusing on the job, I cannot help but let my mind wander like a butterfly.
And this afternoon, because of what somebody said to me earlier today, I was thinking about altruism, which is the polar opposite of selfishness.

In life, we should strive to be unselfish, in other word, altruistic.
Despite what some of you persist to believe, I am no saint but I try (and not always succeed) to be considerate to others.

And consideration applies to all the facets of life.
If you drive, give the other guy a break; let him merge in your lane without making a fuss.
If you are using your cell phone in a public place, don’t feel obligated to share your conversation with all the people in a ten yards radius.

In money matters, don’t be a hard-ass. Don’t let people take advantage of you, but be fair. Even car salesmen need to make a living!

And when you play pétanque on a wet field (I finally came to it), be considerate to your fellow players. Don’t leave an area peppered with little craters looking like a World War One battlefield.

If you insist on playing on a soggy field, the least you could do when you are done is to take a rake and try to repair the damages inflicted to the court!

It is called “paying forward”, doing something that is going to benefit somebody else, like leaving a clean toilet seat in a public bathroom after usage.

Behave toward others as you would like to have them behave toward you.
This so-called golden rule is stated in just about every ancient writing about behavioral precepts and is still relevant (despite what teenagers and Republicans believe) today.

So, if you still want to play on a wet field, be considerate to others and take along a rake in order to leave the field as you found it. You will feel better and so will we.

Thank you very much.

Happy Valentine's Day and Gong Hay Fat Choy!

Alain Efron

Cartoon submitted by Verena Rytter

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Click on the link below to watch pictures of our trip to France

Web Album

On a different note.

Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee after mass. 

The first Catholic man tells his friends, my son is a priest, when he walks into a room everyone calls him 'Father’.

The second Catholic man chirps, my son is a Bishop.  When he walks into a room people call him ‘Your Grace’. 

The third Catholic man says, my son is a Cardinal.  When he enters a room everyone says ‘Your Eminence’.

The fourth Catholic man says, my son is the Pope.  When he walks into a room people call him ‘Your Holiness’. 

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men gave her a look and said, "Well?”. 

She proudly replied, I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38 Double D breasts, 24" waist, and 34” hips.  When she walks into a room, people say  ‘Oh My God’.