"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
My parents are particularly persnickety people. It took me a long time, and a good bit of interaction with the world at large, to realize that they are not the norm in this respect. The conversation topic of choice at restaurants is always how the service and/or food is lacking. Sunday morning worship is not complete until they pick apart the sermon. And heaven forbid anyone should have a body piercing or an unacceptable haircut.
Growing up I always felt bad for the victim du jour of their criticism (especially when I was it). For this reason, I undertook the lifelong quest to Not Be Like My Parents. I seek out the good in people and situations, rather than the bad. I try to be content in all circumstances, and I avoid making unnecessary value judgments. Some things are important and I stand firm on those: theology, morality, truth. But others are a matter of individual preference, and I relish the things that are different about us all.
The irony of my resolution to be as unlike my parents as possible is that I have to accept them and their idiosyncracies the same as everyone else's. Even though I am opposed to their predisposition to negativity, I must embrace it as that which makes them who they are, as valid a choice as any. To indict them for their critical attitude would be to go against my guiding principle of non-judgment. This self-improvement gig ain't easy, man.
Hi dear! Thank you for your lovely note in my guestbook. I also love your writing: very lucid and, yes, intelligent also. I also find it amusing that we seem to have exactly the same relationship to our parents, including the mandatory Sunday-lunchtime sermon-nitpick, and the resolution to have a positive and charitable attitude to life in response. (But can it always work? I find evil snarky comments escaping me all the time, despite my best efforts.)
In response to your question: I pronounce my site il-OH-nina, but no-one else does - they all plump for ilo-NEEN-a! It's not my real name, so I guess I will have to ask a Czech for the correct pronunciation.
Posted by: ilonina on November 19, 2003 04:39 AMwhat is the correct pronunciation of Jairus
Posted by: marie on June 10, 2004 02:18 PMCorrect or not, I pronounce it /JEHR-us/.
Posted by: Meredith on June 16, 2004 09:21 PM