Call Me Outspoken … Because I Am/ and a Story
For a long time now, it seems, I have not felt like holding my tongue. I grew up in a “children should be seen but not heard” atmosphere, of sitting with hands folded in one’s lap while the grown-ups prattled on about seemingly nothing. My oldest brother would take every opportunity to tell me to “pipe down.” He liked to read and somehow, he thought I was too noisy, although I don’t remember being so.
Today, I am more apt than ever to speak out about injustice, about the irresponsibility of others, about politics, and even about religion – subjects about which the thoughts of others turn to mush or they refuse to have an opinion when asked.
I speak out for those who can’t, and for those who won’t … perhaps for fear of jeopardizing their “position” in life, as it were. Truth and justice shall always prevail, and people who are shams will prove themselves to be so, in no short order. The idea kind of reminds me of the TV commercial, “Where’s the Beef?” Some folks are like that. They have no substance.
Well, I’m going to tell you a little story. The parties involved directly are now all deceased. A woman wanted a lobster roll. She talked her husband into driving to the nearest town, as she didn’t drive, to buy one at a local stand. She marched up to the window and ordered one, took her number, and came back to the car to wait. When her number was called she retrieved the lobster roll and the other things her family had ordered.
Taking one look inside the hot dog roll, she announced that it was not a lobster roll after all. It was “a lobster ran through it roll.” She took it with her to the counter and asked the same man, who happened to own the business, if she could please have a little lobster in her roll, and repeated that it was, indeed, simply “a lobster ran through it roll.”
At this, the owner got furious. He took the roll and threw it in the nearby dump can. He said that he was taking down the license plate number of the car and that she was to leave immediately and never, ever come back. She did go on her way, after realizing the extent of the man’s anger and not wanting to be responsible for his heart attack, on top of the cancer he apparently already had.
Sometimes, there is a price to pay for being honest. Most people won’t say anything when confronted with someone who is being totally honest, but many of them are happy that someone had the nerve to mention the truth. And, that, my friend, is the situation I find myself in constantly. At times, I am confrontational because I, too, want to know “where’s the beef?”
I would like to see accountability especially from anyone who would attempt to share history about quilts and embroidery and textiles, and who, sadly enough, has not done sufficient homework. There are a lot of people who pretend to know more than they do. Unfortunately, they have no lobster in their lobster rolls. Just a word to the wise …
Patricia Cummings
