Today

When I go mad and hit my child
"for his own good" I reconciled
and then I realized my flight
today I taught my child to fight



When interfused by the phone
I said "tell them I'm not home".
And then thought and had to sigh
Today I taught my child to lie.



I told the tax man what I made,
forgetting cash that I was paid.
And then I blushed at this sad feat,
Today I taught my child to cheat.



I smugly copied a cassette
to keep me form one more debt.
But now the bells of shame must peal,
Today I taught my child to steal.



Today I cursed another race
Oh God protect what I deface
for now I fear it is too late
Today I taught my child to hate.



By my example children learn
that I must lead in life's sojourn.
In such a way that they are led
by what is done, not what is said,



Today I gave my child his due
by praises for him instead of rue.
Now I have begun n my guide
Today I gave my child his pride.



I now have reconciled and paid
to the IRS on all I made.
And now I know that his dear youth
Today has learned form me of truth.



The alms I give are not for show
yet this child must surely know 
that charity is worth the price 
Today he saw my sacrifice.



I clasp within a warm embrace
 my neighbor of another race 
the great commandment from above
Today I taught my child to love.



Someday my child must face alone
this world of tearsome undertone
but I have blazed a sure pathway
Today I taught my child to pray.

Gordy and the Hard-boiled Eggs.

Back in the late sixties there were several movies that we had just had to attend. One of these was "Cool Hand Luke." It was a movie starring Paul Newman as a down and out drifter. He got drunk one night and cut the tops off a large number of parking meters. He was caught and sentenced to spend time in a typical southern prison camp. You know the kind where all the guards wore mirrored sun glasses and carried shot guns. To get to the important part of the movie there was a scene where Luke bets the other inmates that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in one hour. In the movie he was able to eat all fifty. Gordy was a wealthy kid attending college just to have a good time. He had then a new 1967 Camaro. One day he decided to take the expensive headers off the car and put on duel exhausts because he was "tired of the sound of the headers." One day not long after a bunch of us had seen the movie "Cool Hand Luke" Gordy was in the kitchen boiling a bunch of eggs. He probably had about a dozen eggs in the pan. Just before he was about ready to sit down to eat them, Nalder came in and said, "You can't eat all those eggs!" Gordy replied "Not only can I eat these eggs but I can eat two dozen more." Nalder said "I'll bet you $20 that you can't." Well that was all that needed to be said. A bet was on throughout the fraternity house. Most of the brothers believed Gordy could not eat that many eggs. It was agreed that Friday Gordy would eat three dozen eggs in one hour. When Friday afternoon was finally here about twenty of the brothers gathered in the living room in anticipation of this great event. The eggs were boiled and the stage was set. Gordy came down the stairs dressed in a powder blue bath robe dancing around like a prize fighter before a boxing match. He had chosen Mac to be his second, the plan was that Mac would peel the eggs and encourage Gordy on to victory. When the contest began Gordy was sitting on the floor eating eggs as fast as he could. I thought that maybe I had been wrong and perhaps he could really win the bet. The first dozen or so eggs when down real fast, then things really slowed down. After about two dozen eggs Gordy started to look a little strange. He was really laboring to get each egg down. His eyes started to glaze over and perspiration appeared on his face. Mac kept saying, "You can do it Gordy, keep chewing." Everyone was cheering, laughing and yelling encouragement simultaneously. But the eating was going slower and slower. Gordy had consumed 32 eggs with just four more to go. Then the show really started. Gordy's eyes rolled back into his head and he started regurgitating the eggs back up. Luckily there was a big old wash pan that had been used to hold eggs and their shells right in front of Gordy. Now the pukey eggs did not come up in spirts but in one steady stream of yellow, runny, and disgusting slurry. The pan was beginning to fill but it fortunately was big enough to hold it all. Of course that didn't matter because about 80% of the brothers had run to a window so that they would not up chuck on the living room carpet. Once Gordy had finished his performance he just laid there on the floor moaning. Between moans he swore that he would never eat another hard-boiled egg in his life. I have not seen Gordy for almost thirty years but I'll bet he has kept his oath.

I Don't Want Hot Lunch

When my oldest son Pete was about to enter first grade I took him to school to show him around. We walked past the various classrooms, the library, and then the cafeteria. When we looked in the cafeteria, I told him he would be eating hot lunch there. Pete said, "I don't want hot lunch," Lunch would be ok but not hot lunch. I started to think why Pete wouldn't want any hot lunch, then it dawned on me what the problem was. When our children were small, we had always warned them not to touch hot things so that they would not get burned. Well we had taught Pete too well, he thought that anything hot could not be good for him. I guess I should have chosen my words better before I mentioned hot lunch. I was using a term from my elementary days when school lunch was called hot lunch. If I have my facts straight, schools didn't provide a cooked lunch for students until after World War II. Before this time students brought cold lunches from home to eat or even went home for lunch. When I was in elementary school during the late fifties the term hot lunch was still in use and I never quite using it.

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