THERE ARE A FEW TV COMMERCIALS that I mute as soon as I see the spokesperson.
I see the back of Tom Selleck and I press the mute button. It’s automatic and almost instantaneous.
Selleck is about to exclaim: “I know what you’re thinking.”
No, Tom, you do not know what I’m thinking.
I KNOW IT’S “JUST A COMMERCIAL,” but ever since I was young — OK, that was a long time ago — I have taken exception to people telling me 
I’m thinking I can go make a cup of coffee while the actor (when did actresses become actors) rattles on and on.
When I was a tyke, people told me when to go to bed, when to eat my gruel, etc. and so on.
When I was in the military — OK, it was only the Air Force, not “real” military — I was told when to go to bed, when to eat my gruel, etc.
Just as I was almost convinced that “somethings never change,” they do.
With my DD 214 in hand I knew I could start making my own decisions.
Pretty much, anyway.
If I caroused all night — I never caroused all night, probably because I often worked all night — and dragged in looking as if I HAD caroused all night, I could lose my job, but I could take the risk.
If I wanted eggs and grits for supper, I ate eggs and grits for supper. Likewise steak after work at 3 or 4 a.m. For those who need a translation, “supper” is the evening meal; “lunch” is the midday repast. “Breakfast” is, as the name implies, the meal to break (the sleep) “fast.” “Dinner,” according to the folks at Wikipedia usually refers to the most significant meal of the day, which can be at noon or in the evening. However, the term "dinner" can have different meanings depending on culture, as it may mean a meal of any size eaten at any time of day. Historically, it referred to the first meal of the day eaten around noon, and is still sometimes used for a noon-time meal, particularly if it is a large or main meal. In many parts of the Western world, dinner is taken as the evening meal.
I got used to the idea of being able to make my own decisions.
Now, despite being married for 40-plus years, I take umbrage when the likes of Tom Selleck tells me “I know what you’re thinking.”
I had some very close friends who told me I must see The Sound of Music. I’m certain the “hills are alive with the sound of music,” but I went to see My Fair Lady instead. There is a name for people such as me: contrarian. I wear it proudly, along with curmudgeon.
My point is, my obstinacy does not correlate to being “old.” (Can I write that about myself or does “old” fail the “political correctness” test along with “handicapped” (which I am) and cripple, blind, deaf, and mute. I long ago gave up on political correctness for skin tone and sexual preferences.) Skin tone also is a problem elsewhere. Blacks in Israel were known for generations as “Cushim,” people from the land of Cush1, believed to be Ethiopia. Then (mostly U.S.) politically correct people arrived and insisted that Cushim should be known as “sheHOrim” — “blacks” — not to be confused with similar-sounding sheKORim (drunks).
On the “political correctness” issue, I often call a younger male a “boy.” Never mind the person’s race — I assume “human” — any male younger than, say, 60, might be called “boy.” Females of the species are “girls” until they get within a decade of my age. No insult intended; it’s all relative (to my advanced years).
While I refrain from calling a girl (any age) by a pet name, e.g., sweetie, darlin’, I try not to reach for my lawyer’s phone number when a server (nee’ waitress) or cashier calls me “honey.” It’s a delightful Southern speech defect. It just doesn’t seem fair that I must carefully select my words while others are free to call me almost anything they fancy. I welcome “Dad” or “Daddy” from my daughter, “Pops” from my sons, and “Grandpa” from my grandchildren. I might accept those terms from youngsters, depending on how the words are expressed. Then again . . .
Sources
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cush_(Bible)
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
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