Sharon Kennedy: You’re no April fool
When we were kids, we had fun fooling people when April 1 rolled around. Some youngsters, like me, were easily fooled, but others remembered what day it was and rarely took whatever bait was offered by a classmate or family member.
Fast forward 70 years. If only folks were as intelligent now as they were then. You think I’m going to rant about DJT and tell you how clever I’ve become because I don’t bite on the lies he tosses out as facts, but you’re mistaken. Doing that would make me a greater fool than some of you.
Now remember your blood pressure and calm down. I’m not insulting you. I’m your friend, and friends don’t hurt each other’s feelings. They merely point out obstacles in your path that might cause you to stumble. Sometimes cautionary words are welcomed. Sometimes they’re not.
I’ll give you an example. Several years ago, I was riding with an acquaintance and told him to watch out for the snowmobiler who was flying across the field because he didn’t look like he was going to stop. My friend told me to shut up. He said he had insurance on his car and didn’t care if it was hit. I took his advice. After all, the machine would have hit him before plowing into me. The fellow in the field did slow down, and I did keep my mouth shut for another seven years at which time we parted ways. I was once again free to offer unwanted advice.
What’s your point? You might ask. Well, it’s like this. Whenever unsolicited advice is given, it’s usually rebuked, especially if the receiver knows it’s right. I could give hundreds of examples like the one above, but that would be ridiculous. You know what I mean. When we point out the obvious to folks, they don’t like it and will turn on us and growl their disapproval. That’s why it’s best to belong to a tribe. It doesn’t matter if the tribe is a church, a club or a cult — just so long as it has your back because, as the saying goes, there’s safety in numbers.
Another saying you probably haven’t heard is expressed in the last paragraph of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles.” It goes like this: “Justice was done and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.” The line might be interpreted in many ways. One popular suggestion is that life goes on and ignorance — instead of understanding — rules. The ancestral d’Urbervilles responsible for whatever tragedies affected their descendants were unaware and unaffected because they were dead. Read the book and the quote will make sense.
People can do immeasurable harm this side of the grave. The consequences of their actions often reverberate for centuries, but they won’t know it. They might hope they had a positive impact on society, but they can’t be certain. Some feats accomplished by deceased men and woman have been glorious and brought great wealth and health to the multitudes. Some brought only suffering.
When we are “grassed down,” how will we be remembered? As April Fool jokers, who once a year, played innocent pranks on our family and peers or as permanent April Fools? We have a choice, you know. We can listen to all sides of an argument as a judge must and attempt to ferret out truth from fiction, or we can wear blinders as racehorses do to keep from being distracted. Are you fooled once a year or have you been fooled for the past decade?
— To contact Sharon Kennedy, send her an email at sharonkennedy1947@gmail.com. Kennedy's new book, "View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories," is available from her or Amazon.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Sharon Kennedy: You’re no April fool
