Wow Wow

This past Friday, I went out for wings with my best friend.  This may not seem like a big deal, but back where I come from, chicken wings are a way of life.  As much as I enjoy living down here in the Catskills, the one let down is the wings.  They simply are not the same.  Not even close.  So, when I am able to find a place that prepares their wings close to the way I get them back home, it is always a treat to go and indulge.  To have a night out  to catch up with my best friend is also a huge treat.  During the meal, I found myself doing something that I have been trying hard not to do lately.

It has been said that the things that you dislike or find annoying with others are the things that you don't like about yourself.  I have always had a hard time with the people who I call the "One Uppers."  These are the people who, when you talk to them about anything, they make it a point to out do you.  They either know someone that the same thing happened to, but to a higher extreme, or it is themself.  When I encounter these people, I have a hard time not rolling my eyes or making things up to see if it is possible for them to out do me.  I have had to face the difficult reality that I, myself, am a "One Upper."  Now it makes sense why it drives me so crazy with others.  I hate that I do it.  I hate that I don't realize I'm doing it until later on when I think back on the experience or conversation. 

You may be wondering what this has to do with the beginning of this post, so I'll connect the dots now.  I am at my most "one upping" when I am with my friend.  Seriously, I don't know how he can stand it. 

While the snow came down yesterday, I was sick in bed.  So, those of you who know me can imagine the mood I was in.  With the time I spent laying around, I reflected on my annoying habit and what I could do to fix it.  During this time, I realized that there are three types of people out there.  I will do my best to explain each type to you now.

Type 1:  This is the person who thinks they are perfect.
I have a hard time with these people, because I truly believe no one is perfect.

Type 2:  This is the person who knows they have a fault.
This person is aware and does nothing to change the problem.

Type 3:  This is the person who knows they have a fault and works fix it.

I used to think of myself as a type 3 person.  I know I have this annoying quality and I try to be conscious of it to improvie myself.  This got me thinking, however.  If this is what I am doing, then aren't I trying to become a type 1 person?  I already stated that I don't think type 1's really exist, so why am I trying to become something that isn't real?   It's deep, I know.  Stick with me.  Next, I then began to think that I should be more of a type 2 person.  I should just own my faults and rejoice in my "one upness."  This however seemed lazy to me since I have a hard time just accepting things.  At this point I began to think that I was in some kind of DayQuil daze or that I might be going a little batty (pardon the Halloween reference).

Luckily, everything was quickly put into perspective for me in the simplest of ways, with the most surprising package.  As I sat in bed, my youngest son, Chase, who is two and a half, came tromping into my bedroom in his bright blue fleece footy pajamas wearing bright green plaid rubber boots.  He walked over to me and simply sang out, "BE YOURSELF AND YOU'LL BE COOL, DAD!"  In that moment, I couldn't help but laugh and appreciate the appropriateness of his random message.  On his way out the door, he turned to remind me that "KOOKY IS COOL!"  Who knew that my little guy was so insightful and at just the right time too.     So, to all my friends and those of you I interact with:  I am a one upper!  I am aware of it.  I will try to control it, but no one is perfect.

Thanks Chase...and Wubbzy.  Daddy is listening.

Mr. Fletcher

Welcome New Bloggers!

Good Morning Everyone!  Welcome to your first blog posting of the school year!  This is a format that we will be using frequently.  Once you get the hang of it, you'll see how easy and FUN it is!  Whether you are asked to leave a comment, or whether you just want to respond to something on your own, there are a few simple steps to leaving a comment.

1.  After you have finished reading the blog post, click on the word "comment" at the end of the post.  Sometimes it will be a number and word "comments" if people have already responded to the post.

2.  A box will come up and you can type your comment in that box.  At the end of your comment, please put your first name only.  This is because you will be posting your comment as an anonymous user in the next step (unless you are an adult and have a user account, in which case you can/will use that).

3.  Below the box where you typed your comment, you will see some different buttons.  The first says "post comment as" and has a drop down menu.  In that drop down, please choose "Anonymous".

4.  Next click the button for "post comment".  Sometimes you have to do this step twice.

5.  Next, you should get a box with text inside it that you need to type into another box and then press enter.

6.  Finally....if everything has gone as it should, you should get a message telling you that your message is waiting for approval for it to be published.  This is because no one can post anything on our blog without my approval first.  Each message someone leaves goes to my email, where I review it and then approve or deny it based on its content.  This is my way of making sure we all stay safe in this format.

Once you get the hang of it, it is a piece of cake.

So....for your first blog comment, I am going to ask you to answer this question as a comment on the blog:

Which would you rather be...a dog or a cat?  Explain the reasons for your choice.



Have fun!
Mr. Fletcher