I Like the Way He Thinks

One of the books I read recently was the second installment of Michael Palin's diaries.  Some things he said resonated with me.  For example, he wrote that he and his wife recognized that their children were different people with different personalities and preferences, and they decided to support their children, even if their choices weren't what they, as parents, had hoped.  I realized that my parents did so, too.  Of course, it's not as if I became a criminal or anything, but my parents supported me in all my choices.  It might be something I didn't realize until I saw someone else write it down.

Another thing Palin said is this.  All confirms my feelings that it's the differences between human beings themselves which account for all our economic, social and political injustices and not the other way around.  In short, there are plenty of shits in the world and unless we can find some wonder drug to cure them or neutralise them, I think we have to live with the fact that they will always cause trouble.  When I read that, it confirmed that my troubles with my past two jobs weren't due to the company but to the individuals at the local level.  (But is there a way to identify jerks during the interview process, so I know not to accept that position if offered?)

Finally, he mentioned on of his third trip to host Saturday Night Live.  Nancy L rings and after weeks of dithering I say yes to the Saturday Night Live date for January 21st.  I don't really want to do the show again, but it does make a good focal point for my mother's trip to America.  The time just happened to fall near the summer my family took my father's mother to England.  (About six months later, my grandmother died, though Palin's mother was still going strong.)  We had such a hassle getting my grandmother's passport because her birth certificate was burned in a church fire ages before, so we couldn't prove to the bureaucracy that she existed.  That's funny, the government was more than willing to collect her income taxes...