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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Fogey ism
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
D id you celebrate
Star Wars Day
on May the
fourth? Get it? Star
Wars Day on May the
Fourth—as in “May the
Fourth be with you!” (If
you worship in a liturgi
cal tradition, the proper
response is “And also
with you!”)
(1 could go on to ex
plain that it’s a play on
“May the Force be with
you,” but a pun that has
to be explained is a poor
pun. That reminds me of
a pun that appeared on
many church message
boards in the early days
of email: “God answers
knee mail.” It was a
pretty good pun, as
church message board
puns go. But then I saw
a church message board
that said, “Like email,
God answers knee mail.”
1 thought, “Way to dis
respect the intelligence
of your readers, church
message board message
writer.” It struck me as
condescending, which
means to look down on).
I’m a casual Star Wars
Fan. I’ve seen all nine
films that constitute the
primary narrative. I’ve
also seen Rogue One. 1
haven’t gotten around to
Solo, but 1 have watched
the Mandalorian series.
I’ve seen none of the ani
mated series, and don’t
plan to.
1 said all that to say
that 1 don’t care about
Star Wars Day. 1 don’t ob
serve it. I wouldn’t miss
it if it never happened
again. 1 mean, it’s harm
less fun, but I don’t have
time for such frivolity.
Having said what 1
just said, I’d like to go
on to observe that it
doesn’t matter whether
or not 1 am a true Star
Wars devotee and
whether or not 1 cel
ebrate Star
Wars Day.
Frankly,
1 should
keep my
perspective
on such
things to
myself. If
you men
tion some
thing that
you enjoy
that means
nothing to
me—things
such as
birdwatch
ing, ice
hockey, romance novels,
bungee jumping, card
games, reading Latin,
drinking Fresca, or lis
tening to polka music—1
contribute nothing to
the betterment of soci
ety by saying, “1 don’t
care about that.” In that
moment, all that should
matter to me is that you
care about it, and 1 care
about you, so I should
be happy for
you. 1 should
get joy out
of your
enjoyment,
even if 1
have no idea
why you
enjoy it.
My point
is that 1 don’t
see the point
in saying
what 1 don’t
like. Besides,
to do so can
be a first
step toward
automatically responding
negatively to anything
that 1 don’t understand,
that 1 can’t relate to, or
that strikes me as being
too new-fangled. 1 can’t
do anything about the
fact that I’m getting older,
but 1 hope and pray 1
won’t become an old
fogey.
1 wrote a poem about
what I’m trying to say.
It’s called “Hardening.” It
goes like this:
Three score and ten
seems fair.
But if you feel pretty
good as you get near it,
four score starts to
sound reasonable,
four score and ten at
tainable, and
five score not out of the
question.
Then you think about
how
your minor arthritis
might become major,
your occasional for
getfulness might become
frequent,
and your declining
hearing might go all the
way down,
and you tell yourself
well, none of that would
be so bad.
Minor inconveniences
requiring bearable adjust
ments.
But what if you become
more set in your ways,
more stuck in your
perspectives,
more callous in your
sympathies,
less open in your
search for truth?
And you find yourself
realizing
you’d rather go sooner
with hardened arteries
than later with hard
ened attitudes.
You may not like
poetry. If you don’t, see
what 1 said above about
things such as birdwatch
ing, ice hockey, romance
novels, bungee jump
ing, card games, reading
Latin, drinking Fresca, or
listening to polka music.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Yatesville and works in
Macon. His new book, Praying with
Matthew, is available at helwys.com
and at Amazon.
Ruffin’s
Renderings
Let me be me, and
I will let you be
you
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
The most destructive
word spoken today: di
vide. The most important
word spoken today: unity.
Why do we continue to
believe in ourselves as
“groups”? We get
labeled “privileged
whites,” “perse
cuted blacks,”
“intruder Hispan-
ics,” “underpaid
women,” “Asian
interlopers,”
“angry rednecks,”
“dominant males”
- the beat goes on.
Even older, wiser folk are
often labeled “a burden to
society.”
If 1 remember every
thing I’ve learned from
school and church, all of
us were created as indi
viduals. A large majority
of us never has followed
a KoolAid cult and never
will. But how many today
find ourselves drinking
bitter potions of demands
that we adhere to our
stereotypes, or be ostra
cized, exiled, beat down
or forgotten? Witness
what one politician said
to an African American
Republican leader: “If you
are not a Democrat, you
ain’t black.”
Last 1 heard, your as
signed “group” was not
based on how you vote,
but could be determined
from those places-in-
society which have been
chosen for us, (in the
majority of cases). Many
of us broke away from
our upbringing - whether
riches, poverty, ignorance
or accident of disability-
years ago. Many, many
who were condemned
to “be criminals” have
excelled in education and
fought their way to com
fortable lives and adept
leadership, no matter
which race.
Families, homes,
churches and other
gatherings of
humans have been
tortured and torn
apart by differing
“political views,” and
for WHAT? So we
can pat ourselves on
our backs and say,
“It’s okay, because
I’m right!” So we can
claim unearned posi
tions and benefits based
on past wrongs? So we can
feel better about which
ever party is in charge in
Washington? So we can
swear the United States is
going to hell in a handbas
ket and there’s nothing we
can do about it?
But, my friends - there
is something we can do.
No one can be entirely
wrong or right about
everything. With very few
exceptions, no one is so
inherently evil as to de
serve complete destruc
tion. 1 very much like,
or even love in different
degrees, almost every
one 1 know. Those 1 don’t
care for I avoid, but when
there is a reason to give
them credit for something
good, 1 do. 1 try to remem
ber that every one of us
is an individual, with our
stellar qualities and those
that don’t appear worthy
to somebody else.
The best thing we can
do: unite, work together
for the good of all, and
stop handing the politi
cians the handbasket.
Internship ignites passion for agriculture
SPECIAL PHOTO
Pike County Extension Intern Elizabeth Ward learns about
myotonic goats at a local Farmhouse Fields meeting.
BY ELIZABETH WARB
My name is Eliza
beth Ward and 1 have
spent the last school
year interning with the
Pike County Extension
Office. In this position,
I have been introduced
to many different areas
of agriculture and able
to learn what extension
is all about. I have been
blessed with this oppor
tunity and have gained
so much from my time
in the office.
This year I was given
the opportunity to try
my hand at pulling soil
and hay samples, help
ing with Horse Quiz
Bowl, writing newslet
ter articles, going on
site visits and so much
more. I was also able to
help organize this year’s
inaugural Keep It Clean
Spring Fling and even
coordinate and host a
Plant Science Program
for second-grade stu
dents at Pike County
Primary.
I have always been
passionate about agri
culture, but this intern
ship has given me an
outlet for this passion
and allowed me to share
it with others.
I will be honest and
say that this position
came with a learning
curve, but each of these
new challenges has
served to better prepare
me for my future. As an
intern, I have constantly
been pushed outside of
my comfort zone and
challenged to grow as
an individual. I am so
thankful for my men
tor, Brooklyne Wassel,
who has been there to
help and encourage me
throughout this entire
experience.
While working with
Brooklyne, I have been
able to develop leader
ship, communication,
problem-solving and
personal management
skills that are crucial to
be successful in today’s
workforce.
During my time as
an intern, I have had
the privilege of meeting
a number of amazing
farmers, producers and
community members
that have made my
experience memorable
and worthwhile. I am
beyond thankful for the
opportunities that Pike
County Extension has
given me and am excited
to start the next chapter
of my life.
In the fall, I will be at
tending the University of
Georgia to study in the
College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sci
ences.
I am not sure what
major or career that I
want to pursue, but I
know that whatever I de
cide on I hope to make
a true impact on the
agriculture industry.
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Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Moiena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
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Inc. Second class
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Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
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Rachel McDaniel.
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BY BWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
May 13, 1921: The Greater Georgia Tech fun
draiser sparked competition between the nation
and state of Georgia. Governors and corporate
presidents competed against Georgia counties,
county chairmen and mayors dedicated to meet
ing quotas and raising no less than $5 million.
75 YEARS AGO
May 16,1946: A 20-day food collection campaign
began May 12 through Pike schools to raise funds
to feed some 500,000,000 underfed people in Europe
and Asia due to the war. Cash was preferred to
canned goods to avoid expense of shipping food.
50 YEARS AGO
May 13,1971: An academic evaluation of the Pike
junior high at Concord was conducted. The school,
along with the consolidated high school, was ac
credited at the same time, but evaluation of any new
school is required within two years of status.
25 YEARS AGO
May 15,1996: The West Central Probation Deten
tion Center in Pike was stepped up to a medium
security facility and its name changed to West
Central State Prison. Razor wire and other security
measures were added to house long term prisoners.