[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Thank you. That one has been cut and pasted in my permanent reference file. Can you tell me who wrote it?

I especially liked the verse:
"Women looked like ladies;
Men looked like gentlemen;
And children looked decent."
Have you taken a trip by air recently? Or been in an establishment when some one came in applying for a job?

OK.. I'll shut up.

it was written by an unknown Preacher. my sister sent it to me as a forwarded email. the rest of the poem get very evangelical so I cut it since I didn't think it was pertinent to the discussion.

on the subject of the "good old days". I agree that they weren't as good as we remember and there were lots of bad things about them and bad people were just about anywhere you cared to look, though you had to look to find it. today, the bad is put on public display, given as a preferred example of how to live by some, while those who condemn it are ridiculed. in the "good old days", I felt good was winning. I don't feel the same about today. it seemed like back then sstern words and a "pain in the butt" coerced a wayward kid to "straighten up and fly right!" now stern words are ignored because a "pain in the butt" gets you jail time and the wayward kid encouraged to continue "experimenting"...

though my kids are grown and my daughter is now a grandmother, I'm happy they they are part of the good and are teaching their offspring about goodness and how to be good.

like Bob, I believe a man's (or woman's) word is their bond. and I have no time for someone who breaks their word for convenience. I also believe there's more satisfaction in finishing second in a race that you competed in honestly and fairly than there is in winning by dishonesty or by wrecking others. I believe it's truly how you ran the race that counts, not whether you won or lost.

some history is consumed by "body count" while other history is focused on character. no matter what some people think, racing is not war and "body count" is not an objective but rather doing your best, honestly and fairly in competition is what it's all about. A champion will be remembered by how he raced, by the skill and love of the sport he displayed on the track and off, not how many 1st place finishes he accumulated.

as in other sports (and the key word here is "sports"), bad people can have tremendous skill and incredible success in a sport. but that does not mean they should be emulated and adored. that's something that's hard to teach whether to a kid or an adult. we all need heroes, but we need to make sure our heroes are of good character, both on and off the track, or we will be contributing to the decline of our sport.

I may be wrong, but that's how I feel about it. (Bob, I think I like your world .. and there appears to be room for one more...)

[Bob Tanner]

To those of you who know who you are, I am truly humbled.