[Magdalen] Prayer Request for my old friend

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

You sound like you have heard the story of the novice who rushed into the
mother superior's office to compalin about the workmen repairing the
convent's sewage system. She was horrified by the men's language!

"Now, my dear, you must remember, these are simple workmen -- men of the
earth! They simply call a spade a spade."

"No they don't, Reverend Mother! They call it a <bleep>ing shovel!"

I don't think I much care for any of the terms myself.  All they all do is
say, "You aren't a full member of society anymore, even though we are going
through the motions of pretending we think you are."

Just call me Jim.


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 8:55 PM, Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
wrote:

> All in a manner of speaking, bluntly and without delicacy, Roger.  All in
> a manner of speaking. :-D  This form is British and dates to at least 1919
> when it appeared in Somerset Maugham's _The Moon & Sixpence_.
>
> Marion, a pilgrim
>
>
> On 1/13/2017 4:20 PM, Roger Stokes wrote:
>
>> On 13/01/2017 15:10, Marion Thompson wrote:
>>
>>> Well, I much prefer elderly to old or senior, thank you.  In any case,
>>> my reaction has much to do with my 78-yr-old self (?!)  not keeling over
>>> just yet.  In any case, isn't it just calling a spade a bloody shovel?  It
>>> is what it is, hardly perjorative.
>>>
>>
>> A spade is not a shovel, of whatever type. They are different tools used
>> for different purposes, hence their different design. A spade is for
>> digging while a shovel is for moving coal or whatever from A to B - hence
>> the upturned edges which would be a hindrane in digging over a patch of
>> soil. ;-)
>>
>> Roger
>> .
>>
>>
>