Through An 'Old Timer's' Eyes
By Howard 'Mac' McDonald

Recently I wrote three letters to our elected officials in Washington, D.C. One I sent to our congressman, and the other two to our Senators. The issue was the health care of retired enlisted men and women from the Armed Services.

After their review of my inquiry, all three answered. Not one of them came close to the issue and all three letters were on subjects that were completely different than I had asked about. I respect them for answering.

Respect is something that we all strive to get. Usually respect is earned by some good deed we have done but that is not the only way to get respect. Sometimes just being nice to someone who does not have a position or standing in the community will elevate your self esteem in their eyes.

"Respect your elders", was always advice that my mother gave me. Another one of her jewels was, "mind your manners". My mother was hell on wheels when it came to table manners". Do not sit down to eat with your hat on as this would get you a slap up along side of your gourd. "Get both your feet under the table, as you are not supposed to be poised for a fast get away", she would caution. Smacking your lips would get you a scathing reprimand.

Man and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend should also show each other respect. When I was growing up, we had an unwritten rule on how we walked with our female companion. When walking along the street or road, the rule was the man always walked on the traffic side of the girl. I was told this was to protect her from the passing traffic.

Where the rules of respect should be the number one priority is on the road. Road rage seems to be where a lot of people let their frustrations get the best of them. It erupts out of them like lava from a volcano.

Sometimes it is real easy to want to choke the crap out of someone who has pulled out in front of you or cut you off in traffic. This is the time where we should respect their right to be on the highway and to think that maybe they didn't see us. As high tech as our automobiles are, there are a lot of blind spots that cut our vision.

Hunting areas have shrunk in size because so many landowners have posted their land. I believe this has been caused because so many hunters didn't show the proper respect for the private property that they have been hunting on. Fences cut, trash not properly disposed of and many other aggravating deeds of destruction.

Today in the Middle East there is so much turmoil and it is caused mostly by the lack of respect for each other's religion. The Muslims have several different Sects, all worshipping the same God but because they don't respect each others right to worship in their own way, they kill each other.

Before we pushed the Telaban into the mountains of Afganistan, there was no respect for the Afgan women. They live in fear everyday thinking that if the Telaban returns to power they will be down trodden again.

Rodney Dangerfield made a very good living out of claiming that he didn't get any respect. Some people are so impressive looking, that they get all kinds of respect even though they didn't do a thing to deserve it.

I used to work for a really fine Chief Master Sergeant at Dover AFB. He was very impressive looking man and got a lot of credit for things he hadn't done. He was highly respected. I could have saved the presidents life and if he was standing on the corner three blocks away, he would get the credit. A great guy and every bit of respect that he got was never questioned by anyone.

In the Animal Kingdom we see respect being practiced every day. A pack of wolves really adhere to the correct pecking order as there is usually a large male known as the Alpha. I don't know where these animals learned Greek but they do know who the Alpha wolf is. Before we started using Greek he was known as the leader of the pack.

I have a great respect for snakes, especially ones of the poisonous variety. In PA., the rattlesnake is protected. By rights, if one is coiled on your front walk, the correct procedure is to go out the back door and go get a five dollar permit so you can do away with it. They say they are on the endangered species list and I sort of wonder who would miss them if they became extinct? No one has missed the Dodo Bird and it has been among the missing for over a million years.

When I was stationed in Taiwan, I was required to attend a lecture on the snakes that made this tropical paradise their home. A naval herpetologist gave the speech and he stressed the need to respect these critters, He said, "ladies and gentlemen, we have fifty seven varieties of snakes on the island. He continued, "fifty six of them are poisonous and the fifty seventh one will swallow you whole". He got my attention.

With all due respect to the readers of this column, I believe I have expounded enough on respect. I remain Respectfully Yours.