How About a Little Cheese With That Whine?

There seems to be quite alot of whining, bellyaching, moaning and groaning, complaining, and hand-wringing going on these days. Sure, there is always plenty to bemoan, but at some point we've got to stand up and say enough is enough. I believe that it's important in life to pick your battles, so on that note we should also be a bit more judicious in what we choose to complain about. Because a legitimate complaint can easily turn into a whine, which only goes to drown out the real stuff we should be concerned with.



Case in point number one is the cost of gas. Look, I hate high gas prices as much if not more than the next guy or gal. I drive 22 miles to work each day, although that is down from my previous job, where I drove 28 miles each way, so at least my driving is down by around 20%. Every little bit helps. I also drive 9 miles each way to the gym most weekdays, and would love to see the large chain gym I belong to open up a branch closer to home, but again, what are you gonna do, it's not like I can stop going to work, or to the gym, or running errands and so forth. Life must be lived and in the modern world we live in that means driving. So gas keeps going up every day, deal with it. To borrow from the wise philosophers Led Zeppelin, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good. Here's a thought, instead of complaining about how high gas prices are, drive slower and more efficiently. How many people boo-hooing about gas are still driving super-sized gas guzzlers, racing off the line, tailgating, and driving well in excess of the speed limit. The right lane is actually a pretty peaceful place to be I have come to find out. Who knew?



For the next group of whiners, I have a simple request: get over it already, your candidate lost, move on and support Senator Obama in the fight against the dark side. Hillary Clinton is an amazing woman, her run for the Democratic nomination blazed trails that as a father of a daughter and a person who loves, admires, and has great respect for women makes me hopeful for a future where a glass ceiling is something that simply allows us to bring more natural light into our houses. But the race has been run, and the people have spoken. Stop the talk about supporting McCain, and stop thinking that somehow all Obama supporters are a bunch of sexist joke making, he-man woman haters. Again, whining only serves to detract from the attention that should be given to the sexism and chauvinism (are they the same thing, I'm not sure) that is out there. Believe me, if it were reversed and Clinton had won, I would be telling Obama supporters the same thing.



Sports has never been short of complaining, crying, and excuse making, and now is certainly no exception. Big Brown lost the Belmont fair and square. He ran hard for about three-quarters of the race, and when he would have been expected to make his stretch run and blow away the competition as he had in Louisville and Pimlico earlier this spring, he simply didn't have it. No excuses, sometimes you have that extra burst, some days it just ain't there, that's sports, heck that's life. Stop blaming the hoof injury, the heat, the compressed schedule, the jockey, and just accept defeat and move on. At least the horse himself isn't complaining, his handlers should take their cue from him.



The Lakers are down 2-0 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals, which so far have shown LA to be as overrated as Boston was underrated, at least by me and probably by most west of the Rocky Mountains. The Lakers are down because they are being outplayed, out hustled, out coached, and oh yeah, outscored by the team that apparently can put it in the basket after all. Stop blaming the refs and box out once in awhile, move your feet on defense and find some heart, you might find results more to your liking. Or maybe the Celtics are just the better team, if so then battle as hard as you can, then accept your beat down like men. I know that's a sexist notion, and probably not accurate because many women I know are very tough, but it's a tried and true expression so I'm sticking with it. Before you complain about it, remember the theme here. Regardless, strive for victory, accept defeat if it comes, and stop looking for someone else to blame. This is good advice for all of the youth sports dads out there with Earl Woods syndrome as well. Stop blaming the coach, the umps, and the refs if little Johnny isn't the star player of the team, or hitting where you think he should in the lineup. You'll enjoy the games alot more, as will your son, and fewer good coaches, umps, and refs will be driven from their mostly volunteer gigs working with our youth.

So is there anything worth whining about? Sure, just be certain that if you are going to complain then you are ready to do something about it. I had a boss who was known for taking a complaint and turning it into a committee chair assignment, in other words, if you see a problem then you can be in charge of the solution. Flawed trickle down economic policies that lead to greater income inequality is worth a beef or two, you can easily rectify that at the ballot box in November. Ditto for the cost of health care, corporate welfare, the war in Iraq, and America's low standing in the eyes of the world. The next president and Congress won't be able to do much about the high cost of gas in the short term, but the aforementioned issues can and should be dealt with by the next government. While we're at it, it's worth a mention to address wasteful government spending, the lack of a sensible and effective energy policy, environmental policy, immigration policy, and we could do much better in terms of our overall educational system. So there is plenty to complain about, knowing which battles to fight is the key. But while we're waiting for everyone to get on board, how about passing that plate of cheese over my way, it's looking good and my stomach is starting to grumble.