No. 181 - LIFE GETS "TEDIOUS"...DON'T IT?

No. 181

Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN

LIFE GETS "TEDIOUS"...DON'T IT?

There is a word in the English language that we don't hear very often and this word is "Tedious", which means "Long and wearisome, tiresome and boring." About the only time I use this word is when my wife asks me to thread a needle or tighten the screws on her glasses. After poking the thread at the needle for about five minutes or trying to line the tiny screwdriver up with the slots, I usally say, this is really 'tedious.' In our modern society however, the word tedious is used most often in relation to "close work" like the person who has a job installing computer chips or working on an assembly line in a watch factory. Of course there are many other examples, but you get the picture.

The full and complete meaning of this word however, is only understood when a person must do this type of job for an extended period of time like 8 to 12 hours a day, for weeks, months or years on end. These circumstances have given rise to my title, "Life gets "Tedious, don't it?" My point being, the person who has this kind of job needs a break...and they need one often. While I love writing these columns and sharing positive ideas with you, I also need a break from time to time. You can only stay in a stressful mental state for just so long before it begins to take its toll. I don't know about you, but the thing that keeps me going is to always place things in perspective and try to really enjoy what I do. We are not going to do anything very well over the long haul if we don't have a little fun once in a while.

If you have not cracked a smile in a day or two, you may enjoy this story a friend told me the other day about an old maid that had a great sense of humor. When she went to the funeral home to prearrange her funeral, she requested all women pallbearers. When they asked her why, she replied, "Well, if the men couldn't 'take me out' while I was living, I sure ain't going to let them 'carry me out' when I die!"

Here are a few more humorous stories I found tucked away in my files that you may find amusing or if you make talks, you may be able to use them. I'm not sure where I got these stories but apparently I picked them up at an educational conference, because as you will see, they are slanted toward parents or educators. Now, picture yourself in an audience and the speaker has been introduced and he says, "You know, I've always wondered, how do history teachers keep a straight face when they tell students the early settlers came to America to escape high taxes?

A while back, we had a county agent come to talk on the dangers of rat infestation. When a student stood up to thank him for coming to talk to the class, she said, "We didn't even know what a rat looked like until you came to school." When Johnny came home from school the other day, he said to his father, "Here is my report card and here is an old one of yours I found." You know what FEAR is, don't you? "Fear is watching your teenage son drive off in his four wheeled lawsuit." I passed by the Civics classroom the other day. The teacher was yelling at the top of her lungs, "I don't care what your father says, money is not this country's chief export."

Finally, we have been concerned about some of our students, but it looks like the counserlor has come up with a solution. He says, "The vocational aptitude of some of our students indicates their best opportunities lie in a field where their father holds an influential position." As I said earlier, "Life gets "Tedious", don't it?...that is, if you don't have a little fun. Hope you have enjoyed these thoughts on the "lite" side. You know, we should always take what we do seriously, but we should not take ourselves too seriously. (Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)