I’m going to make a confession to you, Dear Reader. I am writing this paragraph after I have at least halfway finished this article. I just looked at my email, and the topic of one item was this: “Does the sex of your dog make allergies worse?”
If I had read that about an hour ago, how different this article might have been! I’m always looking for inspiration, and it might surprise many from whence some of my writing ideas originate! If you would like to know the answer to the dog/allergy question, feel free to do a Google search of dailypaws.com and you just might learn something.
Never expect too much, however. One of my favorite lines from television comes from Charlie McDermott’s character Axl Heck on The Middle. Axl once said, “My expectations are low, and even I’m disappointed.”
Back to my original thought for this article. During one of the eight years I spent as a Union County elementary school principal, I received a phone call from a parent around Christmas time. She asked me, “Mr. Mincey, what kind of church does my child’s teacher attend? I gave the parent the name of the church, which was Baptist. The lady replied, “You’re kidding!” I told her that I knew this for a fact, as I had attended that very church on invitation from the teacher in question.
The lady then asked, “Then where does my child’s teacher get off telling kids that Christmas is not Jesus’ birthday?” I explained to the lady that what I believed the teacher meant was that there was no way of knowing for sure that what we now call Christmas Day, December 25, was the exact date of the year in which Jesus was born.
The lady replied, “My child’s teacher should keep . . . opinions to ---self!”
The teacher in question was a very fundamental Christian, and accuracy to detail was important to this individual. No attempt was being made to speak out against Jesus, only an attempt to “keep the record straight” as far as historical data was concerned.
This same teacher let me know that Halloween was Satan’s birthday, and warned me to have nothing to do with that pagan holiday! Accordingly, that classroom had a fall celebration, not a Halloween party.
During my service in public education I have encountered a few situations where religious beliefs and typical celebration of customs did not agree. I have had students whose families did not celebrate Christmas at all, others whose religious beliefs did not allow for vaccinations, and some that professed no religion.
I have come to believe that sometimes our nation has gone too far to cater to individual differences. Every single person is different in so many ways it is impossible to identify them. On a small scale, some of us do not eat breakfast, and those who do have different food items of preference. America is composed of many different ethnicities and religious/non-religious beliefs. We disaggregate student data in our public school testing programs by gender, race, national origin, economically disadvantaged, special education, English language learners, US citizens, immigrants, etc. Schools’ performance on “standardized tests” (if it is even possible to standardize a test) are compared to each other. Schools accordingly are labeled as failing or excelling.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to live in a country in which each person, though unique from every other person, could focus on the only similarity that binds all people residing within the borders of the United States together—we are residents of America!
If our public schools could stop telling our children how different they are from each other and going through highly convoluted methods to highlight and accommodate those differences, why can’t the same amount of effort be expended to show our children how much alike they are?
Does anyone out there remember the song from the 1970s that went something like this: “I’d like to teach the world to sing (in perfect harmony)”? This song was once used in a Coca-Cola commercial: “I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company.” The song is worthy of a Google search.
I agree that there is a lot to be said for individuality, but anything can be taken to extremes. There is also a lot to be said for the most common bond that ties each of us to our fellow humans—the dependence on others. The statement (cliché) “no man is an island” was never truer than in the modern world. I don’t recall in my lifetime ever meeting anyone who was totally self-sufficient. Take the example of a wonderful man who might have once upon a time have become my father-in-law. Though he was a barber, another barber had to cut his hair in back. I’m sure most dentists find it difficult to fill their own teeth, or most surgeons to conduct operations on their own bodies!
As I take my leave of you, Dear Reader, I leave you with the last of my church bulletin bloopers received in email.

Don't let worry kill you off—let the Church help.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church.
So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled.
Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet
in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM.
The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday:
"I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours ."