Jack’s Winning Words 3/11/08
“Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.” (Barbara Johnson) Is your motor idling today, or are you revving the engine and ready to let out the clutch? Patience is one of the seven virtues given by Prudentius. Can you name the other six? (Hint: C,T,D,K,H,C) ;-) Jack

FROM MOLINER, C.F.: But you'd beter not do it a a stop light. HONK, HONK!!!

FROM M.L. IN ILLINOIS: hey, i had one of those experiences with a four year old today. he clearly did not know who he was dealing with. i idled and he ended up stripping his gears! teaching is like parenting without the baggage. it's much easier when your not carrying a steamer trunk!

FROM L.K. IN OHIO: Let's see......charity,temperance,honesty,hospitality,courage,kindness,
compassion, truthfulness, civility, ....these are some possibles......I'll keep thinking about the "D".......

FROM GOOD DEBT JON IN OHIO: This probably violates a few virtues (at least K) however: Barbra here is promulgating a mechanically flawed aphorism. Perhaps she means “getting in gear” (or engaging, or racing through the gears etc) as the opposite of idling. Stripping your gears is destructive (even a bit masochistic) meaning to shear off the teeth of a gear making movement impossible. As writers we have all done this, I sent a letter once where I said, “…he lapsed into a comma.”

FROM R.I. IN BOSTON: Charity, Temperance, Diligence, Kindness, Humility, Chastity...thanks Google!

FROM N.E. IN S.H.: No, I'd have to "Google" it. Wanna tell me?!?!?

FROM J.L. (NOT J.LO) IN MICHIGAN: Nope, it was on the tip of my brain....yes, I did google it. I knew a few, but not all. I knew, kindess, patience, humility and charity but not the rest. Thank you for the reminder. It was a good one!

FROM S.H. IN MICHIGAN: Often I do lack patience and strip my gears with my mouth. I'm the kind of person who thinks a mile a minute and quite often doesn't let the other person complete his/her thoughts before I'm jumping in with my own just wonderful ideas on the subject. Or so it seems to me at the time. That bad habit would be a good one for me to give up as a Lenten practice.