Like many eastern towns, the yards are heavily wooded. These buildings a few blocks back from the river in Savannah are among the tallest I saw during the whole trip. These are restored hotels and even the newer hotels mimic the architecture shown here.I had hoped to tour the Wilmington downtown on a Friday because the weekday crowd hinted a great time. Wilmiwood (the local nickname for Wilmington) is a college town and the nightlife is energetic. It is still miles behind Seattle. There are several dozen clubs in the vicinity of Market, Front and Third streets that are remarkably well-designed. Plus, the seating capacity seems to average 60 to 80, so they can afford decent entertainment every weekend. The clubs also seem to be a place that single women can patronize without being themselves patronized.
Instead, I spend a quiet evening doing crossword puzzles and watching a take-off of “Cinderella” on cable. Had I known, I would have left a day earlier. Much as I like to chum with Teresa we are physiologically and emotionally quite different people. It appears to some that I am all over the place with curiosity, where Teresa focuses on one thing at a time. This is an illusion all the way. I’ll explain.
I determine the importance of any given event to its relevance to my life. The less the importance, the less time it sticks. Since I am naturally fond of information, it appears I am easily distracted where in fact I am picking up things constantly as I go along toward an often unrelated goal. Teresa is the opposite, she will often exclude all other ideas when making a decision, appearing to blot out other information and opportunities until the current is finished. Yet she has raised three children, so she can multitask. I’m just noting the major external appearance is that we have opposing mannerisms in the short run.
Here, have another look at a mansion before I give you a deep glimpse into what I mean by the “importance” of information as just mentioned. This is a waterfront house. Teresa calls the color “coral”. The house reminds me of the monastery that my buddy Harry lived in back in my teens. This picture has been doctored to take out power lines, parking meters and a stop sign. Note the huge retaining wall around the perimeter. This is looking at the building from the north east. The Fear River runs past the other side of the house. You are looking at the back porch and yard from a vantage on Third Street. Ooops! The picture I was going to publish is gone, so here is another view of the sailing ship. Notice under the bow is the USS North Carolina across the river.
Now a few words about information. I will accept the risk of sounding cranky because of the point I want to stress. This is a real example that caused people around me plenty of distress. Hear me out before you take sides. The example is: Sally from marketing states she is taking a coffee break. This is a prime example of where magnificently stupid people get on their high horses.Stupid people would assume that smart people “memorize” information, and the smarter, the longer it would be retained. Wrong, for smart people have very little need to memorize anything, the Chinese education system aside. I would hear Sally and make an instant determination of whether it is relevant. (It is not and would require extenuating circumstances to become so.)
I would hear Sally’s words but unless they triggered a warning or had further weight, no action is taken, certainly not the waste of filing such mental garbage. Sally is promptly “forgotten”. What she said made sense at the time, and that is that. Two minutes later you could ask me where Sally is and I would not have a clue. But I could instantly and definitely inform you it is none of my business. If you or Sally have a need to keep informed of her whereabouts, tell her to leave a trail of bread crumbs.
Who is the inconsiderate? Sally is, for assuming people are her messengers (“bum-boys” we used to call them). Sally has no intention of paying for this service. Sally vastly overestimates her own importance and her ideas of politeness are twisted into taking advantage of others. If Sally said the building was on fire, the result would be different. When you talk to smart people, it is not what you say, but only the significance that matters. This fact seems to considerably bother stupid people.
I used the adjective “stupid” to describe people who think everything they say or do is important. For anyone who thinks I am the stupid one, I ask you how many hundreds of times each year do people bore you by saying you are the smartest person they’ve ever met? I don’t really want a number. I’m just askin’.
