As I gracefully age, I have come to the conclusion that my life would have been a lot better if I had listened to my mother, Millie. She was very concerned about the content of character and spent an inordinate amount of time pointing out lessons in how to build my character. I didn't think my character was that bad, and the reason I seemed to need intensive instruction was that my brothers Ed and Kevin. Ed was practically a saint, did very little if anything wrong and was the oldest. This was unfortunate for me. Kevin was, as far as I could tell, a mute. He didn't say or do much, and he was the baby. This too, was unfortunate for me.
Once Millie and I were talking, which we seldom did, and she pointed out a few character lessons to me. She told me that gentlemen never insult others unless they mean to. Another time she told me that people were at their worst when attempting to amuse themselves. Both lessons would have served me last week when I wrote about Peg's pick change. Ordinarily I would not have made much of it, but I saw the opportunity to tweak Wayne a bit, and I have amused myself by substituting his nickname, Omaha, into rude phrases. Thus, "don't Omaha this up" was born. Now, in my defense the written rules of the league says that as long as a member is referred to by his nickname, it is understood that the post is not meant as criticism as much as humorous commentary. However Wayne's reaction indicates that I went way over a line and brought into question his performance as a freely volunteered auditor, something that has proven vital to the success of the league.
Upon reading my post again, I cringe when seeing my dismissive and critical rhetoric. It is easy to see why his is upset with me, and I don't blame him for unvolunteering for the auditor position. But more to the point, I have never seen him so upset, ever. Wayne was always so much fun, so quick with a retort, so appreciative of humor and so willing to embrace it. He was always in a good mood and he offered the promise that if you wanted, you too could be having fun. His enthusiasm was and is infectious.
I wish I had never written the post, but I did and I can only offer my apologies to Wayne. If only I had listened to Millie.
Mike
