The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 11, 1998 Page: 11 of 12
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University News
November 11, 1998
Commentary 11
■
V_^±l Lll LCI LLCL1 y
Tiends con-
stitute the
essence of
Tracy Villecco
STAFF WRITER
Life can get really rough
at times such as tests, papers,
studying on Halloween and car
accidents. Time passes by really
fast, and in that time there are
many people to meet, and with
that, many people to say good-
bye to.
After living in Spain for a
year I had to part with a lot of
people. It was one of the hardest
things to do. There is always this
hanging uncertainty of whether
or not you will see these people
again.
However, I realized that I
became a better person for having
met those people. So after much
thought I have come to the con-
clusion: there may be some hard,
lonely times in life but if you can
think of at least one person that
you appreciated knowing, then
it was worth it.
Friends can become so
close to your heart that they be-
come such a part of you, you do
not know where you would be
without them. Yet, it is not a ques-
tion about where you would be, it
is about who you would be.
There are few things that
can be remembered on nights
getting drunk or on those swift
weekdays that always seem
impossible to live through, but,
inescapably fly by. All these
days and nights can be grouped
together and only one day or
night can represent them all and
what is to be remembered is a
conversation with a friend over
a cup of coffee, a bottle of wine
or even a cigarette. This is what
distinguishes endless weekends
and weekdays.
Although we have all
profited from these soul-sharing
moments, it is a sad day when
they are forgotten. Yet, it is in our
power to cease them from drifting
away into oblivion. Write a letter
to a friend, to a special friend, and
let him or her know that you are
thinking about them.
Life can get very demand-
ing at times and free time is only
a remembrance from childhood,
but there is a person who cares
about you. Make time to let them
know that you care too. It's worth
it.
Walmart brainwashes
Vincent O'Shea
STAFF WRITER
Have you ever had that
not so sane feeling?
Have you ever looked
around and determined that the next
person to even look at you wrong is
going to have their larynx involuntarily
removed? Have you ever wondered
what it would be like to be "Welcome
back Kotter?"
Me neither, although I can never
get enough of that crazy Horshach. I
consider myself to be a person that has
a pretty good grip on his emotions. I
can keep my cool in any situation really,
any situation but one. You may ask
what this one thing that has the power
to throw me off my rocker is, I will give
you a hint, WAL-MART!
One word, a world of pain for
me. I hate Wal-Mart. I would try to be
objective and say something nice about
it, but I cannot. I hate the self-edifying
name given it by the founder.
I hate the color of the building.
I hate the little rugrats named Bubba
with rattails and kool-aid mustaches
running around while their 3001b
mothers with faces like Chewbacca
and pastel colored spandex and tube
tops whine about how unfair it is that
they cannot buy cigarettes with food
stamps. I hate the bathrooms, and the
aisles. I hate the floors, the Feds (I will
discuss that later), and the fact that they
only seem to hire the cream of the idiot
crop to work at their stores.
I hate it all, I have got no love, yet
I always end up there. I have no idea
how it happens. I just black out and
then I am there again. Say I am out
shopping with a friend, we go to the
mall, the supermarket or Target (official
motto: at least we are not Wal-Mart).
I will be having a fine time mind-
lessly blowing my hard-earned cash,
when all of the sudden, I hear those
seven evil words. I feel betrayed, I
feel hurt, but most of all, I feel just a
bit suspicious. Why, I ask you, would
someone that I consider an amiable
acquaintance, at very least, drag me
into my world of pain?
How, knowing my distaste for
this—the anti-store—could this "friend"
do this to me? There is only one answer
to this qu estion, little shavers, and it in-
volves a government conspiracy. I have
long held a belief that I was abducted
by strange beings in white lab-coats
who implanted a global positioning
device in my brain cavity to track my
every move.
I have slowly pieced together their
nefarious plot to overrun the earth
with man-sized mutant penguins in an
attempt to make us attend more John
Tesh concerts (using nothing but my
own backward intell ect and knowledge
gained by hours and hours of watch-
ing the "X-Files"),= and I think they
are trying to bring me in for a little
"reprogramming."
This kind of diabolical scheming
on the part of the government would
explain not only the black federal he-
licopters that seem to be following me
around, but also the voices in my head
and the fact that Fran Drescher still has
a TV show.
I know this all sounds a bit strange,
but just think, have you ever seen a
penguin near a Wal-Mart? Never. They
kidnap all of the penguins and brain-
wash them, making them into killing
machines.
I do admit that I could be wrong
about all of this, but that would mean
that Jose, my three-foot tall Leprechaun
informant that only I can see, has been
lying to me all this time, and I do not
believe that for a second.
Anyway, the reasons that I have
for hating Wal-Mart should be indubi-
tably clear by now. What is left for you,
the reader then? All I ask of you is three
things: First, trust no-one; next, watch
out for man-sized mutant penguins;
and lastly, stay away from Wal-Mart! If
I see you there, I will know you're part
of the master plot, and I ain't gonna let
them make me listen to John Tesh!
Student says: Christianity should focus
on its similarities, not its differences
Mar e Ra ns
On fSTAttf.WRItrbR
sweet little
daughter of a
lady I know back home
asked me what church I go
to. When I informed her
I was Catholic, she imme-
diately replied, "Catholics
aren't close to God."
I half expected the seven-
year-old's mouth to complete
the sentence with, "And
blacks are criminals and Jews
are money-grubbing."
Surprised at such a ready
response from this young
heart I asked, "Who told you
that?"
"My mommy," she re-
plied matter-of-factly.
My concern is the unity
and mutual love that should
exist among those who state
their belief in Christ, espe-
cially since her mommy is a
practicing Christian. When
we teach our children to
believe and proclaim ste-
reotypes and prepackaged
general judgments, we are
handing them nothing less
than prejudice. Throughout
my experience as one of
the Catholic "type," I have
found this prejudice to be
quite tangible in the Chris-
tian world.
"Oh, so you're Catholic,"
other Christians often say as
they look me up and down
disapprovingly, the love of
God just floods out of their
brotherly welcome. Many
Christians, I have found,
have no qualms in labeling
and judging the "Christian-
ness" of others who believe
in Christ.
Perhaps my words can-
not ever be as effective as
those of the apostle Paul
who in 1 Corinthians 1:10-11
censures early Christians for
squabbling, saying, "I am of
Peter," or "I am of Apollo,"
by reminding us that we are
all of Christ. And if we are of
Christ, all brothers, should
we spend this precious time
allotted to us nitpicking over
divisions, deciding who is of
Paul or of Peter?
A girl at my old Catholic
high school made it very clear
to all who would listen that
she was "not Catholic." She
reminded us in religion class
daily that her father was pas-
tor of a Lutheran church and
we became quickly familiar
with those "Catholic ways"
she passionately would dis-
claim while promoting the
high virtue of the way things
were done in her father's
church. Announcing this
difference was so important
to her; in fact, it seemed the
most cherished part of her
faith.
Zeal for one's faith is pre-
cious. Zealous hatred within
a faith centered on love
requests wariness. Maybe
Bob the Adventist is closer
to God than I am. Maybe I
more than Jan the Episcopa-
lian. Then again, maybe the
innocent chil d who lives in a
far away land and who has
no knowledge of our Judeo-
Christian world is closer to
God than us all, singly or
together.
What's important here?
We each have a short time
to find out, and a shorter
time to live it. If we each
keep our eyes on the speck
in every fellow Christian's
eye, do we understand our
spiritual calling? Can we
fully pursue a life beyond
this world and its divisions?
I suppose all I would really
like to ask is please, let's not
water the seeds of our young
ones' faith with acids of
prejudice.
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Makson, Lisa A. The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 11, 1998, newspaper, November 11, 1998; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201341/m1/11/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting University of Dallas.