Being Thankful
Everyone should have a friend like my friend, alert reader hank k. I have known “hank” for about 10 years, and he has known Mrs. P. for almost as long.
He may have his faults, but here’s what I like about him: he reminds me to be thankful. He was in my office the other day and said: you know, you have the greatest wife in the world. And of all the guys in the world she could have picked in the world to marry, she picked you. Frankly, I think that’s amazing. Because you don’t really deserve her. You are really lucky.
He’s right. And it’s good to be reminded of these things. Often.
Don’t let him remind my wife…
JoeS (8dbe34) — 7/27/2006 @ 9:12 pmWell, the Frisch thing has just gone nuclear. And if you think that’s disgusting, check out what she said at Ace’s.
CraigC (9cd021) — 7/27/2006 @ 11:59 pmNever mind, Ace redacted them.
CraigC (9cd021) — 7/28/2006 @ 12:00 amCraigC,
I’m on top of it. Post with screenshots and IP analysis coming up.
Patterico (50c3cd) — 7/28/2006 @ 12:32 amI must be related to Hank. I say much the same thing all the time.
ras (f9de13) — 7/28/2006 @ 12:44 amI define uxoriousness.
nk (d5dd10) — 7/28/2006 @ 6:01 amThankfulness is the key to a happy life I think. The unthankful person, will tend I think to be ungrateful, and the ungrateful person will be bitter. They will be bitter because they think the world owes them something, but the sad truth is that the world owes us nothing.
The thankful person recognizes that the world owes us nothing and is thus thankful for anything the world gives him. One of the most basic but, most worthy of thanks, is merely our birthplace. After all, the opportunity of just being born in the US is huge.
I think also, this is one of the key insights in Christianity and Judaism, that is, the fact that God owes us nothing but death as a result of Adam’s sin in the garden. That is, either agree or disagree with the factual basis for the Garden, the theological underpinings it supplies, provides a compelling basis for constant thankfulness. That is, each day we are still alive, is a day that God has given us grace for another day. We under sin, we all stand under the penalty of death.
That’s all a really long way of saying that you’re right, we are not thankful often enough, and it’s always good to be reminded of the things for which we are thankful.
Joel B. (141ad0) — 7/28/2006 @ 8:37 amI’ll simply note that most of us guys (and definitely me) married above our station in life with wives we didn’t deserve.
Mike Myers (290636) — 7/28/2006 @ 12:14 pm“you know, you have the greatest wife in the world. And of all the guys in the world she could have picked in the world to marry, she picked you. Frankly, I think that’s amazing. Because you don’t really deserve her. You are really lucky.”
Desert Rat (d8da01) — 7/28/2006 @ 11:41 pm**********
Patterico, I think that is Hank’s Freudian admission of harboring a secret crush on your wife.
I think he really loves your wife 🙂
Johnpaul (6bca42) — 7/29/2006 @ 3:35 amHank writes me to say that I misinterpreted his comments. He was focusing on the concept of being thankful, and (he claims) not on my undeservedness.
The previous two commenters are, I believe, incorrect. Hank has known my wife and me for years. He likes to run me down in a deadpan, teasing style, which is what I believed he was doing in this case (and which he denies doing at all). He likes my wife quite a bit as a friend. Who wouldn’t?
Patterico (50c3cd) — 7/29/2006 @ 1:03 pm