Take My Advice

Several persons mentioned my mother’s statement in the March Newsletter: DON’T RUSH OFF IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY WITHOUT YOUR BLANKET. Only one person had heard it, but there were many interpretations.

Pithy statements, puzzling advice, moralisms and old sayings – these voices surface throughout our days.

When the alarm sounds in the morning, and we want to roll over and pull the blanket over our heads, we hear THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM. As we stagger to the kitchen and hover over the coffee pot, an inner voice reminds us A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS.

And thus it continues throughout the day. As we prepare to take the dog for a walk LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE we hear, and these words remind us to admonish the dog DON’T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU. Do you have a horse to take care of? Remember, DON’T BEAT A DEAD HORSE TO DEATH, and DON’T LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH.

We begin our daily work saturated with ancient advice: A ROLLING STONE GATHERS NO MOSS, and A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE, and A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED.

As I answer yet another fabulous offer on the computer, I remember FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU; FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME.

My mother used to offer puzzling advice DON’T WORRY; YOU WILL COME OUT WITH A SHUCK ON YOUR HEAD. Why would I want a shuck on my head? And what IS a shuck, anyway?

The statement mother used most often was REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. This was repeated every time my sister and I had a speech to give or a piano recital in which we performed. My husband says his mother said the same thing to him as he left for college: SON, JUST REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. This seems to be a common bit of advice for many of my generation. It took a funny turn in one of the churches we served. Our youth director was George Olive. I heard him encourage the youth group who was about to give a program with these words: AS MY MOTHER USED TO SAY, REMEMBER YOU ARE AN OLIVE. You are an olive?

I remember my tight-lipped grandmother saying as my sister and I danced about singing, A WHISTLING GIRL AND A CROWING HEN ALWAYS COME TO NO GOOD END.

And so it goes throughout the day and throughout our lives. Now, here in retirement, we hear these words: YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS, and THERE’S NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD FOOL.