piece de resistance<\/em>. Valentina Lisitsa, a truly amazing pianist, performed Beethoven\u2019s magnificent Opus 106, the \u201cHammerklavier\u201d (Piano Sonata No. 29) with all of the passion, skill and artistry that the Maestro himself could have wished. When she finished the audience sat spellbound for a moment or two before bursting into thunderous applause. They had heard magic that night and they knew it.<\/p>\nSo what was my problem? It sounds like a truly wonderful evening doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t say the concert was spoiled for me by what I saw two rows in front of me. That wasn\u2019t possible. But the sight did put a blemish on the evening. As you can tell, I\u2019m still bothered by it.<\/p>\n
A gentleman two rows away was wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen the iconic image\u2014a saintly looking Guevara staring off into space. The outline of his face and beret are in solid black, while the shirt itself is a deep, dark red\u2014sort of like the blood of all the innocents Che helped murder.<\/p>\n
The person wearing the T-shirt was no teeny-bopper rock-\u2018n\u2019-roller, by the way. He was a rather handsome gentleman in his 50s or 60s, wearing a grey sports coat. He seemed very pleasant as he chatted with other guests near him. But every time I saw his shirt all I could think of was asking him, \u201cWhy are you wearing a shirt that honors a Communist murderer? And to a church, for crying out loud!\u201d<\/p>\n
If I could, I would have added, \u201cYour hero was more likely to herd Christians into a church and burn them alive than to participate in a program here.\u201d I imagined an entire conversation with the man\u2014what he might say, what I\u2019d reply and what other attendees might say if our own conversation got somewhat heated.<\/p>\n
But as you know from this long preamble, I didn\u2019t say anything. As my wife and I exited our pew I let him walk a few steps ahead of me. There was plenty of time to catch up with him in the foyer or even outside, but I let the moment pass.<\/p>\n
My question for you is; did I do the right thing? Should I have said nothing? Miss Manners would probably say that silence was the socially correct response. Don\u2019t rock the boat; don\u2019t embarrass a stranger. And whatever you do, don\u2019t pick a fight\u2014or at least an argument\u2014in public, especially not in church. Heck, even Garrison Keillor probably couldn\u2019t imagine such a thing happening in Lake Woebegone.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a still small voice inside my head that says, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about, it, Chip. You did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s an even louder voice that keeps repeating, \u201cNo, you didn\u2019t. You should have said something<\/strong>. You didn\u2019t have to insult him or try to pick a fight. You could have gently and politely told him why you were offended by his T-shirt. He\u2019d probably tell you he had no idea what his shirt might mean to others. Heck, he\u2019d probably thank you for saying something.\u201d<\/p>\nI\u2019ll be the first to admit that the whole \u201cChe Guevara As Hero\u201d thing among many young people really frosts my cookies. It may be because my family was in Cuba when Fidel Castro seized power there and he and his Communist buddies (with Che as one of his most important lieutenants) began jailing, torturing and murdering their opponents.<\/p>\n
But you didn\u2019t have to know any of his victims personally to know that Guevara was a truly nasty piece of work. He was petty, mean and vindictive\u2026 a murderer without conscience or remorse. I\u2019m frankly delighted that he met his end from a soldier\u2019s bullet while trying to lead yet another revolution in Bolivia. The world became a better place with his death.<\/p>\n
But enough about why I despise the man\u2014and the fools in this country who honor him. Let me climb down from my soapbox and turn the microphone over to you.<\/p>\n
If you had been in my shoes (or, more accurately, my pew), what would you have done? Would you have said something? And if so, what? Remember, you would have only a few seconds as you both made your way out of the church.<\/p>\n
And what if he didn\u2019t respond kindly to your remarks? What if he got angry or belligerent? What would you do then?<\/p>\n
In my imagination I\u2019ve thought of numerous possible outcomes. And I have to admit I don\u2019t like any of them. So if you can come up with a better solution, please click on the \u201ccomments\u201d bar at the end of this column and tell me what it is. I\u2019d really like to know what you think I should have done.<\/p>\n
Honor Our Defenders This Memorial Day<\/strong>
\n For too many of us, Memorial Day has become just a weekend to picnic and party. We forget the original purpose of this national day of remembrance. It should be a time to honor the men and women of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for us and our country.<\/p>\nI hope you will pause for a few moments this Memorial Day weekend to give thanks to those who laid down their lives to defend and protect us. Make it a time of reflection and appreciation. And yes, if you have one, please proudly fly our country\u2019s flag.<\/p>\n
To any members of the armed forces reading this, thank you. Thank you for your service, thank you for your sacrifices. And yes, thank you for your willingness to lay your life on the line for us.<\/p>\n
Until next time, keep some powder dry.<\/p>\n
—Chip Wood<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past week, I\u2019ve been having one of those \u201cyou should have, no you shouldn\u2019t have\u201d arguments with myself. Since both sides of my brain seem equally divided, I thought I\u2019d ask you what you would have done if you\u2019d been in my place. Here\u2019s what happened. A week ago Sunday, my wife and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}