The other day, for some reason, I was looking on top of our kitchen cabinets and found a book hidden along the back wall. If memory serves me correctly, it was placed up there more than a quarter century ago as a platform for an old water pitcher to rest upon. We were shooting for a “folksy” look with our decor at the time. The pitcher has been gone for many years.

I dusted off the cover of the hardback titled “On Man in the Universe”, by Aristotle. It seemed to me to be a “high brow” sort of book for such a lowly task, but there it was. Upon inspection, the inside cover bared the name in handwriting of Margaret Kindt, the name of my mother-in-law before she married into the Johoske clan. She loved to read and this subject matter was right up her alley. I flipped through the pages, then put it on my desk in my office.

It was time to go for my morning walk.

As I started, I thought about how things have changed since I was a young boy in the 1960s. I see all the posts about how things were better back then, but I realize that change happens and nostalgia is a powerful sedative.

But, as far as personal behavior, the standard was set for me by my parents, Harold & Roberta Davis. It was simple. First, follow the Ten Commandments. Next, remember “No, smokin’. No cussin’. No drinkin’. No gamblin’.” These were the extra commandments. Just as important and just as sinful.

But that didn’t mean we didn’t break them. We were boys growing up. Nothing said quiet rebellion like sneaking one of dad’s cigarettes and hiding in the woods with the other boys on the street and lighting up. Here’s the thing: Parents always know. Mom made it a point to sit my brother and me down on the couch, handed us dad’s pack, told us to light up – right there in front of her on the living room couch! We had the coolest mom on the street, or so we thought. “Be sure to inhale.”, she said. When the coughing stopped and the nausea set in, we knew we had been played. For me, it worked. I never touched another cigarette, even to this day.

As I have aged, I see the level of acceptable behavior change from fifty years ago. I figured it was the same revelation my parents had as they watched societal norms change during the 1960s. Saying “damn” back then had dire consequences if caught. Over the years, the impact of that word has faded and is no longer appearing to be taboo. However, the “F” word has jumped to the top of the most uttered profanity these days. Add to that the commercials and apps for gambling and drinking can’t be too far behind.

It’s just as well. Things change. Always have. But, I wonder if the younger generation knows the degree of vulgarity the “F” word holds for us Boomers? Oh, well.

Which brings me back to Aristotle.

On page 179, I found a piece of paper used as a bookmark. Near mid-page the following words are written:

“Three states of character are to be shunned: namely, vice, loss of self-control, and brutishness. The vices have been described in connection with the virtues. A man loses control of himself when he is drawn by emotion into doing what he knows to be wrong. It is neither so bad nor so hopeless a state as cold-blooded licentiousness. Brutishness is morbid or inhuman cruelty. Pleasure is the result of the unimpeded activity of some part of our nature. It may be either good or injurious. Bodily pleasures, being violent, are pursued by people who are incapable of any other.”

It continues on page 181, “…the self-controlled man is one who abides by his own convictions, and the uncontrolled one who departs from them.”

In other words, as Harold always said, “Each tub sits on its own bottom.“

I never heard either of my parents cuss until late into adulthood. My father smoked when I was a young toddler, but legend has it that he gave up the habit when I mistook his ashtray for a candy dish and helped myself to a handful of Winston filters.

As my walk reached the end, I thought back to Aristotle’s words and put them into the context of today’s society. We seem to value the loud, the energetic, the outspoken, and, sadly, the “influencer”. Which clearly means my time has passed. I’ve never been loud or boastful, at least that’s the image I have of myself.

Some may say otherwise, but I lack the energy sufficient to drown out contrarians. And I’m ok with that.

Perhaps my parents were Aristotle fans. Peace out.