Should We Order A Cake?
THERE WAS AN ARTICLE IN THE NEWSPAPER the other day stating that it was the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
It wasn’t.
Here we are in Mid-September and the actual date of the signing of the Magna Carta was June 15, 1215. I know I shouldn’t be fussy, but with all of the to-do in England and here in The Colonies, I would expect a bit more care with the details.
When I mentioned the article about the Magna Carta to the Assembly of The Usual Suspects during services/brewing at the Chapel of St. Arbucks I was met with a tsunami of disinterest tinged with a dash of “The what?”
When I explained that the Magna Carta had nothing to do with either volcanoes or NASCAR, but rather that it was the seminal document in the establishment of western Law, Governance, and The Rights of Man, I heard someone say, “How about them Cubbies?” They were more interested in the fact that I stayed up until 2:30 AM watching a ballgame than that I was telling them about a sea change in the history of Western Civilization.
I will admit that it has been a while since the Chicago Cubs have done this well and that a visit to the World Series is not beyond rational hope, but
EIGHT HUNDRED FREAKIN’ YEARS PEOPLE!
That’s close to the half-life of both Hostess Twinkies and Vin Scully!
About the only quasi-pertinent response to my announcement was when one, forever to be unnamed Suspect, asked, “Do you think we should order a cake from Kroger’s?”
“With 800 candles on it?” I replied sarcastically.
“Yeah, that might be a bit much. Scrap that idea.”
Scrap that idea – indeed. Celebrate the freedom from tyranny under which we live with a cake that could probably be seen from space?
Sometimes I think that these guys and gals are playing “Where’s Waldo” with reality.
To be truthful, most people in the western world, if you asked them to identify King John, would reply with, “Wasn’t he the guy who gave Kevin Costner a lot of grief in that Robin Hood movie?”
I asked the Suspects that question and there were two votes naming me.
Eight hundred years is a long time for anything. It is a long time for the Magna Carta too – considering that it was declared null and void by Pope Innocent III two months after it was signed by King John (NOT me). In those days the sitting Pope (or standing, reclining or even squatting) was looked upon as sort of a Supreme Court in such matters. Fortunately, his annulment didn’t stick and the legitimacy of the document was established by succeeding monarchs.
I have to tell you, I was a bit disappointed by the response – or lack thereof- from The Usual Suspects. They are an educated and well travelled bunch of Yahoos. There are graduate degrees stuck to some of them and they have all had professional careers. Yet, when I mentioned the Magna Carta – well, I think I would have gotten a better reaction if I had said, “Magnum P.I.”
So it goes. Some days the conversation with them can dissect the finer points of high finance or world affairs. And then other days (like today, despite my best efforts) we get no farther than –
“How about them Cubbies.”
Down the Hall on Your Left 