Back in the late 1970s, I used to enjoy watching The Muppet Show on T.V.. It was filled with delicious inanity that gave me lots of laughs. I think my favorite bits involved the two crotchety old men up in the balcony, Statler and Waldorf. Often the camera would pan up to allow us to overhear their conversation after viewing a skit the other muppets had just put on. They had reached that age where they felt no internal reservation about voicing their thoughts.WALDORF: They aren't half bad.
STATLER: Nope, they're ALL bad!
STATLER: Well, that was different.
WALDORF: Yep. Lousy ...
BOTH: ... but different!
It is a bit ironic that over the years I have found that I have become far too much like them for my own tastes. Specifically I have found that I channel their dialog as I sit in church and critique the actions of the people around me, the folks up on the stage, and the video clips that are played. It seems that my first reaction always seems to be to look to find fault. I don't think that I have noticed my attitude until recently because I tend to pick out faults but point it out to my daughter using sarcasm or with an amusing form of put down. Yet my words and thoughts are decidedly negative in nature far too often. I don't think that I used to always be this way, especially when I was sitting down with the rest of the audience on the main floor. As I got older and moved myself to the balcony, somehow my point of view became skewed. I think it is time to find my way back downstairs.
