Povey Prattle

.... I enjoy being a bit of a curmudgeon, even though others may think or speak of me as an old fart! This becomes clear to me around the business of “names”.   I believe that each person has the right to determine his or her name .   I also believe that teasing a person because of her/his name is nasty. You may have read how I became Michael, i.e. how I began to use my good middle name.   You’ll also know that many folks with the name “Michael” are addressed as “Mike”. This is just fine for many “Michaels”, but it is not fine for me. I do not wish to be addressed as “Mike”. ‘Twas not always so.   In my first two congregations (Fitchburg and Chicopee) I was known as “Father Mike”.   When I moved to Pittsfield in 1984 I decided to drop the “Father” bit.   I did so for two reasons.   First: because there was no accepted equivalent for female Priests.   It seemed odd to me that I would be addressed as “Father” but my female colleagues were addre...

I get those e-mails which bring some kind of schmaltzy, sentimental, semi-religious message. Often the sender of the e-mail will urge me to forward the message to 5, 7, or 10 (you name the number) other folks, with the promise that if I so do: “something good will happen to me” Holy baloney!   I want to throw up when I get such e-mails.   They ignite my inner “old curmudgeon”.   I venture to guess that they also annoy younger curmudgeons. This is why those messages get under my skin. 1.         They never specify details of the “good” which will come my way.   That supposed “good” could be anything from my dealing with an in-growing toenail, to my discovery of a cure for (let’s say) pancreatic cancer. 2.       Something good happens to me every day.   It happens even when I refuse to forward the “message”. Once in a while something bad happens to me, as is the experience of all people. 3.   ...

Many years ago I promised my colleagues that I would become an old curmudgeon. (That’s not the same as an old coot. Old coots are the guys who wear dress shirts, below the knee shorts, above the calf socks, (thus exposing no more than 2 inches of aged leg) and black dress shoes. They can be seen on golf courses, or at MacDonalds where the “old coot clubs” meet to discuss the same dreary stuff every morning!) No I am developing into a fully fledged curmudgeon (of the left of course). I’ll share a few examples over the next days: #1 It’s happened before and it happened yet again this morning. I received one of those “the sky is falling, then Republic is doomed” e-mails. This was the third or fourth time that I’ve received the same e-mail. It expresses "shock, horror, disbelief” that the phrase “In God We Trust” is not to be found on the “new” U.S. “Presidential series” $1 coins. (These coins are not so new. They have been issued since 2007.) It’s alwa...

In 1965 I found employment at the lowest level of the U.K. Civil Service.  I became a “Clerical Assistant” at the Bristol branch office of the Inspectorate of Armaments, (I-ARM) and the Inspectorate of Fighting Vehicles and Mechanical Equipment, (IFVME) (both were part of the Ministry of Defence ). In essence I was a gopher for more senior Civil Servants who provided administrative services for engineers. They in turn made inspections at those local firms which had contracts to manufacture armaments, fighting vehicles, and mechanical equipment. On my first day of work my new boss gave me a tour of the various offices in order to introduce me to the folks I would encounter day by day.  My name is John Michael Povey.  Hitherto I had been known to all and sundry as “John”.  This new boss introduced me as “Michael”.  I am a notorious “people-pleaser” so I did not correct his use of my middle name. At the end of my first week this boss realized his mistake an...

My good neighbour Ed G has gone north to Vermont and New Hampshire for the month of June. Just before he left town he gave me a ticket for tonight’s concert in the Sarasota Artist Series – a ticket which he could no longer use. The concert featured the piano duo Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe. As we waited for the concert to begin the two women seated on my left began to talk about “typos”. One mentioned a press release which encouraged people to “compeat”. The other woman talked about the many typos in the New York Times . I was leafing through the programme for the evening’s concert, even as I listened in on their conversation. Then my eyes spotted “it ”, and I began to giggle. I could not resist pointing “it” out to the woman who was immediately on my left. The scanned picture will show you what I mean by “it” . Giggle along with me! (Hint - Read the Headline "Recital Series" and see two typos)