I am always struck by the incongruity when someone tries to excuse a misstep with “I thought….” I frequently remonstrate my children, when they offer an excuse prefaced by these two words, that “thinking” requires them to have run through ALL the possibilities, not merely the first one that popped into their head. I accept this from them, because they are still in their formative years, being under 30 as they are, but it toasts my cookies to hear this from someone who believes themselves and to all outward appearances seems to be an adult.
I hear people say this too often, “I thought you wanted me to do that,” or similarly “I thought you wanted it done that way.” Yes, if I had wanted done in the stupidest, least sensible way, then, that would have been it! If I had wanted an incomprehensible mess, I would have insisted you do it like that! Sheesh! What gives? Is it so hard to think? Is it such a mystery that the people who get ahead in life are the ones who, without being told to do so, apply their many years of schooling to a problem and solve it an intelligent, thoughtful manner that reflects their consideration of all the possibilities and the selection of the best solution to meet the conditions the problem poses?
Instead, in our disposable, pop-culture-crazy world, thinking has gone out of fashion, with it’s requirements for study and analysis before committing oneself to a course of action or speech. Today, we settle for less from our leaders, calling them politicians as a manner of identifying them from the statesmen of the past. Imagine Abraham Lincoln, speaking before a modern crowd of soldiers’ moms and dads, saying, “A few years ago, the people that founded this country wrote the constitution and told everybody they would be free. Now, we are fighting a terrible enemy in (Iraq) and we have to stay the course, because you don’t change horses in the middle of a stream…..” Somehow that lacks the grandeur and understatement of “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure….”
Lincoln spoke for less than three minutes, using fewer than 300 words to convey a message both fitting and timeless, In contrast, the featured orator that day, Edward Everett spoke for two hours, a speech of more than 13,600 words, and “nobody remembers a word that he said”, to paraphrase Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant. Lincoln wrote the speech himself, probably in two drafts, the final one completed on the train to Gettysburg, the day of the event, without the aid of a presidential speechwriter, putting words to paper that live to this day and still stir the heart when read. This from a man with little formal education but an intense natural curiosity and an admirable sense of humility.
Similarly, John Kennedy’s speeches from his short time in office make for interesting reading, and listening, 40 years later. Kennedy had the benefit of talented speechwriters, of course, but the themes and messages were directed by the president, expressing clearly his beliefs and personality, in phrases that resonated in the American heartland, without appealing to trite or time-worn clichés. In much the same way, FDR’s speeches and “fireside chats” demonstrated his ability to communicate thoughts that rose far above the mundane, in the process raising the spirits of the American public as the average man and woman struggled to survive the depression. Roosevelt also played an important role in shaping and guiding these speeches, giving them personal touches that displayed his understanding of and compassion for the plight of the common man. This from a man well educated and wealthy from birth.
In contrast, today we get tired clichés and retreads of past speeches masquerading as oratory, news commentary from talking heads chosen more for their ability to read a teleprompter than any journalistic or writing ability. We suffer through Xeroxed TV plots and movies whose heroes spout one-liner catch phrases while things blow up around them. Creativity seems to be measured by how close you can come to copying something successful without falling prey to a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Even in the comedy arena, biting social commentary has been replaced by dirty words, potty jokes and bodily functions. No wonder Johnny Can’t Read, as a 1970’s book on education loudly proclaimed (and was almost universally ignored), because thinking has become a chore, something for eccentrics and other socially-maladjusted types.
People say, “I was thinking…” as an introductory clause, with no real meaning or value, other than to dress up an otherwise dull comment. Sometimes, it occurs to me that it is much like the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, wherein no one except a child is willing to admit they are so not hip and with it that they cannot see the emperor’s tres chic new outfit, in reality a scam of epic proportions designed to take advantage of people’s gullibility! Sorta makes you think about WMD's, and why we stopped looking for Osama Bin Laden, and about Abu Ghraib, and why we chased down a rabbit hole called Iraq, like Alice In Wonderland, doesn’t it? Think about it…the next time someone waves the flag and pulls at your heartstrings, recites the patriotic rhetoric, or invokes the name of God, or tells you something too good to be true, asks you to make sacrifices, or cites a famous person, hero, religious leader or athlete. Think, for yourself, for your children and theirs, think before you respond. It may well take effort, the wheels and cogs may be a bit rusty and resistant to turning, but it will come back to you, so the next time you say “I thought…” or “I was thinking…” you will mean it. The world will be a better place for it, not overnight, but in the long run, if we stop accepting less from ourselves; our expectations of others, especially those charged with leading, will be met with more of what it is we want and less of the same old thing. Come on now, everybody, one, two, three….T H I N K! You will be amazed at the difference it makes.
