Originally published Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Most of you have probably seen the commercials. PC is a lovable but schleppy boob and Mac is a laid-back, kind of grungy but oh-so-cool guy. PC tries desperately to make Windows seem as cool as Macintosh, but he fails miserably. I think the commercials are entertaining. I love PC. He totally cracks me up. Sure, he’s nerdy as all get out, but he’s a lovable nerd. Mac, on the other hand, is just a wee bit smug. Not George W. Bush arrogant smirk on his face smug, mind you. Unlike the current prez who literally thinks he is God’s gift to the world, Mac is quite likable.
Smugness isn’t a very attractive trait, especially when it is accompanied by arrogance. In the Mac vs PC commercials, Mac isn’t at all arrogant; he’s just a little smug. Sometimes I think we cannot help being a bit smug, even when we know that we will most likely end up getting knocked down a peg. I admit to being just a wee bit smug now that I have traded in my PC for a Mac. Justifiably smug, say I.☺
You have probably already guessed that I love my iMac. I used PCs for two decades, but after just two months with my iMac, I cannot fathom ever going back to the world of Windows. When I have to use my husband’s Windows-based laptop, I realize just how spoiled I have become in the short time I’ve been a Mac user. But the whole Mac vs PC thing is really a matter of personal preference. Mac works better for me, in every way. YMMV, so I’m not going to dis Windows and PCs. I won’t even list any of the myriad features of my Mac that I think make it way better than a PC.
Unfortunately, a lot of people take differences as personal criticism. This happens in all aspects of life, but it is especially common in matters of politics and religion. This is why politics and religion are usually verboten on e-mail discussion lists. LOL
On one of my knitting lists, there was recently a dust up over religion. On a knitting list? you might ask. Yes, say I. It isn’t unusual for a member to send a message to a knitting list asking for thoughts and prayers during a trying time. I don’t think anyone objects to someone asking for support during an illness or family tragedy.
But a few weeks ago, a list member wrote in to ask for prayers to help her find misplaced knitting needles. I don’t think this, in and of itself, would have caused a ripple. But she didn’t ask for prayers in a general way. She asked for very specific prayers—to a particular Roman Catholic saint, Anthony. So here we have a woman asking members of a knitting list with an international membership that includes people of all religions and no religion for sectarian prayers—to a Roman Catholic saint—for something as trivial as finding misplaced knitting needles, for crying out loud.
Another member posted the text of a prayer to St. Anthony, along with a notation that the ability of St. Anthony to help find lost objects and people had entered folklore. That’s when the proverbial excrement impacted the ventilation device. A member who is a Roman Catholic was deeply offended and insulted because she thought that her religion was being equated with <gasp> paganism. A couple other members wrote in to take issue with paganism being dissed.
Of course, I was unable to keep my big mouth shut and I, with tongue firmly in cheek, posted a Wiccan spell for finding lost objects. The tongue-in-cheek part apparently didn’t come across in my message and I was duly chastised by one of the list moderators.
I know that you are dying to know whether the lady ever found the lost knitting needles. She did, and I feel confident that it was the Wiccan spell that did the trick. A good spell is like a Mac–it just works. ☺ [remove tongue from cheek]
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All Kinds Of Knitting 