The things we learn may surprise us to no end. A long time ago, in the cafeteria at Butler University, a few of us were sitting together eating breakfast. I always had the mysterious scrambled eggs and breakfast meat. But many of my friends sampled from the “Cereal Bar” and would come back to the table with yummy bowls of Captain Crunch or Fruity Pebbles. One day, Kim brought back Froot Loops. She said she liked the red ones the best, strawberry. I told her I thought they were all probably the same flavor. You would have thought I desecrated the name of Jesus. For a moment, I was certain a girl fight was going to ensue, well before seven in the morning. Timidly, I offered, “Or. Not.” As it turns out, all the froot in Froot Loops comes from the same frooty flavor, according to the creators at Kellogg’s. I have no idea where Kim is now, but I’m certain she’d be upended.
There are those occasions when we learn a fact that doesn’t seem right. Even thought someone assures us of the truth, we are surprised by the evidence. Like this. I just learned that Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr. were born in the same year. This seemed completely impossible to me, but it was confirmed. Frank of course, is a beacon, whose story emerged from the Nazi terror of World War II during the 1940s. And King was the leader of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Their events were decades apart, but their births were in the same year, 1929. (King: Jan.15; Frank: Jun. 12)
Sometimes, the surprising truth is right under our feet. This in the way of the geographical wonders. Like this. Most Canadians live south of Seattle, Washington. I had to Google Map this one when I heard it. My brother lives in Seattle, and when I see him daily on Facebook, he doesn’t seem that far north. Just way, way, west. So imagine my utter astonishment. Toronto and Montreal are the two southern big hitters there, meaning that 64 percent of Canadians live south of Seattle. The proof is in the map.
And then sometimes, the facts seem somewhat absurd. Like, Prince Charles owns a car that is fueled by wine. At first blush, this seems extravagant. But supposedly this comes from the search for more efficient fuels. Old Prince Chuck and Duchess Camilla have a vintage Aston Martin reworked to use wine as its primary fuel.
Speaking of drinks. I love my coffee. I can’t imagine mornings without it, and I hope I never have to. Which means I could never move to France, where the coffee is barely consumable. Anyway, a lot of people here in the U.S. swear by espresso, an Italian born drink. That is the stuff made by grinding the beans very finely and then moving them to hot water at high pressure. It has a highly concentrated flavor, and because of that, people think they are getting a super boost of caffeine. And, ounce for ounce, it does have more caffeine than a regular drip brew. But. A shot of espresso has only 120 to 140 mg of caffeine, whereas a good old cup of coffee has around 180 to 200 mg. So you get more in a regular cup of Joe. A few of those in the morning and it is back to full throttle.
The world is full of information. Sorting it all out can be tricky at times, especially these days when people still think the world is flat, or believe there is no climate change, or say that Russia is really on our side because Putin best pal says so.
That’s why we have to dig deep sometimes. We have to seek a little higher, search a little further, and open our minds a little wider. We have to examine our world and uncover the certitude, or else it slips away into the stream of hearsay. As the illustrious Aldous Huxley once said, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Tell that to your Strawberry Frooty Pebbles.
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
― John Adams, The Portable John Adams
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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld
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“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.”
― Thomas Jefferson
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