So probably by now you already noticed the fine graphic stuck in the bulletin today <smile!>.

Let me explain to you how that came about. It all started with the Chinese folks I work with. Apparently they'd like to learn to speak English better. They requested our boss give them some classes to improve the communications. They were turned down, and this is the email that went out:

Hi Boss, Our HR said it is impossible to make such a training agreement with Wall Street English, so we cannot have the super discount price. We still wanna learn english. Can we sign up for other english courses which are cheaper?

Note the "wanna" in there, more on that in a second. More to the point, I could not let that go by w/o comment so of course I had to reply:

Sheldon, you outta come yonder and spend a shucking season with me. I'll learn ya what good Anglish is and ain't, I reckon!

You can imagine the confusion this caused. I heard this passed from person to person out there like Money from Africa does around here. That is because the folks out there try very hard to engage in conversation with folks like me to learn "American Slang" as much as possible. One group writes this down on a white board, whenever there is some new turn of phrase, and they all learn it very diligently. This is so when they interview or talk to other American employers they can put forward the idea that they don't just speak English in a stuffy, formal education way but can converse in the same (horrible) way we do. The intention is to impress and reassure the future employer that they will fit in seamlessly with their team, etc.

So what about the "wanna" -- well the group had been talking to me about some other things and I use words like wanna and outta and shoulda all the time. At first they would inquire what these words meant (and if they were real words or a typo) but after some straight-faced "Oh sure everyone around here talks like that" confirmations these bits started creeping into their conversations. And emails. Though the response I gave this particular time was so over the top at long last they realized I am probably not the model English speaking American they took me for.

As Christians, we are open looking for earthly role models. We might look to those who represent, to us, model Christians. In many cases that is very well and good, because we ought to emulate them just as Paul asks us to emulate him - as he emulates Christ. This is a good way to live especially as we are learning something new and perhaps unfamiliar to us, Godly living. Our parents, our elders, and often our teachers are fine people to look to for this reason. However there are plenty of times the devil would be happy to have us look up to him, and to emulate him. If this were not so we would not be warned that he might appear as an angel of light. It is also true that no one but Christ is perfect - not our parents, elders, or even Paul. We must carefully pick and choose, using God's words as a guide, what we really want to emulate and adopt as our own habits.

So as it happened one of the folks didn't pick up on my sarcastic and funny answer and took me seriously. Imagine my teaching the Chinese folks to "speaks likes that", and how they'd do in an interview. Like a Christian who was tricked by the devil, there would eventually come what I mentioned to some Russians in a different conversation as a "head slapping moment." They also were unfamiliar with this slang and asked me to explain. I sent them the above picture, since I reckon'd a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words.

Here's the trouble -- by the time you realize you've done the wrong thing, probably all the cows have come home. Or the fat lady sang. Or someone stuck a fork in it. KnowhatImean'?

Randy

(Translation of the picture: Someone who is now asking himself why he reads any of my bulletins!)