Hello. The other night I was confronted by one of my brothers from the pond of RATSO. He made this comment during a club "gathering" with most of the pond scum present. He pointed out that I had been accepted into the club without meeting all of the financial requirements. This apparently has been bothering him for a while. It was extremely refreshing to hear a friend say this to my face and in front of my brothers instead of behind my back. He feared I would feel angry or dejected. NOT AT ALL! I thanked him for his honesty and we hugged. He earned a great deal of my respect.

We are human. We make mistakes. Things happen in our lives that we may not be proud of, but we go on. I have been subject to several people expressing their feelings about me behind my back. They whisper lies or ugly truths to people without ever confronting me. This makes me angry! None of us have earned the right to throw stones. I respect a person who makes a mistake and tries to atone for it a lot more than a person who judges others while hiding his own transgressions.

I read Tiger Woods' apology this morning. He did the right thing. He admitted to his failures. Now people should leave him and his family alone. This is between them. We think because we watch him golf on the weekends and buy Nike products, we have a say in his personal life. NO! These types of things make a person take a closer look at themselves. It makes you realize who you really are. If you don't like the person in the mirror, you better change him. I became a little more of a fan this morning.

I'm still getting acquainted with the man in the mirror. Some days he is a complete stranger.